The Pleasure of Wesley Kiptoo and Alex Masai – iRunFar

Professional runners and coaching companions Alex Masai and Wesley Kiptoo aren’t brothers, however they act prefer it. The Kenyans tease and heckle one another, they run with a near-identical stride, and you may simply really feel their deep mutual respect. There’s additionally a levity about them — that nothing is so severe that it may possibly’t be laughed about — which contrasts their severe dedication to working. And each are members of the now-institutional HOKA Northern Arizona Elite working workforce, with the 2026 Boston Marathon their imminent aim race.

HOKA has sponsored the Northern Arizona Elite (NAZ Elite) working workforce since 2015, a 12 months after the workforce was based. Its coaches and members reside and practice in Flagstaff, Arizona, which sits at about 7,000 toes in altitude and is surrounded by forests, with easy accessibility to lower-elevation desert coaching grounds. It’s an space already recognized for its working group, and HOKA NAZ Elite workforce members have received numerous nationwide titles and positioned within the high 10 of main marathons.

Watching Masai and Kiptoo, who’ve been members of HOKA NAZ Elite for a number of years, prepare for his or her exercise on a cloudy and windy late March morning at Mile 0 on Lake Mary Street simply outdoors of Flagstaff, it’s simple to overlook that they’re elite athletes prepping for some of the coveted prizes in marathoning. Masai has the doorways of his unassuming black automotive open, with bass beats blasting; Kiptoo bounces round and smiles nonstop, the human model of Tigger in “Winnie the Pooh.”

The pair seamlessly switches between English, Kiswahili, and their respective tribal dialects as they chat and heat up their muscle tissue with therapeutic massage weapons. Masai wears a beaded necklace with a pendant formed just like the African continent, which shifts round his neck when he runs. Kiptoo is unmissable in an orange long-sleeve shirt and black shorts.

The therapeutic massage weapons give away that the beats coming from the automotive aren’t for a dance get together.

Teammates Adrian Wildschutt of South Africa and the U.S.’s Paige Wooden are right here too. Wildschutt, who positioned tenth on the 2024 Olympic Video games within the 10,000 meters, is making an attempt to load the day’s exercise onto his new watch, whereas Wooden, the 2022 U.S. Marathon Nationwide Champion, offers off the sense that she’s seen all these antics earlier than however is completely satisfied to be in lighthearted firm.

This managed chaos is overseen by HOKA NAZ Elite head coach Jack Mullaney, who tasks an even-keeled demeanor as he sends them out for a warmup. The 4 jog off into the forest, their chatter audible even after they’re out of sight.

Wesley Kiptoo (left) and Alex Masai (proper) assist Adrian Wildschutt (middle) work out his watch as coach Jack Mullaney appears to be like on.

Mullaney has been with the workforce because the fall of 2023 and writes the entire coaching for Masai and Kiptoo. He is aware of his athletes effectively, rattling off their precise occasions at numerous races through the years and providing evaluation on their previous performances and future potential.

He talks simply about them as people, too. He says Masai is an introvert who understands the massive image of coaching and restoration in an effort to present up prepared on race day. Mullaney assesses that Masai enjoys inserting his full deal with his working: coaching, consuming, recovering, and sleeping. In the meantime, he thinks Kiptoo thrives off human interplay and advantages from having his two children — ages 4 and 5 — round, giving his life one other point of interest.

Mullaney says Masai hits paces completely in exercises, whereas Kiptoo typically succumbs to racing a coaching run. “Kiptoo’s a baby at coronary heart,” Mullaney says. “And I imply that in an endearing approach.” He notes that when Kiptoo and Masai practice collectively, they don’t race as a result of Masai doesn’t take Kiptoo’s bait.

From left to proper, Paige Wooden, Wesley Kiptoo, Adrian Wildschutt, and Alex Masai return from their warmup on a forest street.

Doing the Work

About half-hour later, again from their warmup, all 4 runners change sneakers for the exercise. Kiptoo chooses the HOKA Cielo X1 2.0, Wildschutt opts for the HOKA Rocket X 3, and Masai dons the HOKA Cielo X1 3.0. They stretch and do strides, chatting about how the brand new HOKA Cielo shall be good for the Boston Marathon.

In keeping with Mullaney, the Cielo X1 3.0 PEBA foam affords top-notch shock absorption, which is vital on the hilly course. He says, “A lot of getting a superb race comes all the way down to preserving your legs below you thru the Newton Hills [which stretch between miles 16 to 21] and with the ability to run sturdy all the way in which to the end line.” Mullaney factors out that the carbon-plated shoe is lighter than the earlier model and says that each Kiptoo and Masai have commented on how responsive it feels whereas nonetheless offering sufficient cushion all through a long term.

Masai switches into the HOKA Cielo X1 3.0 for the exercise.

