When Wesley Korir and the rest of the Kenyan men’s marathon team line up in the Sambadrome in Rio on Sunday, the prayers of millions across their homeland will go with them. Few will be as fervent as those delivered by the many congregations in Iten, a small town perched on a spectacular escarpment above the Great Rift Valley.

“They are heroes to us all. We are all with them in our minds when they run,” said Moses Koech, a hotel worker.

Korir has a home in Iten and, like almost all Kenyan runners, is from a dirt poor background. The 33-year-old grew up on a tiny farm, running miles to and from school every day – as did Eliud Kipchoge, who won the London Marathon in April for the second consecutive year, and Stanley Biwott, who will both be competing alongside him.

But even among Kenyan long distance runners, Korir’s biography stands out. Not only is he the winner of several top races around the world and now a dollar millionaire, but he is a serving member of parliament, having been elected in 2012 from a constituency in the far west of the country, near the city of Eldoret and his home village.

Plunged into the harsh world of Kenyan politics, Korir has had to split his Olympic preparation between the slopes and trails of the Rift Valley, a forest outside the capital Nairobi, and a gym in the National Assembly. Officials had to install a new running machine as the top speed of the one in place was too slow for the new representative.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/19/olympics-2016-the-kenyan-mp-racing-in-rio-to-change-lives