Out of Gas

What happens when the wheels fall off?

- Dr Ross Tucker

At the end of March, the World Cross-Country Championships were held in Kampala, Uganda. Joshua Cheptegei dreamed of winning the 10-K race, a feat that had never before been achieved by a Ugandan runner. On that Sunday afternoon, in temperatures approaching 28°C, he went as close to fulfilling his prophecy as you can ever hope to see in sport. (If you haven’t seen any video of the race, I highly recommend you watch it at runnersworld.co.za/wheelsoff.) By 4km, Cheptegei was leading the race by a considerable distance. Inspired by vociferous local support, his lead grew even further – so much so that by the time he had reached the final 2km, he had an advantage of 12 seconds over his closest pursuer, Geoffrey Kamworor.

THE CATCH

Then the wheels started to come off. At first it wasn’t obvious: Cheptegei was just a little sluggish as he pulled up one of the steep man-made hills on the course.