Henry Wanyoike

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Henry Wanyoike is one of the world’s fastest runners at age 32 with a unique story. Before he was a teenager, Henry was already being groomed to join an elite corps of athletes in a country that has probably produced more world-class middle-distance runners over the last twenty years than any country on earth. He excelled at the 5,000 and 10,000-meter distances, and the sky seemed the limit.

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But In 1995, he had a mild stroke. "I went to bed a normal person, the following day I found myself in darkness." That night he lost 95% of his vision, and lost the rest gradually over the next few years. Henry's despair was total. The thought of never being able to run again was already unbearable, but it was worse than that. "I thought my life had come to an end."

His mother Grace brought him to Kikuyu Eye Clinic (A nearby hospital supported by Christian Blind Mission International (CBMI), a leading global health services organization, called Kikuyu Eye Hospital), but the doctors can not help him. So Henry meets Petra Verweyen, the chief of the Low Vision Project of the Clinic. She helps him to find his way back into life and organized that Henry learns to knit pullovers. The Kikuyu Eye Clinic was and remains one of the best centers for the visually impaired in East Africa. He was so overwhelmed the help he received at the project and specially Petra Verweyen that he promised himself he would help other blind people and teach them to become self-sufficient, as he did. After winning his first gold medal in Sydney in the year 2000 at the paralympic games, he has bought knitting machines through prize money and charitable donations from such international personalities as Arnold Schwarzenegger. He now employs other blind Kenyans and teaches them how to knit pullovers whenever he isn’t running.

Henry remembers the day when he mentioned to a doctor that he had once been a good runner. "The doctor said I could still run if I wanted to," Henry recalls, excitement creeping into his voice. "I did not believe him. I made him read an article out loud," in order to explain how it works.

A blind runner is connected to a guide by a tether on the wrist, which the guide uses to subtly indicate, without breaking stride, when to turn, accelerate or avoid an obstacle, whether on the track or on the road, as in a marathon. Once Henry got used to working with guides, he quickly established himself as a world class non-sighted runner, earning a spot on the Kenyan national squad for the 5000 meter race at the Sydney Paralympics in 2000.

He became so good, in fact, that he ran into another problem. "In Sydney, I dragged my guide for the last 50 meters," Henry recalls. Despite the handicap of a guide that couldn't keep up, he not only won the gold but set a Paralympic record too. Now Wanyoike runs with his track guide and long time friend, Joseph Kibunja. The two were childhood friends and grew up together in the village of Kikuyu.

Most Kenyan athletes tend to concentrate on one or two events, rarely venturing into a third. Very few venture into a forth or fifth. Henry is among those very few who have ventured beyond and over the last five years, he has won gold or silver medals in the marathon, half-marathon, 10-KM road race, the 10,000 meters, 5,000 meters and the 1,500 meters. No other Kenyan athlete has ventured so widely and so successfully. His time of 2:31:31 at the Hamburg Marathon in 2005 still stands as the world record for blind runners. Henry hopes to break this record in 2006 when he runs in the ING New York City Marathon on November

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Wanyoike, Henry

The sport-success of Henry Wanyoike (www.henry4gold.com):

November 2006: 121th at the New York Marathon (2:40:14) - 38.368 partcipants

April 2006: 5th. at the Bonn-Halfmarathon (1:14:44) - 2.675 participants

February 2006: 6th. at the Hongkong-Halfmarathon (1:16:47) - 9000 participants

January 2006: 53. at the Mumbai-Marathon (02:52) - Only 177 of 3000 participants came to the goal in time (5h)

December 2005: Winner of the Singapore-Halfmarathon (1:16:07)

October 2005: 3rd at the TUI-Halfmarathon in Palma/Mallorca (1:15:24)

September 2005: Winner at the halfmarathon in Wetzlar (01:14:41)

May 2005: 3rd Place with approx. 4500 participants in the halfmarathon in Hanover (1:11:25)

April 2005: On April 17th new world record in London: 2:32:51. April 24th: One week later in Hamburg again new world record: 2:31:31 in the marathondistance

September 2004: Athens gold and world record over 5.000m (15:11:07) and 10.000m (31:37:25)

May 2004: Boston new fable world record time in the Marathon (2:33:20)

February 2004: Hong Kong winner and worldrecord in the halfmarathon (1:10:26)

December 2003: Singapore silver in the road running over 5,000 meters

October 2003: Panafrikani games gold over 1500 meters

August 2003: Canada gold over 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters

May 2003: Winner in the Boston Marathon (2:49:03)

October 2002: Boston Trophy winner over road running of 5,000 meters

July 2002: in Lille (F): 2x gold and world record over 5,000m (15:17:75) and 10,000m (32:34:31)

April 2002: Worldrecord and gold in the blind Marathon of Japan

January 2002: in Cairo: 2x gold over 800 and 1500 meters, silver over 400 meters

2000: Paralympics in Sydney, Winner and the first gold medal over 5,000 meters (15:46:29)