Having achieved worldwide recognition as one of Kenya’s greatest long distance runners during the 1980s and 1990s, there seems little reason why former World Marathon Champion Douglas Wakiihuri should come out of retirement to seek new running challenges.Yet that is exactly what the 1988 Olympic silver medallist is doing. A year after running his first competitive race in more than a decade, the 48-year-old will be one of the leading contenders in this weekend’s Bermuda Triangle Half Challenge.“This is an experiment. I want to see how much light I can bring to my previous shadow,” said Wakiihuri, who won both the London and New York marathons.“What is clear to me is that, if you were a runner and you stopped without being forced to by injury then, if you have a cause and can still run, you can see what you are able to achieve. You come back and raise the bar as far as possible.”He has found a new lease of life as a runner, underlined by his impressive second place finish in Sunday’s Fairmont-to-Fairmont road race.Fittingly, it was coming to Bermuda three years ago which reignited Wakiihuri’s passion for the sport. He came as a guest to watch the 2010 Race Weekend, following a chance meeting with Island runner Victoria Fiddick at the Toronto Marathon.He did not compete that year and admits he even struggled to run a mile along the Railway Trail with Fiddick. At the time he weighted 220lbs. He was impressed by the event, the friendliness he encountered and the support given by the Island community towards the Kibera Kids, a running group and nursery school in the sprawling Kibera slum on the outskirts of Nairobi which he helps to run.The children of the slum have little to call their own, and were overjoyed when Wakiihuri returned from Bermuda with T-shirts and tracksuits for them donated by members of the Mid Atlantic Athletic Club.The former marathon star felt he needed to come back to Bermuda and repay that support and commitment by letting people see him run again and also to further promote the Kibera Kids.The 2011 Fairmont race was his comeback event, in which he finished fifth. He then came third in the Bermuda Triangle Half Challenge.He feels in even better shape this time around.“This is like a bonus for me to see how high I can reach after 10 years without running.”During the past year, the Kenyan great has run two half-marathons in 74 minutes, one in Toronto and the other at Kilimanjara in Tanzania. In December he finished second in a quarter-marathon in Japan, running 35 minutes. The runner who beat him was another legend, Stefano Baldini, the 2004 Olympic Marathon champ.“It was good to run with him, he is a great guy,” said Wakiihuri.As he prepares to compete once more in the Triangle Challenge, running a mile on Front Street on Friday evening, a 10K on Saturday morning and a half-marathon on Sunday, Wakiihuri has his eye on running a sub-five minute mile to open his triple challenge account.In the past three years his weight has dropped from 220lbs to 143lbs. Describing his training, he said: “I’ve not been doing a lot of speedwork. I’m doing more long runs to get leaner and then I will get into speed work cautiously. You have to listen to your body and your mind.”Spectators hoping to spot Wakiihuri should look out for a runner wearing a single white glove. Throughout his career Wakiihuri was instantly recognisable wearing a white glove in races to wipe away sweat. Last weekend, having only arrived in Bermuda the day before, he was unable to find his glove in time for the Fairmont race. However, he will be wearing it this weekend.