In the present day’s exercise is a fartlek, with 25 repeats of 1 minute on/one minute off alongside Lake Mary Street, a hallowed coaching floor for space athletes. Mullaney has chosen this hilly part of street to simulate the Boston Marathon course. It’s an effort-based exercise fairly than a pace-based one, however he nonetheless has his stopwatches in hand.

HOKA NAZ Elite head coach Jack Mullaney watches his runners all through the exercise.

The group’s chatter continues as they jog as much as the mile marker the place the exercise formally begins. All of the sudden, it’s all enterprise as Masai, Kiptoo, and Wildschutt fall into step with one another, with Wooden beginning her personal exercise simply behind. Immediately, you may see that this trio is used to working collectively, their strides usually syncing as if transferring as one unit.

Wildschutt, Masai, and Kiptoo (left to proper) run the Lake Mary Street hills with teammate Wooden within the background.

For the primary 13 one-minute efforts, they run south on Lake Mary Street, the blustery wind at their backs. They obtain cheers after they move by The Mailboxes the place different coaching teams are warming up. Their tempo on the onerous minutes varies with the hills and wind, however ranges from 4:13 to 4:56 per mile.

Kiptoo, Wildschutt, and Masai (entrance to again) are cheered by different runners as they move by The Mailboxes.

Midway by the exercise, about 4.5 miles in, they flip round and into the wind, alternating main and drafting. Mullaney waits for them each mile with water bottles and phrases of encouragement. On the ultimate one-minute effort, Kiptoo and Wildschutt push the tempo, opening a small hole on Masai.

“That’s on model,” Mullaney says of this last acceleration, “I’ve to watch out after I pair [Kiptoo and Wildschutt] collectively as a result of they’ll race.” Additionally, on model, Masai lets them go.

On the ultimate fartlek, Kiptoo and Wildschutt push the tempo and open a small hole on Masai.

The lighthearted power returns instantly after the nine-mile exercise as they drink and head out for a warmdown. Kiptoo, Masai, and Mullaney have clearly constructed an unstated belief that enables every of them to be themselves as all of them try to enhance.

Masai and Kiptoo have so much in frequent. The 2 have recognized one another since 2020, after they met at a 10-kilometer race. Masai says that they clicked instantly as mates. They each got here to the U.S. from Kenya on school working scholarships. They each ended up at HOKA NAZ Elite as professional runners. And now they’re each coaching for the Boston Marathon.

Masai (left) and Kiptoo had journeys from their properties in Kenya to Flagstaff that had been concurrently comparable and really totally different.

However they’re additionally actually totally different of their backgrounds, paths to professional working, and method to balancing working with life. The variations are obvious from how they execute exercises to how they schedule post-workout interviews. Kiptoo is completely satisfied to take a seat on a rock proper after warming down to speak, whereas Masai, who instantly drinks a protein drink, goes residence to bathe and relaxation earlier than assembly up once more on the HOKA NAZ Elite efficiency middle earlier than their energy session and second run.

Rising Up in Kenya

Masai grew up in a working family within the Mount Elgon area of western Kenya. Masai’s older sister took bronze on the 10,000 meters on the 2008 Olympic Video games, and his older brother completed fourth on the similar occasion. As a baby, Masai wasn’t significantly fascinated about following in his siblings’ footsteps. He jokes, “My major academics invited me into their employees room to look at TV whereas my sister and brother had been working.”

However Masai wished to journey, and noticed by his brother and sister that working was a path to this aim. Masai was already attending school in Kenya when he participated in a trial hosted by U.S. school recruiters. The chance to come back to the U.S. was “just about a free schooling. I didn’t understand how a lot into working I’d get. I simply thought, I’ve adequate health for an schooling.”

Masai with a protein drink instantly after ending his warmdown.

In the meantime, Kiptoo grew up close to the famed working metropolis of Eldoret and took up working in center faculty, a lot sooner than Masai. Whereas everybody else in his household refused to run, Kiptoo’s expertise was obvious. In 2014, he was recruited to hitch 2012 Boston Marathon champion Wesley Korir’s Transcend Expertise Academy, which gives scholarships and training to promising Kenyan youth runners. Kiptoo says that originally, “I didn’t take into consideration the place working may take me. I wasn’t pondering working was one thing large.”

However Korir understood the alternatives out there to student-athletes within the U.S. and inspired these within the academy to achieve for them. Kiptoo ultimately believed within the mission, “I wished to get good at school, get good grades, and keep my working.” In 2018, he was recruited to a Kansas group school. That first semester, he admits, “I bought shocked as a result of I had by no means skilled winter.”

