How Kenyan athlete forced to live in verandas won 4 Boston Marathon titles

Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot Mwafrika is one of the many Kenyan runners who had to endure struggles to make it in the competitive athletics field.

Cheruiyot, who hails from Nandi County was left to look after himself when his parents separated. He had to look for money for clothing, food and shelter on his own at a tender age.

"I grew up without shelter, food, and without someone to turn to. This is not to say that my parents were not there. They just decided to desert the family confining us to fate," he explained in an interview with Fever Pitch.

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Like any other human being in search for a better life, Cheruiyot went to the nearby town of Mosoriot where life was not easy, forcing him to sleep on verandas without blankets. He would sometimes go for several hours without getting something to eat.

However, Cheruiyot did not allow the situation to prevent him from making it in life. He tried athletics, gave it his all and went on to become one of the best road race runners the East African region has ever produced.

Cheruiyot, who was also known as Omar Ahmed, won several Abbott World Majors Marathons titles including Boston and Chicago.

His electric pace made him become the first Kenyan runner to clinch the coveted Boston Marathon title four times - a milestone that the likes of compatriots Eliud Kipchoge and Evans Chebet are yet to reach.

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He was also the first Kenyan to win the Chicago Marathon and Boston Marathon titles in one year.

Cheruiyot showed fellow countrymen Martin Lel and Benjamin Kimutai dust in 2003 to win his first Boston Marathon title. He overcame the duo in the closing phases of the race and went on to cross the finishing line in an impressive time of 2:10.11.

Kimutai and Lel stopped their watches at 2:10.34 and 2.11.11 respectively to settle for second and third positions.

Three years later, Cheruiyot won the title in a course record time of 2:07.14. Rita Jeptoo won the ladies category that year in 2:23.38. Fast forward to 2007, he produced a compelling display which saw him return home with his third Boston Marathon title.

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The athlete, who once sharpened his skills in Moses Tanui's Kaptagat-based training camp achieved his fourth Boston Marathon title in 2008 in a sensational fashion.

He ran a calculated race to reach the tape in 2:07.46, 32 seconds slower than the course record he set in 2006. Cheruiyot will go down in history as one of the most successful Kenyan runners in the first decade of the 21st century.