Getting High with Runners

After we left Eldoret land of cheesy goodness, we decided to head to Iten. Iten is a tiny town in the middle of no where, but it is the home of the High Altitude Training Center (HATC.) HATC is where many of the super-crazy Kenyan runners train -- and it's at 8,000 feet elevation. I was convinced to go for 1 reason......they have a sauna.

It was a great place. The athletes training there make Dan look obese. These are the men and women who do the NYC Marathon and plan to win -- they train for a living. There were also 4 American teens staying there for the summer (1 spent a day video taping what goes on at the local butcher...but more about him later), one marathoner from Wisconsin and a crazy dude from Holland who didn't seem to run all that much but wandered the town meeting people.

There was a phenomenal gym and the sauna was amazing. Dan and I got to teach the Kenyan trainers some basic yoga to fold into their afternoon stretching/strength class.

We were at the HATC for the 4th of July -- and this is where Hugh comes into play....

Hugh just finished his Sophomore Year in High School in New York.
Hugh also decided to read the entire syllabus for AP History while simultaneously running many miles at high elevation each day....

That gives you an idea what this guy was like, and we had the privilege of seeing

Hugh's 4th of July production extraordinare........

Highlights included:

1. Select readings of the Declaration of Independence to enthralled Kenyans.
2. The unveiling of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Henhouse, which he and the Chef constructed and painted.
3. The slaughter of 3 traitors. The Traitors were roosters that he named "King George," "The Duke of York" and something else. (yes, Hugh himself killed one chicken, and yes, the chef then prepared them for dinner.)
4. The singing of the national anthem -- where only Hugh, Dan and I sang since the rest of the audience consisted of teenagers who wouldn't be caught dead singing and Kenyans who thought the whole thing was insane.

God Bless America