Iten is a town in Rift Valley Province of Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

. It is located along the road between Eldoret

Eldoret

Eldoret is a town in western Kenya and the administrative centre of Uasin Gishu District of Rift Valley Province. Lying south of the Cherangani Hills, the local elevation varies from about 2100 metres above sea level at the airport to more than 2700 metres in nearby areas...

 and Kabarnet

Kabarnet

Kabarnet is a town in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya. The town has an urban population of 9,583 and a total population of 24,661 - Geography :...

. Elgeyo escarpment

Elgeyo escarpment

Elgeyo escarpment is a fault-scarp caused by post-Miocene faulting and there are Miocene beds visible. The escarpment is part of the western wall of the Great Rift Valley....

 and Kerio River

Kerio River

Kerio is a river in Rift Valley province, Kenya. It flows northward into Lake Turkana. It is one of the longest rivers in Kenya, originating near the equator. In south it flows through the Kerio Valley between Tugen Hills and Elgeyo escarpment. The river also partly bounds the South Turkana...

 are located east of Iten. The town has a population of 4000 http://treasury.go.ke/cbs.go.ke/pdf/authority.pdf.

It forms a common local authority (Iten/Tambach town council) with Tambach, a small town in the vicinity. Iten is the capital of the Keiyo District

Keiyo District

Keiyo District is an administrative district in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya. The district was formed in 1994, when Elgeyo/Marakwet-District was split into two, the other half is Marakwet District of today. Keiyo District has a population of 143.865...

. Iten was also the headquarters of the former Elgeyo-Marakwet District since 1966, when it replaced Tambach as the headquarters.

The name of the town is corruption of Hill Ten, a local rock formation named by Joseph Thomson

Joseph Thomson (explorer)

Joseph Thomson was a Scottish geologist and explorer who played an important part in the Scramble for Africa. Thomson's Gazelle is named for him. Excelling as an explorer rather than an exact scientist, he avoided confrontations among his porters or with indigenous peoples, neither killing any...

.

The mayor of Iten is Mary Ruto (as of 2009), one of the few female mayors in Kenya.

St. Patrick's High School is located in Iten. The school has, over the last 30 years, produced world-class long distance athletes and is preferred by many promising Kenyan runners. Some of the alumni include Ibrahim Hussein, winner of three Boston Marathons and one New York City Marathon; Peter Rono

Peter Rono

Peter Kipchumba Rono is a former Kenyan athlete, who won the 1,500 metres at the 1988 Summer Olympics....

, a 1988 Olympic gold medalist at 1,500 meters; Wilson Boit Kipketer

Wilson Boit Kipketer

Wilson Boit Kipketer is a middle and long distance athlete most widely known for running the 3000 m steeplechase. On August 13, 1997, at the Weltklasse Zürich, he set the world record in the steeplechase at 7:59.08, the third of three world records set in a 70 minute period of time...

, a 1997 world champion and 2000 Olympic silver medalist in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

The town hosts the high altitude training centre, HATC [2], founded by Lornah Kiplagat

Lornah Kiplagat

Lornah Kiplagat is a Dutch long-distance runner. She was born in Kabiemit, Rift Valley Province, Kenya and came to the Netherlands in 1999. She gained Dutch citizenship in 2003 and has competed for the Netherlands since...

.

External links

• http://web.archive.org/web/20070318110920/http://www.geocities.com/hatc99/where.htm
• http://www.lornah.com/