By Emilie Hackett, Special to the Record – Local long-distance runner Perry Mackinnon left the Eastern Townships on January 6 for the small town of Iten, Kenya, to train in the ‘Home of Champions’. On a gap year between Cégep and university, the young athlete hopes to up his running game and gather tips from some of the best runners in the world. “Kenya is historically known for its long-distance runners,” explained Mackinnon, over the phone with The Record. Between 1991-2017, 19 Boston Marathon titles were won by Kenyan runners. Eliud Kipchoge, the current marathon world record holder, has trained near Mackinnon’s camp, he added. “I’m doing a gap year between Cégep and university, so I figured this would be an amazing opportunity. I’m currently training with a group called Purosangue, which means ‘pureblood’ in Italian,” he commented. “The climate is very different here. It’s surprisingly cool in the morning, around 12 degrees Celsius, and the air can be quite damp and cold. I usually get up at 4:30 a.m. to prepare for my runs, and I’ll usually run wearing long tights, a long-sleeve shirt, a winter jacket,” he mentioned. See full story in the Thursday, March 14 edition of The Record.