Dar es Salaam , Tanzania ( CNN ) -- He 's smashed world records and revolutionized running during his illustrious career . And yet the name of Filbert Bayi has almost been forgotten . The date was February 2 , 1974 and the stage was the men 's 1500-meter final at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch , New Zealand . Leading from the start , Tanzanian Bayi continued at a blistering pace throughout the race to cross the finish line first in a race that 's often described as the greatest middle distance event of all time . His record-breaking time ? Three minutes and 32.2 seconds . It would take five more years for Great Britain 's Sebastian Coe to break that achievement . Today , 40 years on , Bayi 's phenomenal performance remains a Commonwealth record . `` I changed the system of running , '' Bayi tells CNN . `` In those years before I broke the record , most of the athletes were running in the group , waiting for the last 200 meters and sprint . `` I changed the whole system [ and ] ran from beginning to the end . Very few people appreciate that . Just because I did n't win a gold medal in the Olympic Games but still my [ Commonwealth Games ] record stays for 40 years . '' Tanzania 's most decorated athlete was born in the Rift Valley -- a region renowned for producing some of the world 's best runners . He says the area 's high altitude and farming lifestyle cultivate the skills required for long distance running . From cow herder to track superstar . `` My parents were farmers , cow herders . When I was a kid , I used to take care of the goats or cows , '' he explains . `` And up there in the bush , you do hunting , running with the dog , running with the animals and running with the cows and all that , I think , made me built me some stamina . '' In 1961 , at the age of six , Bayi started school . Its location was two miles away from where his family lived . `` So every morning I had to run to school , then I had to go back for lunch . Then I had to go for afternoon classes . So you can imagine I ran about eight miles a day . That made a lot of stamina in my body . '' Through his years at primary school , Bayi continued to excel as an athlete immersing himself in competitions and working his way up to regional and then national competitions in the hopes of being like his idol , Kenya 's two-time Olympic gold medalist Kip Keino . Bayi continued his training in the 1970s but he found training in a group a grueling endeavor , especially when he would get inadvertently caught on the spikes of other athletes ' shoes . `` Your life is in danger when somebody spikes you . I thought the only way to avoid spiking was to run from the beginning in front of everybody , '' Bayi recalls . `` I think I caught some of the athletes with that because they thought I would get tired . `` They made a bad judgment . They said they 'll get me next time but next time the same thing and I always say 'Follow me , catch me if you can . ' '' Coaching Tanzania 's future talent . These days Bayi tends to keep off the track and instead focuses his attention on a lifelong dream -- to run his own schools and nurture young sporting talent from his homeland . With the help of his wife , the former middle distance runner opened the first iteration of the `` Filbert Bayi School '' in a garage with just seven children in attendance . The school continued to grow and by 2004 , it had developed into a large campus catering to 1,300 students from nursery-level up through primary school and into secondary education . Bayi says : `` You know sometimes I sit together with my wife and we ca n't believe this . It 's a miracle . '' Not content with the education opportunities he has provided to the surrounding communities , Bayi has now set his sights on the next goal -- to open a university . `` One day I will have a university maybe , college where I can teach doctors or engineers in that school , '' he says . `` Or maybe we 'll be expanding the institution to be a big sports academy where we can receive even foreigners . '' Meanwhile , Bayi continues to use his strong track record as a means of inspiring his students . `` Most of the students , they want to be professionals , '' he says . `` They want to be IT people , they want to be pilots , doctors , be everything . We always tell them , if you want to be anything you have to work hard because those things wo n't come like a dream , '' he adds . `` You have to work hard , you have to commit yourself . `` Most teenagers do n't think about the future , they think about now . So we always teach them , now will pass and then the future will come . And if you are n't prepared for the future you 'll end up nowhere . ''
Filbert Bayi is a middle distance athlete from Tanzania . He set a world record for the men 's 1500m at the 1974 Commonwealth Games . Today he is helping mold his nation 's next generation by establishing education facilities . He says : `` I would love to see one of my students to be president of this country ''