Texas Tech's Gilbert Limo, a junior from Eldoret, Kenya, converted from running the 400-meter hurdles to running the longest hurdle event—the steeplechase. Limo's got the third-fastest time in the NCAA right now, with his eight minute, 42.99 second race at the Cal Brutus Hamilton Invitational last weekend. With his eyes set on a podium finish at NCAAs, Limo says after a poor indoor track season he's ready to excel.

Can you open up with talking about your race at the Brutus Hamilton Meet?

I think it was a nice race. I had a nice race. I do have some stuff that I need to improve on, like the finishing. Towards the end, I wanted to go...but no one was going to go with me. So, I slowed down and that guy just got ahead (editor's note: Steve Strickland, Utah State, winner in 8:42.97).

He just had a better kick?

I think I have a better kick and I felt strong through the race. If we had someone to push together and cooperate and keep the pace high, I think probably run 8:35 or somewhere around there.

You could run 8:35 right now?

Yeah, I think I could probably run under 8:35 right now.

What are your other goals for this NCAA outdoor season?

I think my aim right now is to work toward NCAA nationals. I remember last year, I didn't do as well as I wanted. I think this is my chance to do well. I'm getting in shape. I didn't have a good indoor, but right now I'm getting in shape. After racing this weekend, I think I'm coming back and I think I should be able to go for it.

You're not throwing out any numbers. Do you think you can be in the top three?

My aim right is to be top three. It's going be hard...but I'm going to fight for it, you know.

You mentioned coming off a not-so-stellar indoor season. What's changed with you that tells you that you're coming back around?

After the indoor season, I sorted it out with my coach. We had to reflect back on things I did and didn't do in indoor. We sat down and we talked about what we need to do to improve. I just kept going and training hard after spring break. I trained hard and went to Colorado for spring break and had some good workouts over there with long runs and tempo runs. I changed my workouts a little bit. I did a lot of strength training. I did a lot of mileage. I did a little fartleks...and they're kind of tough.

Can you go into specifics about your mileage and training?

Right now I'm not doing a lot of mileage. Probably about 65 a week. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, those are our workout days. We do those in the afternoon. I run about 30 minutes in the morning on those three days.

Do you consider yourself to be a shorter distance guy?

The way I started was running the 400-meter hurdles, actually (laughs). I'm a 51.06 400-meter hurdler.

How close to that could you get right now?

I think right now I might run something like 52 or 53. It's a bit hard now with the mileage I've put in.

What about the open 400?

The best I've run the 400 is 49. (Laughs) But that was a...long time ago! Probably a year and a half ago.

Are we going to see you in any 5Ks or 10Ks?

I think I can run the 5K, but I want to run one this season. We are running out of time because I had to run the steeple because I wanted to make it to nationals. I think I could run the 5K really good right now. I'm capable of running 13:46 or 13:45...something around there. Don't be surprised to be seeing me running it at Big 12s though. We might run it there, but I don't know yet.

Growing up in Kenya, were there any famous distance runners that your grew up with?

Oh, yeah! I grew with the likes of Augustine Choge, Isaac Songok and William Chirchir.

Your dad's got a famous name: Daniel Komen. He's not one of the famous Daniel Komens, is he?

No. But my dad coached Daniel Komen when he was in high school—the 3,000-meter world record holder. That was a long time ago when he used to be in high school. He was getting into running. He was the one trying to push him to get him to run well.

Is that how you got into running with having your dad coach other athletes?

Actually my dad was not really a coach, he was more working for our community, where he was trying to improve the talents in the district. He used to talk to people and try to help them achieve their goals in running.

When did you start running?

I started running in my junior year of high school. I started with running the 400 and the 400-meter hurdles...even the 110 hurdles. I had another coach in high school and together with my father, he coached me and helped me. I realized what I could do in running. I started getting serious and running. When I got to my senior high school, I was running 800 meters.

What's your 800 PR? Have you dipped under 1:50?

Fifty. Fifty. 1:50, I mean.

Do you think you could run a sub-four mile?

Actually, I think right now I could go sub-four in the mile. I'm pretty in shape. I think next year for sure, I should be going for a couple of sub-four miles.

Was it an easy transition for you to come and run in the US?

It was a little bit difficult. There was Kenyan training. Training there is a little bit different than the training we have in America. In America, they focus mainly on speed. But, in Kenya, they focus mainly on endurance and long runs and being tough.

How did you find your way to Texas Tech in the first place?

