Super-Coach Colm O’Connell Part 1 (Tales from Kenya)
It was over eight years ago when I first met Brother Colm O’Connell, the man who has lived in Iten, Kenya for so long, that to mark his 70th birthday the County in which he lives, Elgeyo Marakwet, named a street after him.
Bro Colm, together with St Patrick’s Boys High School, the school which has been Bro Colm’s home ever since 1976, have now become one of Iten’s tourist attractions.
So for the tourists: If you can find O’Connell Street, then Bro Colm won’t be far away, just make sure, you do not, disturb his coaching.
You might spot Bro Colm having a one on one with the best 800 metre runner the World has seen, David Rudisha.
He might be in discussion with his young gun, Rhonex Kipruto who went within a whisker of breaking the existing WR for 10k when he ran 26:46 in Prague.
However, during the school holidays, at about 10:00 am, more often than not, you are likely to find Coach Colm, together with his protégé, Kenyan, Ian Kiprono, briefing 50 young athletes, prior to training, on a small field, inside St Patrick’s.
The fifty athletes are evenly split between the sexes. The 10:00 a.m. workout, is the second for the day. They will be back for more in the afternoon.
It may have taken decades, to formulate the training schedules for his Youth Training Camps, but now Bro Colm has them down pat.
On some occasions Bro Colm will let a mzungu (white person) join his athletes on one of their outings, but be warned: There is a good chance, you will be dropped by a group of 14-16 year old girls, on the first hill repetition you attempt.
During the eight or so years I have known Bro Colm, I had never sat down for a formal interview with him. This was something I wanted to do, before I reluctantly returned ‘home’ to Australia.
I had been the passive observer to many of Colm’s interviews.
Colm would reel off answers to each question, and as he did his eyes would light up with both seriousness and excitement. It is clear, that he enjoys sharing his knowledge with others, no matter how many times he has done it.
My interview of Colm starts by reconfirming what is already known: In 1976 at age 27, Brother Colm arrived in Iten, Kenya from Cork, Ireland, for a short stint as a Geography Teacher, at St Patrick’s Boys High School.
He carried with him, no coaching background in athletics. The ‘short stint’ became an extended stay which now exceeds over 40 years.
Colm gets things going, “I’ve only ever lived in two houses since arriving here and both have been inside the confines of the school. From 1976 to February, 1993 I lived in a double story house and I then moved into my home of today which was built by Patrician Brothers in 1961”.
The house Colm now lives in, although built over 50 years ago, to this day, is still one of the most solidly constructed houses that exist in Iten. The Patrician Brothers did a brilliant job building it.
It has been written that Colm lives in sparse conditions but compared to the harsh living conditions, almost all his athletes have sometime faced, I am sure Colm would agree, that in Kenya, he has always lived in relative luxury.
Having said that, in those early years, lack of infrastructure would have been something not many from Ireland or any Western country could have endured, for an extended period of time.
During the interview, biscuits and chai (tea) are provided.
I remind Colm about what author, Adharanand Finn in his book ‘Running with the Kenyans’, says about not being offered any cookies, when he visited Colm at his home for an interview for his book.
The reminder is given, as I reach for another ginger nut biscuit, from the plate Colm has provided. “Yes I have learnt from that”, says Colm with a smile.
That being said, in all seriousness, there are many Kenyans, who in their lifetime, will never experience the taste of a biscuit. It is simply something, they will never be able to afford to buy.
“Athens, Greece, 1986, the inaugural World Junior Athletics Championship, I would say it was then that the outside World first started to show more interest in the training principles of the Kenyan athlete”. Kenya’s National Junior Coach, at the time, Brother Colm O’Connell.
It had made sense to appoint Colm the National Coach: Of the twelve athletes selected for the Worlds, nine of them were directly coached by Colm and on top of that he had served a ten year apprenticeship as a Teacher and Athletics Coach at St Patrick’s Boys High School, Iten, Kenya.
Colm recalls, “The first (one of four gold) medal presentations did not go to plan. Somehow the tape of the Kenya National Anthem did not arrive with the team. It was suggested that the Kenyan team, sing the National Anthem, and that’s what happened”.
Our conversation is interrupted by the sound of Colm’s phone ringing, he looks at it, and then says, “I have to take this call”, as he heads off to another room.
The call gives me time to reflect, to look around his lounge room in more detail, than I have done on previous visits.
What strikes me is, that given the hundreds of elite athletes that have passed through his hands, and the success of those athletes, on the Olympic and World Championships stages, is the absence of athletic mementos on display.
Sure you will see a large photo of Colm with his most celebrated athlete, David Rudisha, dual Olympic Champion, dual World Champion and WR holder for the 800 metres, but that’s a recent addition.
I’m left wondering where the rest of his memorabilia is.
Without going through Colm’s personal belongings I can only find one other photo relating to athletes he has coached, that is on display, and it’s a photo of two female athletes together.
There are no trophies, medals, arms raised in the air, to be seen. Perhaps this is a reflection of Colm’s quiet achiever persona.
On a closer look at the photo of the two female athletes, which sits on Colm’s mantelpiece, I see an inscription below the photo, it reads, “Sylvia Kibet and Viola Kibiwot 2013 World Championship trials”.
Sylvia Kibet is an athlete I am familiar with. Olympic bronze over 5,000 metres, twice a silver medalist at the World Athletics Championships over the same 5,000m distance, being the standouts of a long and productive career.
It was a lengthy call and Colm apologised and told me that the caller was Jurg Wirz, the Swiss Journalist who has lived in Kenya for close to, two decades.
Jurg wrote ‘Paul Tergat’ ‘Running to the Limit’ then followed up with, ‘Run to Win ‘The Training Secrets of the Kenyan Runners’ which was published in 2006.
Colm shared part of his chat with Jurg, with me: they were talking about a result of a Half Marathon.
Eric Kiptanui, a former student, that Colm had supported, had just clocked 58:42 for a half marathon in Berlin, Germany.
End of Part 1
