Pro runners and training partners Alex Masai and Wesley Kiptoo aren’t brothers, but they act like it. The Kenyans tease and heckle each other, they run with a near-identical stride, and you can easily feel their deep mutual respect. There’s also a levity about them — that nothing is so serious that it can’t be laughed about — which contrasts their serious dedication to running. And both are members of the now-institutional HOKA Northern Arizona Elite running team, with the 2026 Boston Marathon their imminent goal race.
Alex Masai (center) and Wesley Kiptoo (right) are rarely found without smiles on their faces. All photos: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
HOKA has sponsored the Northern Arizona Elite (NAZ Elite) running team since 2015, a year after the team was founded. Its coaches and members live and train in Flagstaff, Arizona, which sits at about 7,000 feet in altitude and is surrounded by forests, with easy access to lower-elevation desert training grounds. It’s an area already known for its running community, and HOKA NAZ Elite team members have won countless national titles and placed in the top 10 of major marathons.
Watching Masai and Kiptoo, who’ve been members of HOKA NAZ Elite for several years, get ready for their workout on a cloudy and windy late March morning at Mile 0 on Lake Mary Road just outside of Flagstaff, it’s easy to forget that they’re elite athletes prepping for one of the most coveted prizes in marathoning. Masai has the doors of his unassuming black car open, with bass beats blasting; Kiptoo bounces around and smiles nonstop, the human version of Tigger in “Winnie the Pooh.”
The pair seamlessly switches between English, Kiswahili, and their respective tribal dialects as they chat and warm up their muscles with massage guns. Masai wears a beaded necklace with a pendant shaped like the African continent, which shifts around his neck when he runs. Kiptoo is unmissable in an orange long-sleeve shirt and black shorts.
The massage guns give away that the beats coming from the car aren’t for a dance party.
Teammates Adrian Wildschutt of South Africa and the U.S.’s Paige Wood are here too. Wildschutt, who placed 10th at the 2024 Olympic Games in the 10,000 meters, is trying to load the day’s workout onto his new watch, while Wood, the 2022 U.S. Marathon National Champion, gives off the sense that she’s seen all these antics before but is happy to be in lighthearted company.
This controlled chaos is overseen by HOKA NAZ Elite head coach Jack Mullaney, who projects an even-keeled demeanor as he sends them out for a warmup. The four jog off into the forest, their chatter audible even after they’re out of sight.
Wesley Kiptoo (left) and Alex Masai (right) help Adrian Wildschutt (center) figure out his watch as coach Jack Mullaney looks on.
Mullaney has been with the team since the fall of 2023 and writes all of the training for Masai and Kiptoo. He knows his athletes well, rattling off their exact times at various races over the years and offering analysis on their past performances and future potential.
He talks easily about them as humans, too. He says Masai is an introvert who understands the big picture of training and recovery in order to show up ready on race day. Mullaney assesses that Masai enjoys placing his full focus on his running: training, eating, recovering, and sleeping. Meanwhile, he thinks Kiptoo thrives off human interaction and benefits from having his two kids — ages four and five — around, giving his life another focal point.
Mullaney says Masai hits paces perfectly in workouts, while Kiptoo sometimes succumbs to racing a training run. “Kiptoo’s a child at heart,” Mullaney says. “And I mean that in an endearing way.” He notes that when Kiptoo and Masai train together, they don’t race because Masai doesn’t take Kiptoo’s bait.
From left to right, Paige Wood, Wesley Kiptoo, Adrian Wildschutt, and Alex Masai return from their warmup on a forest road.
Doing the Work
About 30 minutes later, back from their warmup, all four runners switch shoes for the workout. Kiptoo chooses the HOKA Cielo X1 2.0, Wildschutt opts for the HOKA Rocket X 3, and Masai dons the HOKA Cielo X1 3.0. They stretch and do strides, chatting about how the new HOKA Cielo will be good for the Boston Marathon.
According to Mullaney, the Cielo X1 3.0 PEBA foam offers top-notch shock absorption, which is critical on the hilly course. He says, “So much of having a good race comes down to keeping your legs under you through the Newton Hills [which stretch between miles 16 to 21] and being able to run strong all the way to the finish line.” Mullaney points out that the carbon-plated shoe is lighter than the previous version and says that both Kiptoo and Masai have commented on how responsive it feels while still providing enough cushion throughout a long run.
