Why don't Ethiopian Americans run?

Very true. I worked with a Kenyan girl in college who weighed close to 200 lbs at 5'3". I asked her if most people in Kenya were more like her or like the runners and she said most of the people were thin but more and more city dwellers are getting overweight, and that the runners mostly come from villages and are poor. Her family was not.

Something substantive to add wrote:

Clam Evans wrote:

I live close to an Ethiopian neighborhood and I have never seen an

Ethiopian person running in pretty much the whole city. Is running not really a big part of their culture and it's more of just a way to make money?

As though Ethiopia is ethnically homogenous... Do your Ethiopian neighbors even come from the groups known for their running prowess?

In Kenya, all the long-distance stars are Kalenjin. Which forms less than 10% of Kenya's population. So just because someone's from a country known for running, doesn't mean they've got the genetics to be a decent runner.

Because in America they don't have to run. They don't train for fun they train as way out of poverty. People from historically poor regions don't comprehend the concept for exercise and training for the fun of competing. If they have a life of relative luxury they see no point in training.

Get used to it.. wrote:

Very true. I worked with a Kenyan girl in college who weighed close to 200 lbs at 5'3". I asked her if most people in Kenya were more like her or like the runners and she said most of the people were thin but more and more city dwellers are getting overweight, and that the runners mostly come from villages and are poor. Her family was not.

Something substantive to add wrote:

As though Ethiopia is ethnically homogenous... Do your Ethiopian neighbors even come from the groups known for their running prowess?

In Kenya, all the long-distance stars are Kalenjin. Which forms less than 10% of Kenya's population. So just because someone's from a country known for running, doesn't mean they've got the genetics to be a decent runner.

This too. In many countries/cultures physical exertion is considered an activity for the poverty stricken laborers. They are looked down upon. The wealthy and elite consider themselves above all that.

Everyone wants to bash America for income inequality but look around the world and see how the wealthy and elite treat the poor. It's much much worse.

Something substantive to add wrote:

Clam Evans wrote:

I live close to an Ethiopian neighborhood and I have never seen an

Ethiopian person running in pretty much the whole city. Is running not really a big part of their culture and it's more of just a way to make money?

As though Ethiopia is ethnically homogenous... Do your Ethiopian neighbors even come from the groups known for their running prowess?

In Kenya, all the long-distance stars are Kalenjin. Which forms less than 10% of Kenya's population. So just because someone's from a country known for running, doesn't mean they've got the genetics to be a decent runner.

Interesting. I didn't know this. So is running not a part of other cultures in Ethiopia? Running is very popular among white Americans despite most of them being far from "stars"

Knew an Ethiopian that had come over to go to college. He walked on to our college team, did a few races, and then got interested in other stuff and eventually left.

Also, worked with a Kenyan that wasn't interested at all in running. I even brought up a few pretty famous Kenyan runners and he'd just look at me like "what are you talking about?" I actually felt pretty stupid bringing up running with him.

Lived in Brazil a few years and had a friend that I'd go running with every once in a while. Extremely talented and, while he'd go running every once in a while, he was never really interested in competing or training.

Culture trumps genetics when it comes to running.

The majority of Ethiopians do not run, even in Ethiopia.Like in Kenya, in the urban areas most of them are overweight and eat bad food. Just like in America.

Clam Evans wrote:

I live close to an Ethiopian neighborhood and I have never seen an

Ethiopian person running in pretty much the whole city. Is running not really a big part of their culture and it's more of just a way to make money?

Ethiopians do run. The migrants in the US don't represent the Ethiopian population, Please ignore those ignorant folks who bring hunger/starvation to this forum.

How many Ethiopians over the age of 21 run.

In response to the offensive posts about starvation, most elite Ethiopians come from urban areas.

Mistyped that. Basically only 2 men in the 2013 HGM Marathon ran sub 3:25.

Part of the reasons Ethiopians run is because Ethiopia idolizes and reveres their successful runners.

If you are an Ethiopian living in the U.S., you have chosen to be part of the U.S.

