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A small corrugated-metal shack sits on the side of a red clay road in Iton, a large town in western Kenya. It had no windows, nor the usual signs above its yellow front door; Instead, hand-painted lettering on the side of the structure beckons passers-by with the words „To All Runners.”
Established in 2022, the „Running Store & Coffee” shop is operated by a company founded by Leon Distance athletics, an independently run store with stores in Lyon, Paris and Copenhagen. However, the remote Eton outpost is unique. Inside, second-hand shoes from brands like On and Asics are available to local Kenyan runners, costing €2-€10 in local currency.
„It’s a social project, not a profit-driven enterprise,” says Guillaume Pontier, a former optician and co-founder of Distant, who came up with the idea for the give-back store after several trips to the Kenyan city with his father. , Jeff coached the French national marathon team.
With its high altitude (nearly 8,000 feet above sea level) and relatively cool morning temperatures, it has been called the „perfect training environment” for long-distance runners, and is now routinely called the „home of champions.” Today, thousands of international and local runners live and train here, many from across Africa trying out for national teams or sponsored by major sports brands. It has produced world-class and Olympic athletes, including Eliud Kipchok, who still trains there. Jeff spent most of his career at Iten, hosting and training top-level French runners.
In most cases, unless an athlete is sponsored, they have little access to kit or shoes. „On our trips we saw many athletes running barefoot because they didn’t have trainers,” says Pontier. A Nike Vaporfly 3, a fast shoe for track training, €260; A typical monthly income in Kenya ranges from €220 to €940. „It’s inaccessible,” he says. The global apparel industry is valued at $41 billion. The fact that elites at Iten don’t necessarily have access to affordable training shoes highlights the wider investment problem by big sports brands and the wider industry. „In Kenya they run 200km a week,” says Pantier. „They need shoes to do that.”
The Aiden store was built „Kenyan-style” in a couple of weeks, says Bandier, who rented the land from a friend. It’s a simple structure with a concrete floor and a wooden frame, and rows of shelves and rows of trainers. At first, it was only stocked with donated items crowd-sourced from the Parisian far-flung community: some provided colorful hoka trainers; Another runner is a pair of slick black Nike sunglasses, bought by a female runner in Aiden for less than €1. (The roads here are dusty, and temperatures can reach 35 or 40ºC in summer.) Prices are decided by Letisha, a local athlete, who runs the shop with her brother. As Pontier says, it’s not up to him to decide what’s cheaper for the locals – who live in France.
Demand for the kit proved so high that upon opening, the store struggled to maintain stock levels. Word of a product drop will spread, and shelves will be empty within days. Since then, Ponder has tapped into his wholesale connections, listing brands sold in Distance’s European stores. Ann and other companies now offer shoes worn for product testing or events, including speed shoes like the CloudTri 1 worn by Helen Opry to win the New York Marathon.
Efforts are beginning to ramp up this summer as the store becomes a two-week Olympics screening venue. With a projector screen, plenty of seating, and regular barbecues of cured chicken, corn on the cob, and chips, it becomes a social hub. This way, locals would gather to watch their track mates race towards world records. And, no doubt, their own Olympic medal dream.
Distance, Kerio Valley Road, Iten; distance shop.com; @distanceathletics
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