A recent clip from elite runners NN Running Team showcase the terrain around Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia. Including runners such as 2023 men’s 10km world champion Joshua Cheptegei and Eliud Kipchoge, the video outlines training design – long slow runs, tempo work and 1000m repeats on the track (sometimes 16 of them).

Uganda’s terrain allows for tempo runs at 1100m, as well as the altitudes from 2000m to 2600m for longer runs. This range and rigorous approach to training has delivered results for the team, summarised by Kipchoge, “Marathons don’t require perfection, they require consistency.” The team have recruited Dutch coach Addy Ruiter, part of an effort to bolster East Africa’s endurance potential.

Matching the the Kenyan NN Running Team base in Kaptagat, the heart of the Ugandan operation is their Kapchorwa training camp – 1900m above sea level in the hilly Mount Elgon region of the Uganda Highlands. See photos of the terrain.

NN Running Team was formed in 2017 with INEOS as an anchor sponsor. Other team athletes include Kenenisa Bekele, Letesenbet Gidey, Yalemzerf Yehualaw, Genzebe Dibada and Geoffrey Kamworor.

Read more in this August 2023 New York Times article