Running with Purpose

Fueled by a desire to champion his home country of Kenya, Wilson Kiriungi ’10 conquers one of the world’s most famous marathons.

By Dave Eisenberg

Wilson Kiriungi ’10 was in the hilly town of Iten, Kenya earlier this spring, running harder and further than he ever had before. Some 8,000 feet above sea level at the world-renowned High Altitude Training Center, he’d run as many as 20 miles a day. One morning, after running a relatively paltry eight miles, a fellow athlete even asked him: “When are you headed out for your evening run?”

“I was like, are you serious? I need rest,” Kiriungi said. 

The next month, all those miles run under the Kenyan sun paid off, as he finished the Boston Marathon, and in so doing earned one of the most coveted badges of honor the sport has to offer. Yet his rigorous training was never strictly about crossing the Boylston Street finish line. Kiriungi, who is from Kenya and moved to Worcester in the early aughts, was running for a greater purpose. 

A member of the Worcester State Foundation Board, Kiriungi has dedicated much of his life to fostering sustainable development in his home country. At the same time, he has endeavored to break down negative perceptions of Kenya in the U.S., and much of this work has been inspired by, or resulted directly from his love of running. Consequently, for Kiriungi, finishing the Boston Marathon in April represented a culmination of events from his two decades as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and cultural ambassador. 

“Running Boston is a major accomplishment,” he said. “But more importantly, this was an opportunity to raise awareness of social and cultural issues that are really important to me.”

His road to the starting line in Hopkinton, Mass. started way back in 2008. 

At the time, he’d felt Kenya had an image issue on the world stage. “A disaster would happen, the media would run over to cover it, then just pack up and leave,” he said. “It seemed like all anyone knew about Kenya were terrible things.” 

Concurrently, he was hyper-aware of the country’s reputation for producing world-class athletes, long-distance runners in particular. 

Sensing an opportunity in the disconnect, he founded a travel company called Run with Kenyans. His goal was to leverage Kenya’s athletic notoriety to celebrate and advance a “larger Kenyan agenda.” 

For example, the organization hosts “running safaris,” through which participants are able to travel to Nairobi, train with Kenyan runners, and experience the country’s rich culture first hand. Historically, it has also hosted what it calls the “Dinner With Champions.” Held the Saturday before the Boston Marathon, the event has served as a social function for marathon runners, as well as an opportunity to educate others about Kenyan culture.

“There are a whole lot of cool things going on in the country,” he said. “I wanted to celebrate them.” 

Oddly enough, Kiriungi founded the company before he started running himself. And this, he said, made him feel like “a bit of an imposter.” “Runners are very community-minded and love to talk about running,” he said. “So if you’re not a runner, you’re going to be miserable around them.” 

That was when Kiriungi decided to hit the streets himself. He started with a “couch to 5K” program, “like everyone else,” eventually working his way up to a half-marathon, his longest official race until this April. 

Given his growing skill as a runner and his knack for using the sport to bring about positive change, running a full marathon felt inevitable. And when he finally set that goal, he knew he’d be running to support his Wahome Foundation.

Founded in 2009 and named for his father, the charitable organization supports sustainable development in Kenya. The foundation has spearheaded a variety of projects, including the construction of a pedestrian bridge over a dangerous river and the drilling of boreholes for drinking water in particularly arid areas. 

For the marathon, Kiriungi was focused on education for Kenyan children. He was specifically fundraising to support scholarships for students who otherwise might not be able to continue their studies due to financial pressures or other opportunity gaps. 

“We’re trying to make sure kids who are exceptionally bright but also very needy aren’t falling through the cracks,” he said. 

Now, with Boston’s most famous 26.2-mile stretch behind him, Kiriungi is shifting his attention back to his day job. 

He’s the founder and CEO of Autism Allies, a provider of Applied Behavioral Analysis services. The organization has grown to include five clinics in Massachusetts and Connecticut, serves close to 140 families, and employs more than 100 people. And while his work with Autism Allies is very different from his work with Run with Kenyans and the Wahome Foundation, his motivations are much the same. 

“I feel like if you’re able to help people, you have an obligation to,” he said. “I wouldn’t be a good global citizen, given the privileges I’ve benefitted from, including the education I received from Worcester State, if I wasn’t giving back in whatever ways I can. It’s hard work, but that feels insignificant compared to what I get out of it.”  

In other words, Kiriungi is lacing his shoes right back up and running off to where he presently feels called.