He met Sammy Kitwara and the professional trained with him and introduced him to his coach, Moses Kiptanui, a three-time world champion in the steeplechase.

He initially wanted to follow Kitwara into longer distances, but Kiptanui recognised his speed and urged him to try shorter events instead.

[2] His European debut marked a meteoric arrival onto the elite athletics scene – not only did he outrun more experienced runners such as Amine Laâlou and Augustine Choge, but he improved his personal best time by five seconds of 3:29.27 and raised himself into the top ten fastest runners ever for the event.

[3][4] He gained selection for the event at the 2010 African Championships in Athletics and he just missed out on a medal, finishing fourth behind Mekonnen Gebremedhin.

[6] After the close of the European summer track and field circuit, he represented Kenya at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.