Firstly let me tell you a story of my XC team. We all sucked. Most of our coaches thought our talent was negligible. We had majority guys running 18-19 minute 5k with one guy running 17:50s. Then we had a new coach who cared about us, he gave us appropriate training then boom. Our average became 15-17 minute for the 5k we also had a guy who made it to 14:57. That’s just one example, another example would be a school I know with a good team, they always won league and local meets then their coach quit then suddenly they started sucking. I’m not denying that there is a genetic aspect to running but most people here make it out as that if you don’t have the right genes you are doomed to suck for life. That’s the case for a few people but not for majority. I ask what genes are the one that affect running, many people don’t have answer to that. The ones that do answer VO2max, which makes sense but then there’s also a case where out nine year old in Norway has the same vo2max as Eluid kipchoge yet couldn’t even run half as fast. VO2max is also not an indicator of running potential because it is improvable. I know a case where a girl went from 36 to 57 in terms of it.
There are also some who say a lean physique is the genetic marker to talent in running. But those people fail to realize how anyone could have a lean physique if they worked for it. By eating right and working out, for some it’s easier for others it’s harder but unless you have some rare thyroid case it’s inevitable. When people can’t come up with another reason they mention the slow twitch fast twitch theory. Slow twitch works for distance while fast twitch works for sprints. That’s what’s the known theory is but while it’s harder to switch your muscle fibers to fast twitch it’s relatively easy to switch to slow twitch which is mostly used in distance running.
I also hear “raw speed” which makes no sense but I’m guessing people mean 400m and above ? Because 99% of distance runners don’t have raw speed which is anything less than 400. 400 requires endurance most untrained people would struggle to run that because they don’t have the endurance to keep them going compared to running like 200m-100m where it’s actual raw speed. It’s also important to note that raw speed is proved to be trainable but it’s harder to train compared to endurance
Sports like volleyball and basketball are ones that could be considered a genetically oriented sport, as both of them require height or natural athletic ability to succeed. But it’s still mainly also skill factors that play to it. There’s a reason running is known to attract unathletic skinny nerds. There’s a reason it’s the only no-cut sport. It’s simply enough to be achieved by anyone.
My point is running is mostly mental and trainable than genetic. At most
80% of running- non genetic
20% of running- genetic (doubtable)