Why are the British men so bad at 5000m/10000m?

Why are the runners in Ghana so bad in the 5000 or 10,000?

Or Jamaica

Or Brazil

bengel wrote:

There are outliers in all populations, but their means are different. Hence there are more

runners from East African excelling e.g. over 5000m.

What do you think of the Kenyan javelin thrower that won medals over the big strong eastern Europeans?

Or the white steeplechasers who took gold and silver in London 2017.

Or the Kenyan 400m Hurdlers?

Athletics takes two things, talent and effort. There is talent all over the world for all kinds of events. The difference is athletics is a terrible career choice for 99% of people in developed countries.

In parts of rural Africa it is the best choice. It's free to get into. You are generally pretty fit anyway compared to the average person due to lifestyle. And if it doesn't work out you were gonna be a farmer anyway and that is still on the table.

In Europe everyone goes to school for free. Most people go to university. And literally any job you take will pay twice what athletics would, with half the effort, and leave you plenty of free time to enjoy your life.

As I pointed out, there are outliers in all populations. Look at the depth.

There are many third-world countries that would produce champions in running events if talent was evenly distributed. It is not.

bengel wrote:

As I pointed out, there are outliers in all populations. Look at the depth.

There are many third-world countries that would produce champions in running events if talent was evenly distributed. It is not.

And I explained the depth.

No, you didn't. India has no runners and is a third-world country.

Europeans and Americans are competitive in the 1500m, but as I wrote in my first post,

they slow down moving up to 5000/10000. One would expect at least one 12:45 guy

in the last 25 years if talent were evenly distributed.

OK, perhaps we should just agree to disagree and enjoy Monaco in a week.

bengel wrote:

No, you didn't. India has no runners and is a third-world country.

Europeans and Americans are competitive in the 1500m, but as I wrote in my first post,

they slow down moving up to 5000/10000. One would expect at least one 12:45 guy

in the last 25 years if talent were evenly distributed.

OK, perhaps we should just agree to disagree and enjoy Monaco in a week.

India has no running/athletics tradition.

But do you want to guess what the score would be in an India vs Spain cricket test?

bengel wrote:

No, you didn't. India has no runners and is a third-world country.

Europeans and Americans are competitive in the 1500m, but as I wrote in my first post,

they slow down moving up to 5000/10000. One would expect at least one 12:45 guy

in the last 25 years if talent were evenly distributed.

OK, perhaps we should just agree to disagree and enjoy Monaco in a week.

Perhaps agree to disagree. But I explained why there is depth in Kenya for example and not in India or Europe.

Nobody in Europe tries, it's an undesired career choice. Nobody cares about running other than this forum.

Nobody in India tries either. They prefer cricket. And school also (it is a rapidly developing nation with Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa. Not poor like much of Africa is).

India produces many fine sports people, but nobody in India takes part in track and field. It's just not their preference.

You need participation to have depth.

hey, i heard that the big dickiano talent is distributed equally in the world is that true ? asking for an ex-girlfriend.

oh, i thought uk and usa has large indian population? or maybe they haven't opportunity to gravitate toward athletics culture at school ?

My observation in the US, Indian-Americans are totally focused on becoming Drs or engineers until their 30’s when they find running as a healthy hobby.

Ah yes, the old “Well I’m not even trying because I have better stuff to do” excuse. Funny stuff.

Proof that long-term science projects can compete with the best.

ex-runner wrote:

There is nothing special genetically about Kenyans. Many studies showing that Kenyans are as genetically similar to eachother as they are to westerners.

Any genetic advantage that Kenyan athletes have over their population will be found in other's across the world. Maybe there are more people in East Africa with genes suited to running, but there will be plenty of people worldwide who have these genes also. Kenyans aren't aliens.

The difference is the culture of running in Kenya to discover these talents. And the life commitment to develop this talent.

Absolute case and point is Jakob. He has run times as a teenager we previously reserved in our minds for African descent athletes.

Rupp has run 26:46. We have had non-africans running low 13s in the 5k for years.

Running as a career choice is just not very popular in Europe or America.

I couldn't disagree more.

There are 47 ethnic groups in Kenya and the vast majority of their best runners come from one of those 47. It's similar to Ethiopia, with almost every top runner coming from two of their more than 80 ethnic groups.

You can find talented distance runners all over the world. But you're going to find them at much higher densities in these few ethnic groups.

John Wesley Harding wrote:

ex-runner wrote:

Perhaps agree to disagree. But I explained why there is depth in Kenya for example and not in India or Europe.

Nobody in Europe tries, it's an undesired career choice. Nobody cares about running other than this forum.

Nobody in India tries either. They prefer cricket. And school also (it is a rapidly developing nation with Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa. Not poor like much of Africa is).

India produces many fine sports people, but nobody in India takes part in track and field. It's just not their preference.

You need participation to have depth.

Ah yes, the old “Well I’m not even trying because I have better stuff to do” excuse. Funny stuff.

How is that not an excuse? It's the truth.

How many people in the UK actually take on sport as a career? It is not taken seriously in general. And athletics is not a even a professional sport. It's an amateur one masquerading.

The sport is not respected in Europe, and it is a better way to get yourself into poverty rather than get you out of it.

Are you seriously telling me that Europeans choose to take proper jobs because they think they wouldn't make it in athletics and so choose something else? Nobody even cares about athletics in the first place.

Even Kenya is seeing participation drop as the country develops.

ex-runner wrote:

John Wesley Harding wrote:

Ah yes, the old “Well I’m not even trying because I have better stuff to do” excuse. Funny stuff.

How is that not an excuse? It's the truth.

How many people in the UK actually take on sport as a career? It is not taken seriously in general. And athletics is not a even a professional sport. It's an amateur one masquerading.

The sport is not respected in Europe, and it is a better way to get yourself into poverty rather than get you out of it.

Are you seriously telling me that Europeans choose to take proper jobs because they think they wouldn't make it in athletics and so choose something else? Nobody even cares about athletics in the first place.

Even Kenya is seeing participation drop as the country develops.

Nothing I could say is gonna make you realize how foolish you are, and I can’t be bothered to waste my time trying. I’ll be at 1852 N Dubuque Rd., Iowa City IA if it’s fisticuffs you want.

Star wrote:

Why are the runners in Ghana so bad in the 5000 or 10,000?

Or Jamaica

Or Brazil

Do any of those countries have 3 guys in the top 20 in the 1500m?

No.

British 5k/10k guy wrote:

I'll tell you why. The standard of coaching in Britain is awful. When our tracks were open, there were a group of guys who used to come down to do the exact same session EVERY week. It was 8 800's off 45s recovery. No idea why they were so obsessed with this session.

My last coach set me ridiculous times to run my reps in (like K's in 2:55 when I was a high 16s 5k guy). I couldn't hit the times, and kept getting injured due to over-exertion. I got so fed up with the poor quality of coaching that I now run all my sessions solo and I'm far fitter than I've ever been before. Looking to break 15 in the 5k soon. Probably won't ever run under a coach again.

What absolute fabrication is this? Where do you train? For which club?

Bell end.

Exactly, if it's All about the culture some percent of their population will have the athletics culture their winner of the cultural conflict.

The Kalenjin tribe from Kenya has produced oodles of great distance runners.

- They have great genes for running

- They grow up at altitude

- Many have to run a long distance to go to school - so they all have developed a huge base by the time they start actual training

- Running is part of their culture, so talented runners are encouraged to pursue it.

- Running is a good opportunity to make money if they are good at it

It's mostly runners from East Africa, but that tribe in particular has produced a lot of amazing runners.