Do you remember that I first went to Oklahoma then I went to Texas Tech my second year? I was supposed to come here first, but due to some paperwork complications, I had to go to Oklahoma and race over there. Then I came here for the beginning of my second year. I liked it though. I had some good friends of mine, like Haron Lagat, Kevin Chelimo—who was my friend in school when we were training in Kenya. We used to go to a neighborhood school together. They were in college and I was in high school. When I came here, they were running really good. I wanted to be associated with winners. That occurred to me.

What are your long-term running goals?

After school—I'm focusing on my education right now—I want to see what I can do. You never know what can happen. You might find me in the starting line of the 1,500 meters at the next Olympics in 2012. I think I'll work hard and work for it. That is the goal. I have bigger things to achieve as a runner. Maybe world championships. I think I will work for it.

Is it frustrating to be a Kenyan and know that you have to run around eight minutes for a steeplechase to be competitive?

Well, some of those guys were running 8:42 and 8:35 and 8:30. They didn't run sub-eight immediately. I think to myself that I'm starting with 8:42. Next time I might go 8:35. Next time I might go 8:30 and just work my way back and come down. One day, I'll be able to do that. You never know.

Who are the runners that you look up to?

We used to go to a neighborhood school and there was a guy named Brimin Kipruto. World and Olympic Champion in the steeplechase. He's one that I look up to. The main runners that I look up to and give inspiration to me are the guys whom I competed with in high school. Right now they are 3:30 guys and Brimin is an eight-flat guy in the steeple. Choge is 7:28 in the 3,000. We were running together and racing together and although I'm not there yet, it motivates me to race hard and work hard to be like them.

Are you going to stick with the steeplechase for good or do you think you'll move up in distance?

I think right now that I like the 1,500 more than the steeple. (Laughs)

1,500? So you're not moving up in distance. You're actually going to move down in distance?

I like the 1,500 right now, but in the future I might think about moving to the 5K. It's a competitive race. I like the 1,500 more than the 3K.

How did you start doing the steeple in first place?

I wanted to give it a try. All these steeple guys were doing the 400 hurdles and moving up to the steeple. I was like, “yeah, let me see what I can do!” I think it's one of the races that I can do well with. If I train my mind on it and concentrate my training, I'm going to do very well on it. I think the 1,500 is my favorite event. I ran 3:45 last week.

Did that feel easy?

I think I can get faster. Actually, I wanted to run 3:42 or 3:41. I took the entire race.

What do you and your teammates do for fun when you get free time?

We hang out and go out for a dinner or to watch the movies, discussing major issues like politics. Things like that.

I saw that you're a news junkie. What do you read?

I read “The Daily Nation” from Kenya. Every single day online it's updated.

Is that something that you're interested in? In going into politics?

It's because I'm concerned about what's going on in Kenya and what's going on in the world. I just like following it. It's good to know what's going on in your country, it's good to know the leaders. I don't want to be in politics but I like to know what people do and what's going on there. Who are the good leaders...who are the bad leaders. I'm just being concerned with my family back home. I need to be like, “this guy is like this and this guy is like that.”

Can you give me a crazy running-related story?

I have a story from when I was in Kenya. We were running at a place called Kakamega. We ran on Friday and we spent the night and then on Saturday, we were to go back home. Before we went back home, we stayed with my friend for a little bit of a long run—one hour and thirty minutes—in the Kakamega Forest. It's one of the biggest forests in Kenya with tall trees and bushes inside. You can't see light. The idea was to run in a cool place. We knew that many people got lost inside this place. I had the idea of putting a leaf on the corner of every place we go on the trail, so that when we come back, we'll know the trail. If you were to miss the leaf, then you would find yourself in a very different place. We were supposed to go out 45 and come back 45. We came back following the leaves we had put out. There were a lot of trails. After 40 minutes, we still had five minutes to get out of the forest. We were not yet outside. At 50 minutes, I told my friend, “we're lost!” We hit 90 minutes and were still not out yet. I'm telling my friend, “man, we are lost!” They said, “no, we came from where we are going!” It wasn't slow and we were going the same pace. 95 minutes past. 100 minutes. An hour and forty! Still not outside. (Laughs) The problem was that our friends were running there too and did the same thing we were doing. We end up running their trail instead of ours. We ended up going an hour more than we wanted to. After that we were walking, we were not running. We were walking and walking and walking until we managed to get outside. Almost three hours later. When we got out, it was a whole different place and we didn't know where it was. We had to ask people where we were and how we were going to get back to the hotel. We had to ask for a ride back to the hotel!

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