James Templeton, Manager to Bernard Lagat, Augustine Choge, and formerly, David Rudisha, takes the RunBlogRun Interview

RunBlogRun, #1, Q. It’s good to catch up with you again. It’s the first time it’s not been on the track. To remind people you’ve always been a track guy but am now getting involved in the marathon business.

JT: The track has always been my focus. Over twenty fun years with a small group of mainly Kenyans. I’m proud to have managed Bernard Lagat for over twenty years, proud too of twelve years with David Rudisha. But plenty of others who’ve given great memories. The names Japheth Kimutai, Kipkirui Misoi, Benjamin Kipkirui, Patrick Nduwimana, Boaz Lalang, Isaac Songok and of course Augustine Choge, who I’ll come to shortly. More recently, two young Aussie 800 runners Joe Deng and Peter Bol have kept me in the game….

RunBlogRun, #2, Q. Some great names for sure. So tell me what’s a track guy like you doing stateside in October?

JT. I’m over for the two big fall marathons. Both Augustine Choge in Chicago and Bernard Lagat in New York are making their marathon debuts. Which is incredibly exciting. And between the two races I’m taking the opportunity to travel a bit around the states, to catch up with a few of my track buddies in various cities.

RunBlogRun, #3, Q. Chicago has lined up a great field. Mo Farah and Galen Rupp have attracted the attention but there’s a host of great marathoners in the field. And quietly coming in for his debut is Augustine Choge. Such great track credentials over so many distances….

JT. It’s going to be something very special to me watching Augustine in Chicago. Hard to put into words. It’s been such a great journey. It takes me back to 2004 in Grosseto, Italy, going to follow him in the World Juniors. He won the 5000m, outkicking Tariku Bekele and later that summer, won the 5000 in ISTAF Berlin in 12:57. That’s fourteen years ago, but still there’s so much potential.

Augustine has always been a wonderful athlete, a great runner. He’s a great guy and very resilient, having had some bad luck with injury at crucial times. Unfortunately, he ran in Beijing in 2008 with what we found out to be a stress fracture. He made the final, but couldn’t give of his best. I believed he could have been a real contender for Rio 10,000 but alas, he slipped in the mud in the weeks after 3000m bronze in the world indoors in Portland.

Augustine has had a great track career without getting the medals that he perhaps deserved. Sometimes, that’s just how it goes. He’s run under 3:30 for 1500 and been ranked number one in the world. He’s won many top races in Kenya and on the circuit. He ran under 1:45 for 800 and has run under 60 for a half. And now we see what he’s got at the full distance.

Chicago could well open up a new chapter of his career…….could well lead to three or fours years as an elite marathoner.

He’s still got the youthfulness in his body. It’s still there. I’m a big believer in him. Ask Lagat about the potential of his friend, Augustine, he’d shake his head and say there’s nothing this man couldn’t do, that he has so much to give.

Chicago is a great race, a loaded field, obviously with Farah and Rupp the headliners. But it’s a great opportunity for Augustine and we can’t wait.

RunBlogRun, #4, Q. He’s (Augustine Choge) run a couple of good half’s in the last few years, are you confident he can transition to the full marathon?

JT. Well that’s the big unknown of course, isn’t it? We’ll know after twenty miles! He’s a training partner of Eliud Kipchoge, under the guidance of Patrick Sang. He’ll go into the race confident that he’s done the preparation.

RunBlogRun, #5, Q. You mention Lagat, of course there’s so much interest in his debut in New York.

JT. What can I say about Kip?! He’s had an amazing career, incredible longevity. But, he’s up for this, and so keen to run well. He’s just as single minded as ever, has moved up to Flagstaff for three months with his training partners Stephen Sambu (who’s running Chicago) and Juan Luis Barrios. That’s a fair sacrifice to be away from his family. But he’s so keen.

RunBlogRun, #6, Q. Kip has always come across as the consummate professional.

JT. That’s exactly right Larry. Kip has had an amazing career. He’s never taken it for granted, always been very diligent and dedicated in his preparations. Always had such consistency. He’s produced many great races over many years. He’s been a genuine challenger to Hicham and Bekele at their very best.

It’s been just a great career. Coach Li, of course, has been the perfect coach for him all this time. As I’ve spoken of before I think a small part of it all has been the unity of his support network….. the relationship between the three of Coach Li, Kip’s wife Gladys and I. We’ve been to five Olympics together the four of us! I think that’s quite special.

RunBlogRun, #11, Q. Were you surprised by Rudisha’s 2016 win?

JT. No not at all. I was very confident he would win. In many ways I was more confident than in 2012. He had been through the pressure of London and dominated and I knew he was ready again to run 1:41. Which was always going to be too good. He didn’t do it but he was close with 1:42.15 in Rio.

He had been surprisingly written off in the days before the Olympic Trials by those supposedly closest to him. But that was always a lazy and superficial judgement. I knew what his shape was like, I’d seen him in training in USA and Australia earlier in the year and also a very good period in Tübingen in Germany in the summer. He was dominant in his semi-final and despite the best efforts of his teammates in the final, he was just too good. Running three strong races in five days under pressure of the Olympics is beyond a lot of athletes.