Forty-four years ago, Henry Rono set world records on the track. Now, at age seventy, he is turning towards education, which had been his weakness since childhood.
Rono’s accomplishments are well-known to track fans. Although he never competed in the Olympics, due to the Kenyan boycotts of the 1976 and 1980 Summer Games, his 1978 season was one of the most remarkable in track history.
Over eighty-one days, he set world records in four events: the 3,000 meters, 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters, and 3,000-meter steeplechase. It was a feat no runner before or after him accomplished. Yet to Rono, its significance is small. The thing he is most proud of now is enrolling in a community college and mastering English.
“Running to me was second nature,” he said. “Education was my weakness.”
Rono was born in Kiptaragon, a collection of small farmsteads in the Nandi Hills of the Rift Valley region of Kenya and left when he was nearly twenty years old. His life unfolded like a rollercoaster, taking him from the pinnacles of athletics to the depths of addiction.
His early years were marred by tragedy. He was unable to walk until age 6 due to a bicycle accident, and his father’s death around that time left the family struggling. Rono was in and out of school for years, with his mother trying to scrape together fees to provide for his education. By the time he completed seventh grade at age 19, he was drawn to running.
Rono’s talent blossomed when the army recruited him, and he began intensive physical training. His big break came at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, where he was named to the Kenyan squad and was expected to be a major threat in the 5,000 meters and the steeplechase. However, he lost his chance when the Kenyan government announced an 11th-hour boycott, joining most African countries in protesting the inclusion of New Zealand.
It was not the end of his career. In 1973, following a court ruling that scuttled an N.C.A.A. rule that placed limits on foreign athletes considered “overage,” Rono moved to the United States to pursue running.
During his first few years in the United States as a Washington State University sophomore, he set world records in four 1978 events. However, after that year, his career went on a downhill path.
He began drinking regularly, disheartened by friction with athletic officials back in Kenya. He was careless with money, losing track of bank accounts and lured into bad investments by con artists. Rono was drifting across the United States with no stable job.
In the 1990s, he spent time as a special-education teacher and coach. He trained college athletes in the Navajo Nation, elites in Albuquerque, and national-caliber athletes in Yemen. It was around this time that he went back to school and learned English. Not only did he become fluent in English, but he also progressed to classes on poetry, advanced grammar, and creative writing.
Running, he said, opened a path to a world beyond his hometown and to an unexpected route back.
Rono’s accomplishments are well-known to track fans. Although he never competed in the Olympics, due to the Kenyan boycotts of the 1976 and 1980 Summer Games, his 1978 season was one of the most remarkable in track history.
Over eighty-one days, he set world records in four events: the 3,000 meters, 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters, and 3,000-meter steeplechase. It was a feat no runner before or after him accomplished. Yet to Rono, its significance is small. The thing he is most proud of now is enrolling in a community college and mastering English.
“Running to me was second nature,” he said. “Education was my weakness.”
Rono was born in Kiptaragon, a collection of small farmsteads in the Nandi Hills of the Rift Valley region of Kenya and left when he was nearly twenty years old. His life unfolded like a rollercoaster, taking him from the pinnacles of athletics to the depths of addiction.
His early years were marred by tragedy. He was unable to walk until age 6 due to a bicycle accident, and his father’s death around that time left the family struggling. Rono was in and out of school for years, with his mother trying to scrape together fees to provide for his education. By the time he completed seventh grade at age 19, he was drawn to running.
Rono’s talent blossomed when the army recruited him, and he began intensive physical training. His big break came at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, where he was named to the Kenyan squad and was expected to be a major threat in the 5,000 meters and the steeplechase. However, he lost his chance when the Kenyan government announced an 11th-hour boycott, joining most African countries in protesting the inclusion of New Zealand.
It was not the end of his career. In 1973, following a court ruling that scuttled an N.C.A.A. rule that placed limits on foreign athletes considered “overage,” Rono moved to the United States to pursue running.
During his first few years in the United States as a Washington State University sophomore, he set world records in four 1978 events. However, after that year, his career went on a downhill path.
He began drinking regularly, disheartened by friction with athletic officials back in Kenya. He was careless with money, losing track of bank accounts and lured into bad investments by con artists. Rono was drifting across the United States with no stable job.
In the 1990s, he spent time as a special-education teacher and coach. He trained college athletes in the Navajo Nation, elites in Albuquerque, and national-caliber athletes in Yemen. It was around this time that he went back to school and learned English. Not only did he become fluent in English, but he also progressed to classes on poetry, advanced grammar, and creative writing.
Running, he said, opened a path to a world beyond his hometown and to an unexpected route back.
