Rono was a Washington State University athlete like no other

Henry Rono, one of the greatest middle and long-distance runners of all time was a cougar to the end.
He was the last of a rich lineage of athletes who passed through Washington State University (WSU) in the United States where athletes are fondly referred to as “Cougars” or informally “Cougs”.

He had his ups and downs in life including false charges.

Even in old age, Rono remained a cougar and painstakingly preserved his cougar crimson and grey running gear.

He wore that gear last year when he met with one of WSU's student-athletes Brian Barsalya who visited him in Kapasabet.

On November 15, 1986, Rono was arraigned in court on charges of theft by deception.

The case was filed in Hackensack and Ridgefield Park, New Jersey where he was described by the arresting detective Rudolph Egerr as: “A marathon man running from bank to bank pulling flim-flams who conned bank tellers in at least three towns in New Jersey out of hundreds of dollars.”

Rono was arrested at a Hackensack office of the Oritani Savings and Loan Association after a teller falsely identified him as the man who had deceived a teller at another branch in the city in September.

In that incident, police said, a man confused a teller by first asking her to change nine $100 bills (Sh5,300) and then saying he wanted to open an account for $900 (Sh130,950).

“She did not notice that he gave her back only $600 (Sh91,800), and then returned $900 (Sh137,700) to him when he changed his mind and asked for the money back. The shortage was not discovered until after the man had left," LA Times reported then.

The Oritani branch in Ridgefield Park lost about $320 (Sh48,960 at today’s exchange rate) in a similar incident in June, Eger said. The North Bergen branch lost about $380 (Ksh58,140) in July.

But as it turned out, this was a case of mistaken identity but one which dented Rono's image.

Drew Eckmann, a resident of Hackensack where Rono had been staying with him, managed to get him off the hook after revealing that the Kenyan was not in New Jersey when the first two incidents occurred.

The banks settled with Rono who had spent six days in jail before the charges were dropped after a review of surveillance photos of the actual robber exonerated him.

Rono was then on the road to recovery, doing menial jobs to eke out a living. He washed cars and worked as a security officer before competing in two marathon races that put him well on the mend.

His death was received with shock at the place where he made a name and was first impressed with his running, Washington State University on Thursday.

Rono remains an enigma going by the outpouring of tributes by the WSU community.

“Henry is a true Coug, and even took the time to meet with one of our current student-athletes Brian Barsaiya at his home just this past Winter, proudly wearing his Cougar gear," said Washington State Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Wayne Phipp in his message of condolence.

“Henry will be greatly missed, but never forgotten. He will always be a Coug," said Phipps.

Rono's records at WSU remain unbroken. Memories of his records are included in the Hall of Fame.

Rono was late in joining WSU after spending two years in the Kenya Army.

He was only admitted in 1976 after benefiting from a 1973 National Collegiate Amateur Athletics (NCAA) ruling that allowed for increased recruitment of foreign athletes that were previously considered “over-age”. Rono was 24 when he joined WSU in 1976.

But he quickly showed his depth of talent as a fresher. He won the Cross Country Grand Slam 1976 at Northern Division (28:07.6), Pacific-8 (29:18.6), and NCAA (28:08.60) titles, becoming the only freshman to ever win an NCAA Cross Country Championship on top of the NCAA 2-mile with a collegiate indoor record (8:24.83) in his first winter as a Cougar.

"Henry Rono is a legendary figure in the history of Cougar Athletics," WSU Director of Athletics Pat Chun said in a statement. “His accomplishments are unmatched in Track and Field, and he embodied the true Cougar spirit. Our condolences go out to his family and friends."

Said former WSU Track & Field Head Coach John Chaplin who discovered Rono and trained him to the level that him four world records in 81 days in 1978: “Washington State distance runners have historically been good people. Of all of the great athletes we had, and there were several, Henry by far had the greatest depth."

But for all his glory and contribution to the success and appeal of track and field, Rono faced and overcame many tribulations in a foreign land. None is as painful as that mistaken identity of a bank robber.

Henry Kipwambok Rono was born, on June 12, 1951, in Kiptaragon, Rift Valley, Kenya, to Kiprono Meli and Chepmaiyo Tingwili. 

“He is the only man to have ever held the three Olympic (distance) records. He was a very nice young man with an incredible amount of pressure placed on him. (Rono) was part of a long line of distance runners that have come through the Washington State programme, and I don't think there is any question that he is the greatest of them all," said Chaplin.

Rono's accolades included: Track and Field New Athlete-of-the-Year, Sport Magazine's track Athlete-of-the-Year, AP European Sportswriters Sportsman-of-the-Year, and North America winner of the Helms Athletic Foundation World Trophy.

He was also later inducted into the Washington State Athletics (1981) Hall of Fame, the Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame, and most recently was a member of the inaugural USTFCCCA Collegiate Hall of Fame last year.