Isle of Man distance running star Christa Cain is presently living the dream of any endurance athlete, spending time on a training camp at altitude in Iten, Kenya.

This is a venue which famously labels itself as the ‘Home of Champions’ and is a magnet for any distance runner who ever gets the opportunity to train there.

‘A week ago last Wednesday I had a catch up with my coach Nick. I was due to race the Brass Monkey Half Marathon in York last weekend, but after a minor niggle in my knee in December I wasn’t feeling exactly where I needed to be.

‘Nick joked that I should come to Kenya on training camp instead of York…so I did! After a few days of chaos, organising my visa and flights etc, I was on my way - possibly a crazy idea but I knew it would be more benefit to my training block for Tokyo Marathon than going to York.

‘So here I am, in Iten at 2,400 metres above sea level (Iten is almost four times the height of Snaefell!) - three weeks to (hopefully) find the fitness I lost in December.

‘I spent my first week here with Amie who is also part of my club, Best Athletics, acclimatising and getting used to my new temporary home at altitude. We have just had 16 more members arriving out for camp for the remaining two weeks.

‘Life is much more simple here in Iten - literally, eat, train, recover, eat, train again, eat again and sleep.

‘I have been paired up with a pacemaker, Philemon, who has been taking me out every day, easing me into my adapted paces and running pretty much pace-perfect.

‘I have been sticking to my usual home routine of double days, track on Tuesday, tempo Thursday and the Sunday long run, albeit accepting my paces need to be much slower than at home.

‘Philemon is a 66 minutes half-marathon runner, but by the standards here in Iten this is not enough for him to gain any sponsorship.

‘It is my second time here in Iten since I came here in 2024 with my fiancé Simon and I almost forgot how laboured running feels at altitude. There is less oxygen in the air, meaning your muscles get less oxygen with each breath, forcing your heart and lungs to work much harder to deliver it.

‘Combine altitude with the undulating roads of Iten and it certainly makes you feel breathless and tired a lot faster, making endurance activities much more demanding.

‘If you think the Isle of Man is hilly, to put into context, I have run double the elevation over less distance in my first week here (1,606m) with most of my mileage being on the red dirt trails which also makes for tougher running. It’s no wonder the Kenyans are such strong runners!

‘I have six weeks from now until Tokyo (four training weeks and two weeks taper). I’m still undecided whether I will race it, or use it as a training run and continue my build to target London where I have a championship entry for the second time.

‘The window between both marathons is relatively tight, being seven weeks apart, so realistically I will need to set my focus on only one.

‘I have a few other exciting races locked in during the remainder of the year, two of which are international representative masters for England for the half-marathon in Swansea and for the 10km in Bideford.

‘I plan to close out 2026 by completing my Six Star World Marathon Majors journey in New York, which is also very exciting!’