Collegiate Success

Throughout his first 12 months within the U.S., Masai nonetheless noticed working as a method to an finish. “Cross-country coaching wasn’t that tough. If I may simply rating some factors on the cross-country workforce, I may get a free schooling.” His faculty on the time didn’t have a observe workforce, so Masai ran cross nation and studied felony justice, hoping to hitch the Kenyan police pressure after faculty.

Then, in 2018, whereas residence in Kenya for summer season break, below his coach’s directions to enhance, Masai had a change of coronary heart. “For these three months, I used to be coaching with elite athletes. I bought to know what they do, get up each morning, and do all these exercises with them. That modified my thoughts. I believed, I wish to run for a dwelling.”

Masai realized that it wasn’t simply the exercises that mattered however the restoration as effectively. He says, “There are a whole lot of issues that occur behind the scenes. So I used to be like, If that is what it takes to coach full-time, I’ve to vary my mentality.” When he returned to the U.S. for the autumn semester, now a scholar on the NCAA Division I Hofstra College in New York, he was all in on full-time working.

Kiptoo: the human embodiment of cheerful Tigger.

Kiptoo struggled by his first 12 months at a U.S. group school. Utilizing computer systems, studying English, and stepping into courses had been tough. He was injured and never working effectively. He says, “I used to be fascinated by going again residence. I referred to as my household and mentioned, ‘I don’t suppose I can handle it over right here.’ However they informed me, ‘Discover a strategy to study issues, and also you’ll catch up.’”

Kiptoo caught it out. By his second semester, he had made mates and began working higher. He remembers, “I found out learn how to take one step at a time with out getting extra confused. I simply wished to ensure I don’t return residence, as a result of life is at all times onerous.” That 12 months, he received the NJCAA 5,000 meters nationwide championships and says, “From there, I by no means appeared again.” He additionally met his future spouse whereas working on the school cafeteria, “I had by no means dated right here. But it surely was just a little bit like, Oh man, I don’t understand how that goes! But it surely was enjoyable.”

Kiptoo transferred to Iowa State College in 2020. Throughout his tenure, he turned a seven-time NCAA Division I All-American in each observe and cross nation, and in 2021, he received the NCAA indoor 5,000-meter nationwide championships. He additionally bought married and had two children.

Becoming a member of HOKA NAZ Elite

In keeping with Masai, when he and Kiptoo first met at a 10k race in 2020, “We clicked.” Masai, who is 2 years older than Kiptoo, joined HOKA NAZ Elite first in August 2021 after graduating and made a case for bringing Kiptoo onto the workforce. Masai says, “Should you get guys like him who at all times wish to get higher, we’re going to attain extra.”

Lake Mary Street, and Flagstaff usually, attracts top-level runners to the realm.

He laughs when he tells the story, “It was for my very own profit, too, as a result of I wished somebody to coach with. That’s how we will get higher, having somebody you may depend on each exercise, each run.”

In the meantime, Flagstaff and HOKA NAZ Elite appealed to Kiptoo, and he joined the workforce in 2022. He says, “As a result of I grew up in Eldoret in Kenya, I wished to get someplace the place I can practice like again residence,” and Flagstaff’s excessive elevation match the invoice. He continues, “The second factor is they’d a robust workforce for observe and street working. My important aim was to get a gaggle that might help me to get to the following stage.” Kiptoo appreciates the social side of the Flagstaff working scene, “In the summertime, there’s a whole lot of runners. And we get into group working. It’s enjoyable.”

Within the years that adopted, Masai would deal with shorter distances earlier than transitioning to the marathon. Masai would end ninth on the 2024 Chicago Marathon, his debut on the distance. He returned to complete third on the occasion in 2025, which he calls “my breakthrough efficiency, by far.”

Kiptoo additionally initially targeted on shorter distances earlier than ending twelfth on the 2023 Chicago Marathon. In 2024, he completed sixteenth on the New York Metropolis Marathon, and in 2025, he completed twelfth at his first try on the Boston Marathon.

Flying Increased Collectively

Masai and Kiptoo each say that coaching collectively makes them higher. Masai says, “We perceive one another’s weaknesses, and work from our personal strengths to assist one another.”

In keeping with Masai, “[Kiptoo] is stronger within the shorter classes. He’s extra explosive. I attempt to cling behind him, as a result of I do know he’s going to do a superb job.” When runs get longer, Masai takes over, saying, “I’m extra affected person. If I am going in entrance and management the tempo, we’re going to have a greater consequence on lengthy runs.”

Masai and Kiptoo perceive that by working collectively, they are often stronger.

This mutalism extends past working. Kiptoo says, “We additionally discovered a strategy to take pleasure in coaching. I really feel like our personalities come out.” He continues, “On the subject of simply laughing round, jokes and stuff, we let one another be ourselves. And that’s been nice for nearly 4 years now.”