Masai switches into the HOKA Cielo X1 3.0 for the workout.
Today’s workout is a fartlek, with 25 repeats of one minute on/one minute off along Lake Mary Road, a hallowed training ground for area athletes. Mullaney has selected this hilly section of road to simulate the Boston Marathon course. It’s an effort-based workout rather than a pace-based one, but he still has his stopwatches in hand.
HOKA NAZ Elite head coach Jack Mullaney watches his runners throughout the workout.
The group’s chatter continues as they jog up to the mile marker where the workout officially starts. Suddenly, it’s all business as Masai, Kiptoo, and Wildschutt fall into step with each other, with Wood starting her own workout just behind. Right away, you can see that this trio is used to running together, their strides often syncing as if moving as one unit.
Wildschutt, Masai, and Kiptoo (left to right) run the Lake Mary Road hills with teammate Wood in the background.
For the first 13 one-minute efforts, they run south on Lake Mary Road, the blustery wind at their backs. They receive cheers when they pass by The Mailboxes where other training groups are warming up. Their pace on the hard minutes varies with the hills and wind, but ranges from 4:13 to 4:56 per mile.
Kiptoo, Wildschutt, and Masai (front to back) are cheered by other runners as they pass by The Mailboxes.
Halfway through the workout, about 4.5 miles in, they turn around and into the wind, alternating leading and drafting. Mullaney waits for them every mile with water bottles and words of encouragement. On the final one-minute effort, Kiptoo and Wildschutt push the pace, opening a small gap on Masai.
“That’s on brand,” Mullaney says of this final acceleration, “I have to be careful when I pair [Kiptoo and Wildschutt] together because they will race.” Also, on brand, Masai lets them go.
On the final fartlek, Kiptoo and Wildschutt push the pace and open a small gap on Masai.
The lighthearted energy returns immediately after the nine-mile workout as they drink and head out for a warmdown. Kiptoo, Masai, and Mullaney have clearly built an unspoken trust that allows each of them to be themselves as they all strive to improve.
Masai and Kiptoo have a lot in common. The two have known each other since 2020, when they met at a 10-kilometer race. Masai says that they clicked immediately as friends. They both came to the U.S. from Kenya on college running scholarships. They both ended up at HOKA NAZ Elite as pro runners. And now they’re both training for the Boston Marathon.
Masai (left) and Kiptoo had journeys from their homes in Kenya to Flagstaff that were simultaneously similar and very different.
But they are also really different in their backgrounds, paths to pro running, and approach to balancing running with life. The differences are apparent from how they execute workouts to how they schedule post-workout interviews. Kiptoo is happy to sit on a rock right after warming down to chat, while Masai, who immediately drinks a protein drink, goes home to shower and rest before meeting up again at the HOKA NAZ Elite performance center before their strength session and second run.
Growing Up in Kenya
Masai grew up in a running household in the Mount Elgon region of western Kenya. Masai’s older sister took bronze at the 10,000 meters at the 2008 Olympic Games, and his older brother finished fourth at the same event. As a child, Masai wasn’t particularly interested in following in his siblings’ footsteps. He jokes, “My primary teachers invited me into their staff room to watch TV while my sister and brother were running.”
But Masai wanted to travel, and saw through his brother and sister that running was a path to this goal. Masai was already attending college in Kenya when he participated in a trial hosted by U.S. college recruiters. The opportunity to come to the U.S. was “pretty much a free education. I didn’t know how much into running I’d get. I just thought, I have good enough fitness for an education.”
Masai with a protein drink immediately after finishing his warmdown.
Meanwhile, Kiptoo grew up near the famed running city of Eldoret and took up running in middle school, much earlier than Masai. While everyone else in his family refused to run, Kiptoo’s talent was apparent. In 2014, he was recruited to join 2012 Boston Marathon champion Wesley Korir’s Transcend Talent Academy, which provides scholarships and coaching to promising Kenyan youth runners. Kiptoo says that initially, “I didn’t think about where running could take me. I wasn’t thinking running was something big.”
But Korir understood the opportunities available to student-athletes in the U.S. and encouraged those in the academy to reach for them. Kiptoo eventually believed in the mission, “I wanted to get good in school, get good grades, and maintain my running.” In 2018, he was recruited to a Kansas community college. That first semester, he admits, “I got shocked because I had never experienced winter.”
