Marathon man Lonyangata eyes Paris record from Rift Valley hideout

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MONITORING DESK
LONDON
As dawn breaks high in Kenya’s Rift Valley, car headlights pick out groups of elite athletes, mere silhouettes on roadsides as their grinding daily training routine gets under way.
Coach Lawrence Saina, himself a sub-2hr 10min marathon runner in his day, oversees nine of his Kenyan proteges, sending them out on a 40-kilometre (25-mile) run.
Hitting the tarmac under a wan rising sun, the athletes take advantage of the cardiovascular benefits from training at an altitude of 2,500 metres (8,200ft), which boosts oxygen-carrying red blood cells.
“Today, it won’t be quick,” said Saina, his charges still clocking mind-boggling speeds of 3min 42sec per kilometre, far removed from the average runner.
These are, after all, elite athletes: among the nine breaking sweat in the cool morning are Saina’s younger brother Emmanuel, fourth in the Dubai marathon in January in 2hr 05min 02sec. He is due to race over the 42km distance in Rotterdam on Sunday.
After an hour the group head off the road into fragrant tea plantations, the breaking dawn sun finally lighting up the rock-strewn, and at times treacherous, red soil underfoot.
Bedrooms are shared, with two or four beds in each. There is a living area, kitchen and a rubdown room with two full-time physios working flat out to keep the demands of 20 elite runners in check.