Sophomore nursing major Gladys Kipchumba recently set the all-time 5K record this fall and broke the old record on two different occasions, finishing third overall in the 2018 Gulf South Conference Championship. The 5K event took place at Choctaw Trails, featuring 12 teams and 97 runners. Kipchumba finished with a time of 17:58, earning first team All-GSC honors. She also broke Union’s 5K record with a 17:52 at Queens Royals Challenge.
Kipchumba started running in high school, where she attended Moi Girls Nangili in Eldoret, Kenya. In 2016, she was offered a scholarship to come run in the U.S. for cross country at MTSU before transferring to Union. She started training immediately (which now consists of running anywhere between 8-12 miles a day) and came to the U.S., a place her family and friends admire for the opportunities available.
“The process was hard,” said Kipchumba. But the struggle of leaving her home and family did not slow her down at all.
“I feel good,” she said in response to her success. “If someone told you good job, then next time you’d feel like you had to do even better. It’s like they encourage you.”
However, Kipchumba doesn’t need much help. She is her own motivator, and adrenaline isn’t the only thing coursing through her veins in order to push her so hard. It is self-discipline.
“Personally I don’t like running,” she said. “So, it’s just because of the scholarship because if I get this scholarship then it helps me with my school. So when I talk to my coaches I just say, ‘Let me run. Just let me do it.’”
Running isn’t Kipchumba’s passion. It is how she pursues her passion, literally running toward her goal.
“I like nursing, that’s the thing I like most. Of course, I have to run to do this for nursing. So it will help me get closer to it.”
Besides her massive amount of self-discipline, her motivation also comes from her team.
“My teammates and I have a unity,” she said as she intertwined her fingers. “It’s what motivates us.”
This motivation bleeds into determination for Kipchumba, who refuses to back down even through physical pain.
“When you are the fastest runner, the pain that the first person and the last person have is the same.”
“Gladys is the fastest runner on the team and is a hard worker,” said cross country coach Gary Johnson. “She demonstrates leadership qualities that she expresses through effort and positive attitude more than through words. My favorite memory of Gladys so far is when she stopped by my office to talk about a teammate that had not given a good effort in practice. Gladys was not willing to allow her teammates to give less than their best and asked if she could say something to that athlete. This was my first moment to see her as a leader, and I am excited to watch that quality grow in future years.”
But her scholarship isn’t the only thing that rewards Kipchumba.
“What I am happy about most is that I came to a Christian school,” she said. “I come from a Christian family. When I am here, I feel like I am home. Everybody is studying about God. Wherever you go and you find people learning about God, that feels good.”
When asked about her personal life, Kipchumba thought for a while and replied, “I come from a family of four. My big sister, my twin sister, then the last one is my brother. I have one brother.”
The last time Kipchumba saw her family was over a year ago.
“I miss them,” she said. “It was painful and I cried until my dad said, ‘No, you have to run because you have to go to college.’ And it was hard. But now I realize you just have to walk. You have to lose some things. So I have to be strong. Even if I miss home. You just have to keep walking. Keep walking.”
