Boston Bound: The Joy of Wesley Kiptoo and Alex Masai

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’ll 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 crew, with the 2026 Boston Marathon their imminent aim race.

HOKA has sponsored the Northern Arizona Elite (NAZ Elite) working crew since 2015, a yr after the crew was based. Its coaches and members reside and practice in Flagstaff, Arizona, which sits at about 7,000 ft 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 crew members have received numerous nationwide titles and positioned within the prime 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 straightforward to neglect that they’re elite athletes prepping for one of the crucial coveted prizes in marathoning. Masai has the doorways of his unassuming black automobile 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 mass 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 automobile aren’t for a dance celebration.

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, provides off the sense that she’s seen all these antics earlier than however is comfortable to be in lighthearted firm.

This managed chaos is overseen by HOKA NAZ Elite head coach Jack Mullaney, who initiatives 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 (heart) determine his watch as coach Jack Mullaney seems on.

Mullaney has been with the crew because the fall of 2023 and writes all the coaching for Masai and Kiptoo. He is aware of his athletes nicely, rattling off their actual instances at varied 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 large image of coaching and restoration so as to present up prepared on race day. Mullaney assesses that Masai enjoys putting his full give attention to his working: coaching, consuming, recovering, and sleeping. In the meantime, he thinks Kiptoo thrives off human interplay and advantages from having his two youngsters — ages 4 and 5 — round, giving his life one other point of interest.

Mullaney says Masai hits paces completely in exercises, whereas Kiptoo generally succumbs to racing a coaching run. “Kiptoo’s a toddler at coronary heart,” Mullaney says. “And I imply that in an endearing means.” 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 will probably be good for the Boston Marathon.

In accordance with Mullaney, the Cielo X1 3.0 PEBA foam affords top-notch shock absorption, which is crucial on the hilly course. He says, “A lot of getting race comes all the way down to maintaining your legs beneath you thru the Newton Hills [which stretch between miles 16 to 21] and having the ability to run sturdy all the best way 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.

At the moment’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 reasonably 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 a sudden, it’s all enterprise as Masai, Kiptoo, and Wildschutt fall into step with one another, with Wooden beginning her personal exercise simply behind. Instantly, you may see that this trio is used to working collectively, their strides typically syncing as if shifting 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 once they go by The Mailboxes the place different coaching teams are warming up. Their tempo on the exhausting 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 go 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 remaining 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 vitality 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 attempt to enhance.

Masai and Kiptoo have loads in frequent. The 2 have recognized one another since 2020, once they met at a 10-kilometer race. Masai says that they clicked instantly as associates. 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 houses in Kenya to Flagstaff that had been concurrently comparable and really completely different.

However they’re additionally actually completely different of their backgrounds, paths to professional working, and strategy to balancing working with life. The variations are obvious from how they execute exercises to how they schedule post-workout interviews. Kiptoo is comfortable to take a seat on a rock proper after warming down to speak, whereas Masai, who instantly drinks a protein drink, goes house to bathe and relaxation earlier than assembly up once more on the HOKA NAZ Elite efficiency heart earlier than their power 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 identical occasion. As a toddler, Masai wasn’t significantly concerned about following in his siblings’ footsteps. He jokes, “My major lecturers invited me into their workers room to observe 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 return to the U.S. was “just about a free training. I didn’t know the way a lot into working I’d get. I simply thought, I’ve ok health for an training.”

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 offers 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 considering working was one thing massive.”

However Korir understood the alternatives obtainable to student-athletes within the U.S. and inspired these within the academy to succeed in for them. Kiptoo finally believed within the mission, “I wished to get good in class, get good grades, and preserve 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 yr within the U.S., Masai nonetheless noticed working as a way to an finish. “Cross-country coaching wasn’t that troublesome. If I may simply rating some factors on the cross-country crew, I may get a free training.” His faculty on the time didn’t have a observe crew, so Masai ran cross nation and studied prison justice, hoping to hitch the Kenyan police power after faculty.

Then, in 2018, whereas house in Kenya for summer season break, beneath 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 assumed, I wish to run for a residing.”

