Olympic Silver Medalist: 5000M
5,000M Personal Best: 12:57.55
[That's all we need to say]

Paul Chelimo has been a supporter of ArtiKen since day one so there was no question about collaborating with him on something special. He is like family to us and we wanted to do something special that would encompass his story. Paul just happens to be one of the best distance runners in the world on any given day and just thinking about his 5,000M personal best of 12 minutes and 57 seconds is enough to make most normal people exhausted. We use the word “normal” here for a reason. Paul is anything but normal, from his incredibly disciplined lifestyle to his wire-to-wire racing strategy. Paul also comes from a unique background. Born and raised in Kenya, he came to the United States for college and then joined the U.S. Army as a water treatment specialist (it’s no wonder we vibe with him). As an American citizen who hails from Kenya, it made perfect that Paul would want to do a collaboration that showed some love to both and we couldn't be happier to make this happen! We had some questions for him:

1) What drove you to leave Kenya to come run for the U.S.?

This is a country that gave me a full scholarship, they accepted me as one of their own and that's why when I represent the U.S. at a Global Championships; it's Do or Die.

2) What does competing for the U.S. mean to you?

Competing for the U.S. means a lot to me, the U.S. has accepted me as one of their own and I will always Go Hard and represent U.S. to the best of my abilities even if it takes dying on the finishing line so be it.

3) What is the first thing you do when you return to Kenya?

The first thing I do when I return to Kenya is enjoy some nice Kenyan delicacy then get a good run since being back to Kenya every run feels rejuvenating

In our collaboration with Paul, we pay homage to his roots and respects to his home. In our pack that we have dubbed, "Chelimo's Culture", we embellish a 1/2 USA flag and 1/2 Kenya flag bracelet!

ArtiKen

Search

Collections