ELDORET, Kenya (AFP) - Athletes from the world over are flocking to a training camp perched on the high plateaux of Kenya to rub shoulders with the princes of middle and long distance running and raise their hopes of a ticket to the Beijing Olympics.
Foreign tourists have all but deserted the East African country following deadly post-election violence, but the Kip Keino camp in Eldoret - which saw some of the worst spates of the killings - is a destination of choice for dozens of aspiring Olympic runners.
Set up by the International Olympic Committee in 2001, the camp's credentials are impressive.
Among the stars it has produced are Athens Olympic 3000m steeplechase champion Ezekiel Kemboi, middle distance star Janet Jepkosgei - the first Kenyan woman to win the world 800 metres title in Osaka - and Sudan's Olympic 800m finalist Ismail Ahmed Ismail.
"When the athletes come here we first assess them," head coach Jimmy "Simba" Beauttah told AFP. "We start from scratch... to better their running skills."
Apart from Kenyans, who form the larger share of participants, the training camp - one of only three in Africa - has attracted young budding runners from as far afield as Estonia, Guyana and Sri Lanka.
The athletes are granted training scholarships to come here by their respective national olympic or athletics federations. Those who come on full scholarship stay for four years of training geared towards the Olympic Games.
"Here you don't have to be at your very best level," said Beauttah about his array of talented local and international athletes. "Here, you're getting the right way of doing it; so that when you go back to your country and with proper and systematic training, you can improve your performance.
Beauttah said most of the foreign athletes had shown big improvements with their individual timings since their arrival at the camp.
Cleveland Forde, a 22-year-old 5,000m runner from Guyana has twice bettered his personal best since joining the camp in 2005.
"My record was 15:18 when I arrived and already in 2006, I did 14:06", said Forde, who smashed the national record at the 2006 South American Games in Buenos Aires.
He explained the reason behind his sudden rise and promises to better his time this year.
"In Guyana, there is no altitude, it's just sea level. And here, you've got top class athletes, so you've got more motivation."
Like Forde, Estonian Tiidrek Nurme, also 22 has seen improvements with his timings thanks to the altitude.
"In Estonia it's all snow," said the 1500m and 5000m runner." But after being here for three years, I feel a lot lighter and that I can run the full distance without tiring. I can fly like a bird," Nurme said jokingly.
Gambian top marathon runner Ansu Sowe has hopes of lifting his country's first track medal in Beijing after training for nearly two years in the facility.
Sowe, who holds the national Gambian records in the 1500m, 5000m and half-marathon, was one of three young talents spotted in 2006 and awarded scholarships to undergo intensive training ahead of the Beijing Games.
While top sprinter Jaysuma Saidy-Ndure went to Norway and later gained citizenship to run for the Nordic state, Sowe and female 800m specialist Bakary Jabbi have been preparing the Olympics in Eldoret.
"I have been able to see a big difference in the one year and seven months I have been here," said the lanky 22-year-old Sowe, whose marathon prowess has earned him huge recognition at home.
"When I came it was very hard for me. After only 10 minutes of training I was dead and now I can run for one hour no problem."
Arriving with a national record of 3:54.01 in the 1500m, Sowe sliced nearly four seconds off his mark at the World championships in Osaka last August.
He said he had improved running against his Kenyan training partners Asbel Kiprop and Daniel Kipchirchir Komen, whom he is likely to face in Beijing.
The athletes start their training at day-break with long runs across the flat terrain dotted with burnt-down houses and other remnants of the recent political violence.
Although the camp was not affected by the clashes, some of the foreign athletes briefly left the country. The few who remained behind had to restrict their training to certain areas.
"Emotionally it was hard", recounted Estonian Nurme after four of his countrymen opted to leave the camp and fly home. " We heard the news that here, only seven kilometres away, one church was burnt with people inside".
