For nearly a decade, Westlake Boys High School from New Zealand has developed the tradition of flying in its cross-country team to Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet County for an immersive experience toward pivoting its talent to the world of pro-athletics.
The annual two-week trip aims to teach students about the Kenyan athletics culture spanning from training through to running and the overall lifestyle associated with track.
The team cross country coach Theuns Strydom came up with the idea of high-altitude training for the high schoolers in 2013, during a personal visit to Iten.
Speaking in a post-training documentary, Coach Strydom emphasized the importance of the training experience for his students who he reports go back home as men with a winning mentality both in sports and their personal lives.
In 2014, he went back to his home country with a team of 14 boys and since then, it has become a yearly ritual for the Westlake cross-country team.
In 2015, he brought more boys. The trend would replicate itself in the subsequent years. The number has grown to 23 this year.
According to the coach, having budding talent train in these conditions give them an edge over other athletes. This is the first step towards cultivating a winning culture. The idea, is for the training sessions to be as intense as possible.
Having watched Kenyan athletes excel at the highest stage year on year, the coach from New Zealand believes every fine detail has to mirror the sporting culture in Kenya for optimal results to be achieved. Therefore, the foreign students eat the same meals Kenyan athletes eat in Iten. This includes even learning how to prepare ugali.
During training, the group wakes up at 6am when they typically have their breakfast before heading out for their first run which is specifically curated to set tempo.
Most of the youngsters can comfortably do distances within the 10 km mark, which makes the job of Kenyan trainers easier as all they have to do is set the pace and motivate them to hit their stride.
At the beginning, it is not always smooth sailing, the young boys initially struggle to adjust to the high altitude in Iten before gradually acclamatising to the home of champions.
Factor this; it takes time to adjust to Iten because as athletes increase distance, their bodies typically require more oxygen due to the intensity. The weather can also be extreme.
After these intense workouts, Coach Theuns Strydom has made it his mission to keep hammering home the message that a coach can only coach technique and not heart or determination to win.
More often than not, the message sinks in, creating high performers. In the evening, the team heads to the tartan tracks to perfect their craft.
As athletes will tell you, form is more important than speed, once an athlete hits their form, the longer they will run. The intensity of training escalates with time allowing the athletes to enjoy the sustained improvement.
While in Iten, they are exposed to local coaches' drills and get to mingle with pro-athletes from Kenya.
The Kenyan training camp is usually scheduled just before the beginning of the athletic season in New Zealand which presents an opportunity for the foreign athletes to display the mental edge they refined in Kenya.
The hard work has paid off as Westlake Boys High School are the sitting New Zealand secondary school cross country champions and have been national champions 9 times in the last 12 years.
The school also represented New Zealand at the International School Sports Federation World Cross Country Championships in 2018,2020 and 2024.