Collegiate Success
During his first year in the U.S., Masai still saw running as a means to an end. “Cross-country training wasn’t that difficult. If I could just score some points on the cross-country team, I could get a free education.” His school at the time didn’t have a track team, so Masai ran cross country and studied criminal justice, hoping to join the Kenyan police force after school.
Then, in 2018, while home in Kenya for summer break, under his coach’s instructions to improve, Masai had a change of heart. “For those three months, I was training with elite athletes. I got to understand what they do, wake up every morning, and do all those workouts with them. That changed my mind. I thought, I want to run for a living.”
Masai learned that it wasn’t just the workouts that mattered but the recovery as well. He says, “There are a lot of things that happen behind the scenes. So I was like, If this is what it takes to train full-time, I have to change my mentality.” When he returned to the U.S. for the fall semester, now a student at the NCAA Division I Hofstra University in New York, he was all in on full-time running.
Kiptoo: the human embodiment of cheerful Tigger.
Kiptoo struggled through his first year at a U.S. community college. Using computers, learning English, and getting into classes were difficult. He was injured and not running well. He says, “I was thinking about going back home. I called my family and said, ‘I don’t think I can manage it over here.’ But they told me, ‘Find a way to learn things, and you’ll catch up.’”
Kiptoo stuck it out. By his second semester, he had made friends and started running better. He remembers, “I figured out how to take one step at a time without getting more stressed. I just wanted to make sure I don’t go back home, because life is always hard.” That year, he won the NJCAA 5,000 meters national championships and says, “From there, I never looked back.” He also met his future wife while working at the college cafeteria, “I had never dated here. But it was a little bit like, Oh man, I don’t know how that goes! But it was fun.”
Kiptoo transferred to Iowa State University in 2020. During his tenure, he became a seven-time NCAA Division I All-American in both track and cross country, and in 2021, he won the NCAA indoor 5,000-meter national championships. He also got married and had two kids.
Joining HOKA NAZ Elite
According to Masai, when he and Kiptoo first met at a 10k race in 2020, “We clicked.” Masai, who is two years older than Kiptoo, joined HOKA NAZ Elite first in August 2021 after graduating and made a case for bringing Kiptoo onto the team. Masai says, “If you get guys like him who always want to get better, we’re going to achieve more.”
Lake Mary Road, and Flagstaff in general, attracts top-level runners to the area.
He laughs when he tells the story, “It was for my own benefit, too, because I wanted someone to train with. That’s how we can get better, having someone you can count on every workout, every run.”
Meanwhile, Flagstaff and HOKA NAZ Elite appealed to Kiptoo, and he joined the team in 2022. He says, “Because I grew up in Eldoret in Kenya, I wanted to get somewhere where I can train like back home,” and Flagstaff’s high elevation fit the bill. He continues, “The second thing is they had a strong team for track and road running. My main goal was to get a group that could support me to get to the next level.” Kiptoo appreciates the social aspect of the Flagstaff running scene, “In the summer, there’s a lot of runners. And we get into group running. It’s fun.”
In the years that followed, Masai would focus on shorter distances before transitioning to the marathon. Masai would finish ninth at the 2024 Chicago Marathon, his debut at the distance. He returned to finish third at the event in 2025, which he calls “my breakthrough performance, by far.”
Kiptoo also initially focused on shorter distances before finishing 12th at the 2023 Chicago Marathon. In 2024, he finished 16th at the New York City Marathon, and in 2025, he finished 12th at his first attempt at the Boston Marathon.
Flying Higher Together
Masai and Kiptoo both say that training together makes them better. Masai says, “We understand each other’s weaknesses, and work from our own strengths to help each other.”
According to Masai, “[Kiptoo] is stronger in the shorter sessions. He’s more explosive. I try to hang behind him, because I know he’s going to do a good job.” When runs get longer, Masai takes over, saying, “I’m more patient. If I go in front and control the pace, we’re going to have a better outcome on long runs.”
Masai and Kiptoo understand that by working together, they can be stronger.
This mutalism extends beyond running. Kiptoo says, “We also found a way to enjoy training. I feel like our personalities come out.” He continues, “When it comes to just laughing around, jokes and stuff, we let each other be ourselves. And that’s been great for almost four years now.”
