I just watched the Haile G commercial. Found myself envious of the fantastic trails that were featured. Clearly, developing countries have fewer paved roads. A runner from a village in Kenya or Ethiopia will rarely run on concrete. Less pounding means less injuries, which allows for better and more consistent training. Could this partially explain the superior performance of runners from poorer countries? Young westerners are ruining their muscles on suburban concrete. Africans are preserving their legs on dirt roads.
Obviously, growing up in a poor country has several drawbacks for runners. With such high rates of malnutrition, many potential stars will never achieve their athletic potential. Others will ruin themselves doing heavy labor in primary industries. Still, for those few who are fed well and are not exhausted in the mines and fields, could the dirt road advantage help explain their superiority?