donuts wrote:
times are different wrote:
I agree with john. There are several reasons for this I believe. And as far as Japan goes, their times are really poor given the amount of training they do.
1. Asians are study focused from a very young age. Sure, some will play sports here and there, such as basketball. But they'll rarely play more aerobic sports like soccer or football. There's just less physical development at an early age.
2. Asians in general run a very high metabolism. That's why they are so skinny. Having high metabolism makes your body run hot, which is terrible for long distance running. (It's also probably why Yuki excelled in Boston)
3. Anecdotally, asians are more fast twitch based. The Chinese are decent sprinters, with several in the finals of track events. I don't see any of them in long distance. We also see several basketball superstars, as well as table tennis, both fast twitched based sports.
4. Asians also have a shorter legs to torso ratio, which is also bad for long distance running.
https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-deeb3eb7019338459c2885be0f2fefec-cJapan's distance running times are not poor, period. They wipe the US for depth of quality times 5K and up. "Poor for the amount of training they do" is not something that matters.
Your #1 is cultural to the extent that it is true.
Your #2 is complete BS - there's no evidence that high metabolism is bad for distance running and there's no evidence that Asians have higher metabolism other than not being as fat. There are some that aren't super skinny like Yuki, but there are also wisps like Shitara.
Your #3 is probably wrong and also irrelevant. Someone all/mostly slow twitch doesn't make the best distance runner. In any case, I'm Chinese American and more slow twitch.
Your #4 is something that is overrated for running, and, in any case, the spread for the Asian dots on the graph you link pretty much covers the gamut (especially considering the large population pool) except for Aus/NZ (not sure what PNG is). I'm certainly not short legged, and my brother is long legged and tall. Anecdotal, but the Ginger Runner's wife's Japanese American wife's online name is "mile long legs".
Damn 'times are different' got smoked. And David has a severe case of confirmation bias