For Kiptoo, preserving it enjoyable is the important thing to enduring the every day grind. “We’re doing marathon coaching. It’s a protracted block. Typically we get drained, so we simply have enjoyable. And we simply wish to get by it.” He continues, “The principle factor is, ‘How can we get higher?’ So if it’s a exercise, it’s ‘How can we push this exercise? How can we management this exercise so we go to the following one feeling wholesome and robust and working with higher spirits?’ That approach, we at all times elevate one another.”

Masai leads Kiptoo and Wildschutt.

In addition they share an open honesty. Masai says, “We’re undoubtedly like siblings. It’s simple to inform the reality as a result of I do know it’s not going to harm him.” They’ll name one another out if one is making unhealthy selections and maintain one another accountable for doing all of the little issues proper, in order that they present as much as every exercise prepared.

Boston and the Future

Coach Mullaney rightfully says that the Boston Marathon is a race the place something can occur. One wants to have the ability to deal with the downhill of the primary few miles, attain the Newton Hills at mile 16 with sturdy legs, and never crumble on Heartbreak Hill after mile 20. If these issues all come collectively, a runner is ready up for a superb end result.

Each Kiptoo and Masai say they’ve been coaching wholesome and robust of their lead-up. Kiptoo, who turned a U.S. citizen in September 2025, raced within the 2025 U.S. Cross Nation Championships in December and positioned third, incomes him a spot to symbolize Crew USA on the 2026 World Athletics Cross Nation Championships in January in Florida, the place he was 14th. In March 2026, he received the U.S. Half Marathon Nationwide Championships.

In keeping with Mullaney, Kiptoo has raced a lot much less main as much as Boston this 12 months than in 2025, and speculates that he’ll be more energizing with extra particular marathon coaching in his legs. However for Kiptoo, the largest change has been his coaching associate. “Final 12 months, I used to be coaching [for Boston] on my own. And this 12 months, I’ve [Masai]. We’re in a great spot to shoot for a superb place.”

Kiptoo leads Masai and Wildschutt into the wind.

Masai’s confidence comes from realizing that he’s executed each exercise to the perfect of his potential. After his third place on the 2025 Chicago Marathon, he realized that he will be on the entrance of the massive races. He says, “So long as I practice effectively, I imagine in my potential to compete in opposition to the perfect on that given day.” There’s a profit to realizing what it feels wish to run on the entrance of a World Marathon Majors occasion. “It modifications your racing mentality. I’m not simply going to hang around and see. I’m going there to race in opposition to the perfect.”

Masai is wanting ahead to racing alongside Kiptoo, realizing they’ve put within the work collectively. “Let’s say we’re at midway and issues get severe, then I do know we practice collectively. You’re staying sturdy, I’m going to remain sturdy too.”

Kiptoo can also be wanting ahead to racing alongside his teammate. “Typically it’s scary going to a race since you don’t understand how you’ll really feel. However if you see your teammate, you’re like, We bought this!”

Better Than a Sum of the Elements

Maybe what makes Masai and Kiptoo, and the entire HOKA NAZ Elite workforce, so sturdy is that they’ve embraced their totally different personalities and strengths to make the collective one thing larger than the sum of its particular person components.

For Kiptoo, who has made a house for himself in Flagstaff for now, motivation comes from his household. “My children love working. So after I go residence, I wish to stretch, they usually be part of me. I purchased them some HOKA sneakers, and each time we go for a stroll, they wish to run all the way in which.” Kiptoo notes that his children are additionally his greatest critics, “Once I go to my races, they’ll get up to look at. And if I don’t win, they’re like, ‘What occurred? You’ll want to be working within the entrance. We’d like a giant medal.’ And after I win, they’re so completely satisfied.”

For Masai, he says, “I wish to proceed performing.” He trains, eats, and sleeps with a full focus. He is aware of {that a} working profession is momentary and is obscure about what comes after, however says that for now, “simply having fun with the experience of having fun with working” is a lot sufficient.

Mullaney watches his runners with a steadfast evenness.

When it comes time to move to the Boston Marathon begin line, it’s simple to think about that Masai and Kiptoo received’t be the quiet, targeted ones sitting with their inside ideas. Kiptoo is perhaps bouncing round along with his Tigger-like power, with Masai laughing alongside in his quieter confidence. It’s additionally simple to think about they’ll spend that bus experience joking with one another, switching between languages, and bringing all the weather which have made them profitable coaching companions — honesty, levity, and so many shared miles — to the streets of Boston.

Kiptoo and Masai, below the steerage of Mullaney, will certainly carry their pleasure to Boston.

[Editor’s Note: This article is sponsored by HOKA. Thank you to the brand for its sponsorship of iRunFar, which helps to make iRunFar happen and free for all to enjoy. Learn more about our sponsored articles.]