For Kiptoo, keeping it fun is the key to enduring the daily grind. “We’re doing marathon training. It’s a long block. Sometimes we get tired, so we just have fun. And we just want to get through it.” He continues, “The main thing is, ‘How can we get better?’ So if it’s a workout, it’s ‘How can we push this workout? How can we control this workout so we go to the next one feeling healthy and strong and running with better spirits?’ That way, we always elevate each other.”
Masai leads Kiptoo and Wildschutt.
They also share an open honesty. Masai says, “We’re definitely like siblings. It’s easy to tell the truth because I know it’s not going to hurt him.” They’ll call each other out if one is making bad decisions and hold each other accountable for doing all the little things right, so they show up to each workout ready.
Boston and the Future
Coach Mullaney rightfully says that the Boston Marathon is a race where anything can happen. One needs to be able to handle the downhill of the first few miles, reach the Newton Hills at mile 16 with strong legs, and not fall apart on Heartbreak Hill after mile 20. If those things all come together, a runner is set up for a good result.
Both Kiptoo and Masai say they’ve been training healthy and strong in their lead-up. Kiptoo, who became a U.S. citizen in September 2025, raced in the 2025 U.S. Cross Country Championships in December and placed third, earning him a spot to represent Team USA at the 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships in January in Florida, where he was 14th. In March 2026, he won the U.S. Half Marathon National Championships.
According to Mullaney, Kiptoo has raced much less leading up to Boston this year than in 2025, and speculates that he’ll be fresher with more specific marathon training in his legs. But for Kiptoo, the biggest change has been his training partner. “Last year, I was training [for Boston] by myself. And this year, I have [Masai]. We are in a good spot to shoot for a good position.”
Kiptoo leads Masai and Wildschutt into the wind.
Masai’s confidence comes from knowing that he’s executed every workout to the best of his ability. After his third place at the 2025 Chicago Marathon, he learned that he can be at the front of the big races. He says, “As long as I train well, I believe in my ability to compete against the best on that given day.” There is a benefit to knowing what it feels like to run at the front of a World Marathon Majors event. “It changes your racing mentality. I’m not just going to hang out and see. I’m going there to race against the best.”
Masai is looking forward to racing alongside Kiptoo, knowing they’ve put in the work together. “Let’s say we’re at halfway and things get serious, then I know we train together. You’re staying strong, I’m going to stay strong too.”
Kiptoo is also looking forward to racing alongside his teammate. “Sometimes it’s scary going to a race because you don’t know how you’ll feel. But when you see your teammate, you’re like, We got this!”
Greater Than a Sum of the Parts
Perhaps what makes Masai and Kiptoo, and the whole HOKA NAZ Elite team, so strong is that they’ve embraced their different personalities and strengths to make the collective something bigger than the sum of its individual parts.
For Kiptoo, who has made a home for himself in Flagstaff for now, motivation comes from his family. “My kids love running. So when I go home, I want to stretch, and they join me. I bought them some HOKA shoes, and every time we go for a walk, they want to run all the way.” Kiptoo notes that his kids are also his biggest critics, “When I go to my races, they will wake up to watch. And if I don’t win, they’re like, ‘What happened? You need to be running in the front. We need a big medal.’ And when I win, they are so happy.”
For Masai, he says, “I want to continue performing.” He trains, eats, and sleeps with a full focus. He knows that a running career is temporary and is vague about what comes after, but says that for now, “just enjoying the ride of enjoying running” is plenty enough.
Mullaney watches his runners with a steadfast evenness.
When it comes time to head to the Boston Marathon start line, it’s easy to imagine that Masai and Kiptoo won’t be the quiet, focused ones sitting with their internal thoughts. Kiptoo might be bouncing around with his Tigger-like energy, with Masai laughing along in his quieter confidence. It’s also easy to imagine they’ll spend that bus ride joking with each other, switching between languages, and bringing all the elements that have made them successful training partners — honesty, levity, and so many shared miles — to the streets of Boston.
Kiptoo and Masai, under the guidance of Mullaney, will surely bring their joy to Boston.
[Editor’s Note: This article is sponsored by HOKA. Thank you to the brand for its sponsorship of iRunFar, which helps to make iRunFar happen and free for all to enjoy. Learn more about our sponsored articles.]