Masai discovered that it wasn’t simply the exercises that mattered however the restoration as nicely. 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 alter my mentality.” When he returned to the U.S. for the autumn semester, now a pupil 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 yr at a U.S. group school. Utilizing computer systems, studying English, and moving into courses had been troublesome. He was injured and never working nicely. He says, “I used to be eager about going again house. I known as my household and mentioned, ‘I don’t suppose I can handle it over right here.’ However they advised me, ‘Discover a approach to be taught issues, and also you’ll catch up.’”

Kiptoo caught it out. By his second semester, he had made associates and began working higher. He remembers, “I found out easy methods to take one step at a time with out getting extra confused. I simply wished to verify I don’t return house, as a result of life is all the time exhausting.” That yr, 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 somewhat bit like, Oh man, I don’t know the way that goes! But it surely was enjoyable.”

Kiptoo transferred to Iowa State College in 2020. Throughout his tenure, he grew to become 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 youngsters.

Becoming a member of HOKA NAZ Elite

In accordance 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 crew. Masai says, “In case you get guys like him who all the time wish to get higher, we’re going to realize extra.”

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

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 rely on each exercise, each run.”

In the meantime, Flagstaff and HOKA NAZ Elite appealed to Kiptoo, and he joined the crew 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 house,” and Flagstaff’s excessive elevation match the invoice. He continues, “The second factor is they’d a powerful crew for observe and street working. My essential aim was to get a bunch that would help me to get to the subsequent degree.” Kiptoo appreciates the social facet 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 give attention to 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 centered 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 Larger 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 accordance with Masai, “[Kiptoo] is stronger within the shorter periods. He’s extra explosive. I attempt to cling behind him, as a result of I do know he’s going to do job.” When runs get longer, Masai takes over, saying, “I’m extra affected person. If I’m 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 approach to get pleasure from coaching. I really feel like our personalities come out.” He continues, “With regards to simply laughing round, jokes and stuff, we let one another be ourselves. And that’s been nice for nearly 4 years now.”

For Kiptoo, maintaining it enjoyable is the important thing to enduring the day by day grind. “We’re doing marathon coaching. It’s a protracted block. Generally we get drained, so we simply have enjoyable. And we simply wish to get by it.” He continues, “The primary 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 subsequent one feeling wholesome and robust and working with higher spirits?’ That means, we all the time elevate one another.”

Masai leads Kiptoo and Wildschutt.

Additionally they share an open honesty. Masai says, “We’re undoubtedly like siblings. It’s straightforward 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 choices 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 disintegrate on Heartbreak Hill after mile 20. If these issues all come collectively, a runner is ready up for consequence.

Each Kiptoo and Masai say they’ve been coaching wholesome and robust of their lead-up. Kiptoo, who grew to become 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 accordance with Mullaney, Kiptoo has raced a lot much less main as much as Boston this yr 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 accomplice. “Final yr, I used to be coaching [for Boston] on my own. And this yr, I’ve [Masai]. We’re in a great spot to shoot for place.”

Kiptoo leads Masai and Wildschutt into the wind.

Masai’s confidence comes from figuring out that he’s executed each exercise to the most effective of his skill. After his third place on the 2025 Chicago Marathon, he discovered that he might be on the entrance of the large races. He says, “So long as I practice nicely, I imagine in my skill to compete in opposition to the most effective on that given day.” There’s a profit to figuring out what it feels prefer 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 most effective.”

Masai is wanting ahead to racing alongside Kiptoo, figuring out 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 be wanting ahead to racing alongside his teammate. “Generally it’s scary going to a race since you don’t know the way you’ll really feel. However if you see your teammate, you’re like, We bought this!”

Better Than a Sum of the Components

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

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

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 short-term and is obscure about what comes after, however says that for now, “simply having fun with the trip of having fun with working” is loads sufficient.

Mullaney watches his runners with a steadfast evenness.

When it comes time to go to the Boston Marathon begin line, it’s straightforward to think about that Masai and Kiptoo received’t be the quiet, centered ones sitting with their inside ideas. Kiptoo is perhaps bouncing round together with his Tigger-like vitality, with Masai laughing alongside in his quieter confidence. It’s additionally straightforward to think about they’ll spend that bus trip 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, beneath the steering 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.]