Iowa State's Hillary Bor, an Eldoret, Kenya native, has been ripping up the NCAA distance scene since his freshman year. This past outdoors season, Bor took second in the NCAA 3,000-meter steeplechase, running 8 minutes 35.12 seconds behind BYU's Kyle Perry. Last season he took fourth (8:36.84). He's also got a finish 56th-place finish in cross country. With another big cross country season ahead of us, let's see how Bor does.

How much running are you doing right now?

Right now I'm not doing very much running. Maybe 40 minutes in the morning and 40 minutes in the evening. Only about 40 miles a week. I'm starting my summer training later this year than last year. I think last year I started early though. I decided to start late this time.

How happy were you with your runner-up finish in the steeplechase?

I was very happy. At the beginning of the season, I was thinking about winning the race. But, then I got some problems, but kept trying my best. So, I was really happy with second place at nationals.

What were those problems?

After indoor, I had allergy problems...all the way up to the Cardinal Meet. But it got better.

How much will your mileage build up as we head toward cross country season?

I'll just increase by about 10 miles every week. I'm not a mileage guy. I'll work up to 70 for a while then concentrate on speed work to get to nationals.

70 miles a week is where you feel the most comfortable?

Yeah, I feel the most comfortable at 70 miles a week. Last year I tried 80 miles and it felt good, but I paid for it. Like I said, 70 miles is good for me.

Was that 80 miles in doubles?

Most of it was singles in three days and then the rest doubles.

How did you get into the sport of running the first place back in Kenya?

Our family is kind of a running family. I would run with my uncle. He came to the United States in the 70s. He went to the University of Villanova. I used to call with them and follow them running around. But, for me, it was running to school. School is far away and we used to run there from home. We'd run going to school and coming back from school.

Do you know how your uncle did at Villanova?

He ran pretty well. I think 8:19 in the steeplechase. He ran well. Then (another uncle) Barnaba Korir (an Iowa State All-American) ran 3:39 in the 1,500.

And you have family running here in the states right now?

I have two brothers running here. Emmnuel transferred this fall and is at the University of Alabama. And Julius (Cloud County Community College) ran 3:58 in the mile with Leo Manzano last year.

You'll race them a few times this season, I assume. What's that like for you?

Last year we did, but I was not feeling good. I don't like cross country sometimes, but I'm excited to run him at nationals.

You don't like cross country?

I don't like it sometimes.

That surprises me because you said the way you got into the sports was running cross-country style to and from school every day. Did you get sick of it and prefer the track?

In Kenya I just ran to and from school. When I got there I'd play other sports. I would watch it and follow it. I did run 3:55 in the 1,500. I didn't train a lot. I like being on the track.

When's the next time you'll be going back to Kenya?

December.

What are some of the huge changes for you to be going back and forth from an American university to going back to Kenya?

Going back to Kenya is exciting to being back with my family and people I grew up with. I grew up in a difficult part. Maybe people treat me differently than they used to. That's a difficult thing when I go back to Kenya.

People back in Kenya treat you differently for coming to America?

Yeah. Yeah. They say things like they think I think I know more stuff than they do.

What are you studying at Iowa State?

Accounting and finance. That's what I want to do. Be an accountant.

What do you do for fun with your teammates?

Sometimes we play computer games like FIFA and basketball and other games like card games.

Are you good at those games?

Oh, yeah. I'm damn good! (Laughs). I really like it. Especially FIFA.

What are your individual goals for this cross country season?

I just want to be All-American and for the team to do better than they did last year.

If you could eat one meal, prepared by anyone, what would you have and who would make it?

I like ugali. It's made from corn flour. You boil it in hot water and make like a cake. It's really good.

You like ugali more than greasy American foods like pizza and cheeseburgers?

Oh, yeah. It's got more nutrition than those. It's a good food for running.

What are your long term running goals? Or are you sure you want to be an accountant?

I want to run professionally. That's my plan. Right now, I'm trying to finish my degree and probably my masters, then I would like to run professionally.

Can you give you a crazy running-related story?

I have one from back in Kenya. I was training with my brother Emmanuel. We used to run in the morning and train with the marathoners. Do you know Martin Lel?

Yup.

One morning he lied to us like, “we're going to go for a 60-minute run.” We were with some of those guys, so we were like, “if we're running 60 minutes with these guys, we'd better run fast!” The problem was we didn't know the distances. We thought we were going on a shorter route. We started running like 5:20-5:25 pace for the first few miles. We didn't stop on that shorter route...we had to go on the next one. We didn't know that the next route was going to take us another 40 minutes. As we were running, we kept pushing the pace and didn't know where we were. My brother was really tired and hadn't been training that well. He had to stop a car and ask for lift back to the training grounds. We ended up going two hours. The marathoners chose the plan.