
Photo credit - Runnersworld.de
The greatest marathon runner (world record holder: 2:01 (2018), INEOS 1:59 challenge (2019) and Olympic champion Tokyo 2020 (2021).
On a cool October morning in 2019, I witnessed one of the greatest athletics moments in history - the first human to run a sub-two-hour marathon, which took place at the INEOS 1:59 challenge in Vienna (Austria).
The crowd was buzzing with excitement while the air was thick with anticipation. We had all come to witness history about to be made by one man: The great Eliud Kipchoge, the greatest marathon runner and world record holder: 2:01 (2018).
“How dare he think he can run a marathon in under 2 hours?” some people had asked before the event, “It’s never been done before” others had added. And yet anyone who has met or studied Eliud will be impressed by his Zen like aura, focus, humbleness, likeability, determination and a sense of calm. Mentally, Eliud must be one of the strongest men on earth – he keeps going and simply ignores the noise, treating it as nothing more than background music in a hotel foyer.
Eliud Kipchoge epitomises the true meaning of 'Professional Ikigai'.
The New York Times has referred to Eliud as “... the Philosopher-King of Running”. What's also fascinating about Eliud is not just his athletic ability (super human and impressive as this may be, rightfully earning him the nickname Apollo – because we truly did have lift off that day), but his mental approach and leadership qualities. This man has “Executive Presence” coupled with an aura of calm & tranquillity – a quality which serves him well in achieving the impossible as well as acting as a shield against attacks.
COACH LEADER NOT MANAGER
Eliud is a leader – not a manager and even better, a Coach Leader whose focus is on the end goal and in getting there as part of a team; the whole team. In doing so, Eliud builds trust amongst his team members. His ability and willingness to try out different strategies and listen to different voices, also earns him further respect.
Eliud knows when to lead from the front and when to trust the team around him to take the lead as he follows. He knows he’s not an expert in everything and is willing to hire and surround himself with experts from other domains. This is a man who trusted the team around him; from the corporate team, technical team, to the field team made up of his training partners in Kenya as well as his “dream team” of 41 pacemakers. These were all elite runners and many were champions: Olympic, world and record holders in their own right, including Selemon Barega, who at 19, was the youngest pacemaker (and 5000m silver medallist at the 2019 Doha World Championships), to five-time Olympian Bernard Lagat, who at 44, was the oldest pacemaker.
Many of the pacemakers had flown in to Vienna after competing at the World Championships in Doha. All had put ego, rest & recuperation, family time and training schedules aside to help Eliud achieve what many had deemed impossible: a sub-2:00 hr marathon. The pacemaker dream team had also included Matthew Centrowitz (USA), the then reigning Olympic 1500m champion and Bernard Lagat who was once Eliud’s most fierce competitor on the track but had lined up on the track that October morning, to help his friend make history. Olympians who were willing to play a supporting role.
As one of five (pacemaker) captains, Lagat’s role was to execute the pacemaker role & strategy which was to run at a steady pace (any deviation would likely hurt Eliud’s time), offer support and, minimise aerodynamic drag and thus reduce Eliud’s energy expenditure. The elite athlete pacemakers were rotated to ensure they were all as fresh as possible and were positioned in front of, as well as, behind Eliud in a Y-formation (with Eliud in the middle) and two “wing men” behind him. [see short video below]
EXPERTS FROM EVERY DOMAIN
Eliud completed this marathon in 1:59:40 to achieve this super human feat. There were around 120,000 people who cheered him on in Vienna and according to Business Insider, half a million people across 196 countries tuned into the live broadcast. This achievement relied on: Human Resources (coach, physiotherapist, athletes (Eliud’s training team in Kenya and international pacemakers at the event), nutritionists, (three days before the race, Eluid was put on a carb-loading diet ), researchers, corporate staff, staff on track including stewards & support staff; Data & Science (analyse pace, monitor Eliud’s hydration levels and nutritionists adjusting his subsequent fuel intake accordingly). There was also the matter of selecting a location with a time zone which was in sync with Eliud’s Kenya body clock and meteorology experts analysed Vienna's temperature, humidity, wind, and precipitation forecasts before picking 12 October, 2019 and electric cars were used to ensure no emissions for runners.
Other resources:Technology was utilised to the full (transponders to work out distance and pace, computer simulations and tests inside a wind tunnel to determine the optimal formation for Eliud's pacesetters), finance, design and engineering (Eliud wore a prototype of Nike's Vaporfly shoe called the Alphafly which incorporate two air pods under the shoe sole (to stop energy being wasted), Logistics (delivery of hydration by bicycle during the race, transporting equipment locally and across borders), sponsors, partners and more. All, including the maintenance team who had resurfaced the running track and kept the track clear of debris, played a role in this huge achievement.
BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE TEAM
As leader, Eliud was leading a Cross-functional team of pacemaker (elite) athletes (1.5k, 3k, 5k, 10k, 42k), Cross-generational (ages ranged from 19-44), and Cross-cultural (Kenya, Uganda, Norway, Ethiopia, USA, Australia and Japan). Together with his advisors and senior management, Eliud had built a team that was strategic, cohesive, disciplined, team oriented, flexible and goal-oriented - all focused on completing the race in under 2 hours. Another runner or leader could have turned the pace-makers into nothing more than cogs in a wheel but not Eliud. Yes, he was the superstar and the media and spectators were mostly interested in him but time and time again, then and now, Eliud has made clear, this was and is, a team effort: from his family to others both on and off the field including his training partners in Kenya who were not there in person to witness this special achievement. Eliud is an inclusive man and this example is filtered down to the team. Their professionalism, determination and focus was second to none. To witness this first-hand was, and still is, unforgettable.
Eliud never forgets that he is part of a team and according to Business Insider August 2021:
‘…Kipchoge said he could not have run that fast without the dozens of people who helped him before and during the event…Teamwork, which I saw in Vienna in 2019, is extremely rare and good and that's why I performed well…"
ON RISING AFTER YOU FALL
Eliud may be a superstar who has achieved the unimaginable on the track but in his questto do so, he has also had to deal with failure in full public glare. In 2012, he missed qualifying for the London Olympics but turned his heartbreak into a new opportunity when he switched from 5000m to the marathon - a decision that would change his life.
Furthermore, the INEOS 1:59 challenge in 2019 was Eliud's second attempt at running the marathon in sub-2:00 hrs; the first being in Monza in 2017, where he completed the distance in 2:00:25. While many would have regarded this as failure, Eliud did not. As far as he was concerned, he was one step closer to his goal of sub-2 hrs. He said at the time : “We are now just 25 seconds away... I believe in good preparation and good planning. With that, these 25 seconds will go”
RESEARCH, PLAN AND THEN EXECUTE WITH PRECISION
After Monza, it was a case of back to the drawing board followed by another two years of planning. Nothing was left to chance. Precise strategies were implemented: from his manager cycling nearby with his laptop and responsible for Eliud's hydration, to using wind tunnels to come up with the perfect pacing formation which would now take the shape of a Y and not a V as had been done in Monza. Nothing was left to chance. Testing commenced globally and on race day, everyone knew their part inside out; it was simply a matter of executing what they'd all been practising and working on for years, for one last time with 100% precision. As Eliud said later "My job was just to follow the formation". This is what happens when you build the right team around you - everyone knows their role and can see how each of their contribution is crucial in achieving the overall goal be it: sub-2:00 hr marathon, 30% sales increase, successful product launch etc.
EXECUTIVE PRESENCE - Eliud has Executive Presence. You can see it and feel it when you watch the way people who work with him treat and respond to him and the reaction from fans as he walks towards them. Eliud earns respect without having to raise his voice, put people down or, pull rank. He sees no threat even from talented up and coming younger runners (from around the world), who he welcomes to his training camp in Kenya. Eliud is disciplined and rolls up his sleeves to clean up the camp together with his training partners -his name is included in the cleaning rota. Eliud is a true Coach Leader – a style which any leader looking to run a cohesive, inclusive, successful team in this global, diverse, hybrid world that we now live in, needs to adopt quickly.
“The reason for running 1:59 is not the performance,” Kipchoge said. “The reason to run 1:59 is to tell that farmer that he is not limited; that teacher that she can produce good results in school; that engineer… that he can go to another project.”
SUCCESSION PREPARATION & PLANNING
Eliud believes that one day, it will be possible for someone to break 2:00 under normal running conditions. This milestone (running's last great barrier), was mythical like the four-minute mile. While scientists were not expecting this barrier to be broken until 2075, where previously there was no road, Eliud has now created a path. "I have shown everybody the way," he said. He continued...
"My aim was to show everybody that running under two hours is possible. My job is done."
LEADING AN INCLUSIVE COHESIVE TEAM
The question for you as a leader is, how many of your own team members would pause or sacrifice their own goals, ambitions, family time or holidays, to help you or the department/organisation that you run, hit target, reach impossible milestones – not because you demand this of them or because you pay their salaries (or bonuses), but because they respect and share your vision and because of you, they pull out all the stops and want to help your organisation achieve greatness, even if it means working overtime and, for free? This is how a leader moves from good, great, to leaving a (Global) legacy.
Watch Eliud’s pacemaker strategy (3 mins)
BUILD A TEAM THAT SHARES YOUR VISIOn - the role of eliud's pacemakers (2 mins)
Learn more about our coaching services: Executive Global Coaching To book your FREE 15mins Zoom Consultation with me, click HERE
Comentários