The violence that swept Kenya after December's controversial elections provided a grim reminder that even world-class runners are not exempt from political turmoil. by early February, more than 1,000 Kenyans had been killed in the Rift Valley,

a stronghold of the country's distance-running tradition, including Wesly Ngetich, the 2005 and 2007 winner of Grandma's Marathon, and Lucas Sang, a 1988 Olympic 400-meter relay racer. The 2007 marathon world cahmpion, Luke Kibet, was struck on the back of the head. When he regained consciousness, he literally ran for his life into the safety of a police car.

Athletes in shome strife-torn areas became afraid to train outside, including world cross-country champion Lornah Kiplagat, who runs a training camp that is now housing refugees. "Training is not easy, and espcially mentally it is tough," Kiplagat's husband, Pieter Langerhorst, wrote in an e-mail to Runner's World.

Others found it impossible to leave the country for scheduled races; more than a dozen missed January's P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon. "To train now is very difficult," says Lawrence Kiplimo Sania, who did get to Phoenix, after using a false ID card and paying and exorbitant price for his airline ticket. "You can go somewhere where someone might kill you."

"Without peace, we cannot excel in sports," says David Okeyo, secretary general of Athletics Kenya. " At the moment it is not possible for our athletes to train freely, but our concern right now is merely that they are safe."