By K.R. Nayar, Staff Reporter
Published: January 19, 2008, 23:12

Dubai: Kenya's Sammy Korir is the third fastest marathon man in history, but he is struggling to keep his place among the best runners due to lack of a proper place for training.

Thirty-six-year-old Korir had raced into the annals of marathon history by becoming only the second man ever to run under 2 hours, 5 minutes, when he finished second in the 2003 Berlin Marathon in 2:04:56.

On Friday, in the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon, he finished third with a timing of 2:08:01.

"It is getting difficult to train in Kenya due to the political turmoil. I hope the situation in the country would change quickly so that the people could lead a normal life again," said Korir, who badly wanted to train hard before coming to Dubai.

Trying his best