Olympic gold medal marathoner Eliud Kipchoge describes the training, diet, and mindset that led to his win

• Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge won gold in the marathon at both the Tokyo and Rio Olympics.
• A documentary shows how Kipchoge trains almost year-round at a camp in Kenya with other marathoners.
• Kipchoge told Insider that he runs up to 6,200 miles per year to stay in peak running shape.

Most people consider running to be an individual sport. Eliud Kipchoge does not.

The Kenyan runner is the world's best male marathoner: He took gold in the Tokyo Olympics and in Rio in 2016, and he broke the world record during the Berlin marathon in 2018.

Kipchoge told Insider that he could not run fast enough to achieve such feats if he trained alone. In fact, he almost never runs solo. 

"I'm with my training group all the time," he said.

That group includes between 15 and 20 marathoners who represent Kenya in international track and field events. They train for about 10-and-a-half months per year, Kipchoge said— usually at the Kaptagat training camp in Eldoret, a city 200 miles northwest of Nairobi.

Following his Olympic win, Kipchoge opened up about the training regimen, diet, and mindset that have led to his running successes over the last four years.

Running up to 6,200 miles per year

 A new documentary called, "Kipchoge: The Last Milestone," offers a glimpse into how he and his training group prepare in Kaptagat ahead of big races. 

Kaptagat is a bit like boarding school for Kenyan runners. Athletes spend Sundays with their families — that's the only day Kipchoge ever runs alone — then spend the rest of the week training, eating, and lodging together at the camp. Kipchoge has trained there since 2002, and he now serves as a leader and mentor for fellow marathoners as they all train together under Kipchoge's coach, Patrick Sang. Kipchoge's presence in Kaptagat has attracted other top runners there. 

The people recruited to train at Kaptagat, Kipchoge said, are chosen for their mindsets. Sang and other coaches look for marathoners with positive attitudes who prioritize self-discipline and teamwork. That way, every marathoner at the camp — including Kipchoge — can push the group to be better and faster.

"We inject them with our raw values, including having faith and working hard," Kipchoge said, adding, "that's why I'm surrounded by great people."

Courtesy of the DDA Group/"The Last Milestone"

The marathoners at Kaptagat follow a strict schedule, which Kipchoge helps to set. Every Thursday, he said, is set aside for a long run — 18.6 miles (30 kilometers) or more.

"I think I am doing more long runs than any other marathoner," Kipchoge said. 

Other days involve strength and conditioning, core workouts, plyometrics, and speed training, as well as plenty of ice baths and muscle massages for recovery.

All told, Kipchoge said, he runs between 5,900 and 6,200 miles (9,500 to 10,000 kilometers) per year. His breaks come during the three weeks after a major race, time he uses to recover at home.

Kipchoge said racking up those miles with his teammates in Kaptagat and keeping a consistent schedule are both keys to his success.

"When I think of my training, what I've been doing, like training very well for four months, then that gives me peace of mind," he said. "Because I know I've been hitting the targets."

Carbo-loading doesn't hurt, either. Kipchoge said his preferred fuel source is rice, which he eats prior to a race, especially in the morning before the event.

'The prepared and planned person will take the day'

In 2019, Kipchoge became the only person ever to run a marathon in under 2 hours, when he finished in 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 40 seconds in Vienna, Austria. It didn't count as a new world record, though, because the event was designed specifically to help Kipchoge achieve the milestone.

He ran on a course that event organizers chose specifically for its lack of incline and curves, both of which require athletes to exert more energy. A team of 41 runners also helped keep him on pace, though in the documentary, some of the pacers say Kipchoge made their jobs easy.

"Eliud is super consistent in whatever he does; it's all about discipline," Victor Chumo, a Kenyan long-distance runner who was one of Kipchoge's pacers in Vienna, says in the film. "It's actually a storm of conditions that come together to make this man who he is."

Ahead of the Vienna event, Kipchoge's nutritionists also put him on a three-day carb-heavy diet. (The documentary suggests insufficient carbohydrate intake may have scuttled Kipchoge's prior attempt to run a sub-2-hour marathon two years earlier.)

Running a sub-2-hour marathon meant Kipchoge sprinted at a blistering 4:34-mile pace. That took extraordinary mental discipline and the ability to run through serious physical pain.

But Kipchoge never grimaces when running; his face is devoid of emotion.

"I trust the more the pain it is, that's where success is," he said. "In my mind, I am really happy knowing that I have done enough. And that's why when I'm running, it's really, really calm."

Kipchoge said he trusted that his training from Kaptagat would help in Tokyo, too.

"The prepared and planned person will take the day, and I think I was the best prepared and planned one," he said. "And hey, I took the day!"

He added, though, that he's not yet sure whether he'll compete in Paris in 2024.

"At the moment, I don't want to commit myself," Kipchoge said.