High-altitude Kenyan town adapts as Olympic champions, amateurs flock to rarefied air

As dawn breaks over the sleepy town of Iten, its dusty tracks come alive with packs of runners keeping rhythm, often followed by cheerful children headed to school.

Some of the athletes are elite Kenyans. Others travel from farther afield.

All are here because this unassuming little town lies at about 2,400 metres (8,000 feet) above sea-level and has produced some of the best long-distance runners in the world.

To cater to the ever-growing interest from both professional and amateur athletes, hotels, lodges and short-stay rental apartments continue to spring up around the town, located 350 kilometres northwest of Nairobi.

"I came to Kenya to feel this elite running community here," said Ryan Mex of Malta.

Mex, a semi-professional runner and coach, brought three athletes with him to get a competitive edge ahead of Malta's marathon season.

It's his first time here.

"Next time I want to come with a larger group since we really like the training environment here," Mex said. "This is the best place in the world to come for a training camp."

Town produces Olympic champions

Iten is home to some 42,000 people, mostly subsistence farmers, and it has also been a temporary home to plenty of world champions, including two-time Olympic gold medallist Eliud Kipchoge (marathon) and David Rudisha (800m), both of Kenya. British four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah would train in Iten for months at a time.

The town was declared a World Athletics Heritage Landmark in 2019 and proudly calls itself the "Home of Champions."

Lornah Kiplagat, a Kenyan-born three-time Olympian for the Netherlands, attended high school in Iten and now runs a training centre here for runners who want to up their game.

"If you train at 2,400 metres, your lungs