North America, Africa, Asia, Europe, and Australia are all undoubtedly very different continents, but all have put together some very successful running programs, and all host their fair of running events...and then there's Latin America. Can anyone explain the Latin American running vacuum???
Mexico has produced some good distance runners.
ever hear of the Pan America Games? they even get aired on tv. i think during the summer. but yeah, that's the only thing that i know that comes out of latin america.
I lived in mexico for 4 months, thought no one ran and only played soccer for the most part. But I met a track club at the only all weather track in the city, and ended up running with this club for a few months. It was a pretty good club with a handful of good distance guys, including an Olympian Alejandro Suarez who ran the 5k for them in Athens. The thing was that they'd all travel from pretty far around the area to meet up 3 days a week to run. There's good runners out there, just not a large volume of them. I ran a few road races as well, which were dominated by decent Kenyan guys there to make some $ (although they taxed the crap out of the foreigners on their winnings). Anyways, I think the extreme popularity of other sports like soccer just dominates the scene, and less are interested in running compared to other parts of the world.
Mexico has Galvan, who ran somewhere in the 13:10-13:12 last year (in the same race that Fam went 13:11). There was one other Mexican guy in the race, who was pretty close behind.
Ever hear of that Marilson Gomes dos Santos guy? Ever hear of the Sao Silvestre Road Race?
Camoo wrote:
Ever hear of that Marilson Gomes dos Santos guy? Ever hear of the Sao Silvestre Road Race?
Well, no not really.
brazillian chicks arnt built for running. just tanning
As far as Latin Americans go, here are the Latin American records starting at 10k:
Africa - 26:17
Asia - 26:38 (fastest non-Kenyan is 27:35)
Europe - 26:49 by Mourhit, 27:12 by Pinto
Latin America - 27:08
Anglo-America - 27:13
Oceania - 27:31
Half marathon
Africa - 58:33
Latin America - 59:33
Anglo-America - 59:43
Europe - 59:52
Asia - 60:25
Oceania - 61:00
Marathon
Africa - 2:04:26
Latin America - 2:06:05
Asia - 2:06:16
Europe - 2:06:36
Oceania - 2:07:51
Anglo-America - Hall's 2:08:24 if you discount the Moroccan-born Khannouchi
Who is the Anglo-American who ran 27:13?
Meb. If you want a white guy, there's Nenow's 27:20.
Too busy running for the US border.
Mexico had a bunch of sub 28 minute 10,000 guys in the late 70's but with increasing prosperity and disposable income, and the second highest obesity rate in the world, the quality at the top end has gone down in Mexico.
Ghost in Korea,
Two Argentinians have won gold medals in the Olympic marathon. Okay, it was a long time ago, but still...
1:41.77?
the real question is why the Andes don't produce a lot of great distance runners. there are a lot of people living at 8,000-15000 ft. in south america. so you have to wonder about the national federations in ecuador, bolivia, peru, etc., and why they haven't built up the programs.
It's just not as popular there. My boyfriend is from Mexico City, so I asked him about running there. He said some people run in his neighborhood, but other than that there isn't much of a running scene due to pollution, traffic, etc. They didn't have track at his school either. Despite the lack of running experience other than what he did with other sports, he runs up to 8 miles with me several times a week without a problem. I'm sure there are plenty of potentially good runners who just haven't discovered the sport.
Puerto Rico has a running boom, spurred by the Teodoro Moscoso Bridge World's Best 10k, which attracts world class elites (Paula ran a 30:20 in 2003), and the San Blas half. Only one marathon though, due to the heat and humidity, geography and road congestion.
Incredible talent, but terrible diet.