As a boy, he ran on the same dirt road, 20 kilometres there and 20 back, from Kisii, a poor village of huts in Kenya between Lake Nakaru and Lake Victoria, to school every day. Barefoot. When the rains came, there were snakes and scorpions to be wary of.

Now, he runs from his apartment on 8th Avenue and 9th Street downtown to Canada Olympic Park and back, on grass and cement. No snakes. No scorpions. The terrain is different. The feeling, the same.

"I run,'' says Onsare, "because I love it. I can't think of life without running.

"When I'm sleeping, I sometimes dream I'm in a competition. I'm second or I win, and then 'Oh!' I wake up and I look at my watch and it's 1 o'clock or 12: 30. I don't know why. Even when I sleep, I run. It's always been that way.

"Honestly, when I don't run for a couple of days, I get headaches. In 2009, I had stress and couldn't run. I'd always go to Foothills Hospital. They say, 'You have nothing wrong with you.' But I feel stomach pain. If I don't run, I feel sick. I don't know if it takes away a stress or is a mentality.

"Running is such a part of me.'' On the weekend, the 28-year-old clocked a time of two hours, 19 minutes and 59 seconds to win his second BMO Vancouver Marathon. As the process of receiving citizenship papers continues, his goal, his dream, is to run for Canada, hopefully as soon as the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

"Here,'' he says, "I feel comfortable. A lot of families, a lot of people, are so friendly to me. When I came here, I don't know anybody. A family let me in for three months. Then I got a job. I tried to pay. They wouldn't let me. They told me, 'Whenever you need help, you come to us.' People here give me tables, bedding, chairs. I think, 'How am I going to pay this back?' And they say, 'You don't have to. Welcome to Calgary.' ''

Onsare has worked as a custodian for WinSport Canada at Canada Olympic Park for just over two years while attending a plumbing apprenticeship program at SAIT and continuing his running. The schooling is obviously important to him.

"My family is very proud of me. They miss me, but they are very proud. But now they know I am in a place where people will help me, where I can have a better life.''

He likes his job. The people at WinSport, he says gratefully, have been wonderful about keeping his hours flexible so he can train. His co-workers now help gather shoes, clothes and he sends them back home, to be distributed within the village.

"This,'' he says, spreading his arms wide on the top floor at COP, beaming, "is mine. I wash the windows. I vacuum. I know the people. I know the children. I feel welcome.''

His three brothers and three sisters, parents, as well as wife Suzanna and five-year-old daughter Yazmin, remain in Kenya. Onsare hopes to bring Suzanna and Yazmin over as soon as he becomes a Canadian citizen.

"You never know what's going to happen tomorrow,'' he says optimistically. "I think often that if I can make a success here, then maybe I can make a change in my village. Maybe just help get water.

"Leaving the family behind is the hardest thing. It hurts like . . . ''

He stabs absently at his chest, " . . . like you can't take it. I decided to come over. It was not an easy decision to make.

One of Onsare's brothers, Wilson, is a noted marathoner/half-marathoner.

"He's a great runner,'' says Benard with obvious pride. "A fast runner. He ran 2: 06 in Paris. He's been encouraging me and he moved me from the village to Nairobi. He's a very strong guy in mind because he's always taken care of the family. We were poor. It was a struggle.''

Following a string of successful races, including a second-place finish in Boston, Wilson Onsare was abducted, then released, for his winnings.

"It's not very safe at home, like here,'' says Benard. "Here, I finish working at 10 o'clock and I run back to my apartment. No worry. Nothing. I feel secure. That is wonderful.

"Nobody here is demanding a percentage when you win a race. I win here, my money is my money.''

The idea of one day wearing the Maple Leaf internationally, to use the talent he's been blessed with on behalf of a place that has come to feel like home, is what drives him on.

"Oh, man,'' he says. "That is what I want. What I think of always. I ask what can I do in my life for this great country. I feel I'm in the right place. If I have a talent, why should I not show it for this country. This country gave me an opportunity to stay here and to make my dreams come true. That is worth anything I can give back.''