Lopez Lomong advances to final in 1500 2009 IAAF World Championships

Lopez Lomong didn’t start running in high school, nor did he compete on a junior national circuit. Lomong learned to run at age 6 when he and his family were forced to flee their village as it came…
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Lopez Lomong didn’t start running in high school, nor did he compete on a junior national circuit. Lomong learned to run at age 6 when he and his family were forced to flee their village as it came…
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Lopez Lomong didn’t start running in high school, nor did he compete on a junior national circuit. Lomong learned to run at age 6 when he and his family were forced to flee their village as it came under attack by Kenyan rebel militia forces.

The now 22-year-old Northern Arizona University sophomore spent over a decade in hiding at a Catholic missionary refugee camp in Kenya. Lomong became one of 3,800 boys to come to the U.S. through the Lost Boys of Sudan program, and after a year at Virginia’s Norfolk State, he transferred to NAU for altitude training.

Lomong has since won fourth place in the NCAA Championship meet and earned All-American honors; run the 10km course in 30:59.8; and has been named the Big Sky Conference runner of the week after winning two indoor and two outdoor Big Sky titles at an elevation of almost 5,000 feet.

Lomong also won the men’s race at the NCAA Mountain regional cross-country championship in Riverdale, Utah; ran the second fastest time in the 800m at the Stanford Invitational in March; and has been named a favorite to win the 800m at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June.

Lomong is majoring in hotel management at NAU and, having just announced his plans to run professionally, hopes to represent the U.S. in international competition.