Trying to fit in and adapt to this foreign U.S. culture is hard. Limited time and energy requires tough choices to be made.

If they did not personally pursue the running dream in Ethiopia, it is not likely they will pursue the dream in the U.S,

Ethiopians in the U.S. likely also see that U.S. culture does not idolize or revere successful runners.

So, there is little incentive to run in the U.S.

Seriously what is up with the world. I was driving through an oriental neighborhood and didn't see anyone karate-ing in in the street. That same day I met a broke Jew; black woman who didn't know how to make fried chicken; and a sober Indian (the running around a tee-pee naked kind, not the snake charmer kind). Now you are telling me that you know a bunch of Ethiopians whose lives don't revolve around running? Next thing you know we'll nice Muslims, gays in the military, and maybe even a woman running for president.

At least they still play basketball in the hood.

Jeff Wigand wrote:

If it were simple skinniness, you'd see more than a handful of the 100+ tribes in East Africa excel at the sport.

You apparently don't understand that Kalenjin etc is not a tribe but a collection of culturally related tribes. There are 5 million Kalenjin. More than half the population of Kenya is indeed from one of a few tribal groups, and there have been many elite runners from every major group.

Did Rupp grow up hungry? Did Solinsky? Did Martin Keino? Did Jim Ryun grow up hungry? There are some biological characteristics

Drugs and science, legal or not, do not count as "biological characteristics."

Rupp, Solinsky et all are exceptions that prove the rule when it comes to body morphology. Not only do they stand out with their big, i.e. well-fed, frames racing against east Africans, they stand out by being the only westerners there. Without gray dope and science there would be none at all.

I'm not surprised a few ignorant reactionaries played the offended card either, as if I were insulting the east Africans by mentioning their chronic food problems. Better to sweep that under the rug and pretend they're not suffering? You particular posters can GFY, it's no joke. Average caloric consumption there is barely half western levels in Kenya, and less in Ethio/Eritrea. Nationwide average - not a few isolated tribes in the hills.

Running for "fun" is part of a very middle-class American lifestyle. Average American marathon times are slower than average marathon times in other countries. Given all the ink spilled on LR over those "hobby joggers" you all should be aware that we are the anomaly. Therefore it shouldn't surprise anyone that any immigrant group is less likely to be out running or jogging. And yes, immigrant families have other priorities until its members become more financially secure and/or become more assimilated.

The OP's question presumes (without foundation) a connection between the success of elite runners and the popularity of running as a participatory sport. Morocco and Algeria have produced some of the world's greatest runners, but I don't think that is reflected on "the street" (so to speak), or that road running is the phenomenon it is here. In most of the world people are too busy making a living, to have that kind of leisure. Is running (for exercise) even as widespread in East Africa, as it is in the US?

Not that the OP raised this (but of course some jack-offs have to bring it up), but half the world "starves" like the East Africans and none of them produce the same marathoners, and many of the best distance runners (African) come from relatively middle-class backgrounds. Those who were really poor, like Dennis Kimetto, don't usually get the opportunity to "run" - only a chance encounter introduced him to professional racing.

Bad Wigins wrote:

There are 5 million Kalenjin.

No shit.

Bad Wigins wrote:

and there have been many elite runners from every major group.

All equally distributed?

Bad Wigins wrote:

Drugs and science, legal or not, do not count as "biological characteristics."

Even if you assume they've pulled every trick in the book, they're still immensely talented. And what is talent for distance running? It's a slight build, yes, but also muscle fiber type distribution, mitochondria density, hemoglobin numbers...attributes that can be improved with training, but where you start out and your ability to respond to training: those are built into you. There is such a thing as talent. It's why most people run 7 or maybe 6 minutes in the PE Mile, and others are well under 5 minutes without any training at all. That's talent and it's found a lot more frequently in members of a few tribes in East Africa than in anywhere else in the world.

There are a number of countries with similar daily caloric intake levels: DRC, Haiti, Comoros, Zambia, Angola, CAF, East Timor. No droves of distance runners coming from those nations. It would not seem that being hungry as a youth is the determining factor.