Why German marathon record holder Petros loves training in Iten
Amanal Petros (right) from Germany, trains with athletes from Marathon Pamoja Running Team in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet County on the Kaptuli-Plateau road on September 16, 2023. He is preparing for Berlin Marathon in Germany, on September 24.
One of the athletes who has been training in Iten for the last few months is Amanal Petros, the German national record holder in both the full and half marathons races
He admits to have trained in several places around the world, but that was before he discovered Iten and since then he has never looked back
Petros, who is originally from Eritrea, moved to Germany as a refugee in 2012 and holds the German's marathon record of two hours, six minutes and 27 seconds which he set at the Valencia Marathon in December 2021
Marathon running is a punishing affair that pushes an athlete’s body to its limits.
Therefore, preparing for a major marathon would demand that an athlete and his or her technical team to carefully mix a cocktail of factors to enable one's body to not only withstand the punishment that comes with covering an entire 42.185 kilometres of constant running, but also do so in a competitive speed.
