Why is Maine producing the best distance runners in the US?

Hey im from maine.. why aren't i good at running? I can break 13 for the mile.. is that any good? I bet I could break 13 for the 2 mile if you give me a week to train...and maybe 13 for the 5k in a year... that's just based on those numbers, my being from maine MUST make me good at running, rite

nbskis wrote:

think snow wrote:

Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are too small to have much (very expensive) hockey and the basketball teams have 5 starters and 5 bench warmers. That leaves everybody and their cousin to own cross country skis for recreation. Pretty great cardio sport for the winter, eh?

this definitely isn't it. i grew up in central NH, definitely more people into alpine skiing and hockey.

Well, my point is, when recruiting, I've seen HS Maine marks that stand out in the fall that turn out to be from nordic skiers preparing for their winter sport.

I'm from southern New England and we had downhill skis because we more often had to drive to the snow, but my Vermont family had both. They lived on cross country skis - like bikes in the summer.

think snow wrote:

nbskis wrote:

this definitely isn't it. i grew up in central NH, definitely more people into alpine skiing and hockey.

.

Actually basketball is the sport in cold weather communities from the Arctic Circle to Biddeford, ME, but in the words of the Freeport H.S. coach at try-outs, "that little Benoit girl won't amount to nuthin. She should buy a lobster boat."

I invite you to watch this mini documentary about the kind of runners Maine produce. This man is fighting Parkinson's disease and has just run a Boston qualifier in the midst of a fundraising campaign to battle the disease.

https://vimeo.com/134134268

Enjoy!

Speaking of numbers and odds, I'm glad I didn't see this thread until it got into the third page, and gained enough posters to give it a little proper perspective. Come on, it really took half a page to get even close to the right reasons? And it wasn't until page two that it got the first mention of Joanie? Too many kids on these boards who spend too much time staring at screens.

It's the same reason Kenya greatly outproduces it's population numbers in terms of top distance runners.

First, kids who grow up in Maine are fit. They have no choice. They never have an opportunity to lay around and get fat. It's the lifestyle, the culture, the work ethic, and the conditions.

Second, they are tough. Very tough. You have to be to survive, let alone succeed, let alone have any fun. So you start with a population that is far more suited to distance running success in general. Whatever relatively small percentage of those kids actually decide to try distance running, they are going to succeed at a much higher rate. They don't have to be taught by a coach how to push when it starts to hurt. They know that before they're ten years old.

So yeah, the economy, the climate, and the skin color may be different. But the underlying factors are basically the same. It's Kenya.

Certain French groups who settled in Maine have longer toes than average, thereby allowing for more powerful push-off.

Over 50 teenagers from Bangor were able to beat the third-best runner from the Swedish National Team in a 3k time trial in 1990.

Read the Sports Gene for a fuller explanation.

If toughness is such a factor, where are all the Alaskan and North Dakotan guys and gals?

Cranberries and moose poop soup.

No disrespect, because your post was fine. But the last sentence, "It's Kenya" ...and I know it was just for comparison, needs persepctive for our younger or unaware readers. Based on Toby Tansers book, "Train Hard, Win Easy, The Kenyan Way." whats going on in Kenya is amazing, especially since most of the runners come from a just a portion of Kenya known as the Rift Valley. Quality world class Kenyan runners are everywhere all the time. There is a whole contingent that sweep up the money on the roads, then there's the 800-10k European circuit guys that we all know about, then the B circuit runners, US college runners, world Cross Country guys, and those that dont even make it out of Kenya. Look up any big European race and its often full of Kenyan runners. And in 5 years there will be a new crop of them to boot. This anomaly is perhaps the largest and most significant in all of the track and field world, and makes Maines' anomaly, if there even is one, quite minor.

Moxie wrote:

Yawn.

Weak argument bro. You're just backtracking now.

Maine is the best state in the US.

Yawn. I sort of liked Maine until this thread but my attitude is evolving. You need to get out more, but take it in small doses. Just start with New Hampshire and if you can still breathe, try Vermont.

Long winters. Five things to do.

Sex

Drink

Cross country ski

Downhill ski

Fish

Typical runner or sockpuppet wrote:

Genetics.

The downside is that EPO doesn't work on Mainiacs.

Bestest post in the fred.

I think that calling Maine's current crop of runners an 'anomaly' is completely disrespectful. These are just a few of the quality runners currently competing at the big leagues. There have always been 'B circuit' runners in Maine too who aren't that far off of making the leap to bigger opportunities. And there always will be. Why? Because the lifestyle here warrants hard work.

Don't even get me started on New Hampshire and Vermont. Those states also have a slew of runners just waiting to break through.

The Northeast region deserves HUGE props. Running exists in the US outside of Oregon and California you know.

I know we are talking about the current crop of 3/5k studs... But also take a look at New England's women over the past years!

All of these Olympic medal winners were either born or developed as runners in a very small area between NH, MA, and Maine.

Of course they all pretty much went on to train in places with less brutal weather!

Off the top of my head:

Joanie! 1984 Gold medalist marathon born in Maine.

Deena Kastor, 2004 bronze medalist in the marathon. 2:19 marathoner. World xc medalist. Born in Waltham, MA.

Shalane Flanagan, 2008 bronze medalist 10,000 and world xc medalist. Grew up in Marblehead, MA.

Lynn Jennings, 1992 10,0000 bronze, world xc champ. Grew up in Harvard, MA.

Must be something in the water! (Wahdah)

I'm sure it's somewhat coincidental. Northern New England doesn't produce the big numbers of elite distance runners like California or Colorado. But it sure seems like we lend a hand in making a few great superstars and maybe superstars in the making! (Ben True, Eric Jenkins, Abbey D)

I'm a 30:08 10k guy. (Years ago) It won't get better than that for me. But I've always loved running here in NH and Maine and Massachusetts. It makes you tough, very tough.

>It's small, there's going to be more variance in performances. Look at other small states, I'm sure some are well above average, and others are well below.

Here's a man who never took a statistics class.

As N decreases, SE increases. Stat 101

I am from Maine and live in New Hampshire, so I am biased. Best places to live and train IMO.

However, Rojo's article claiming that Maine is better at producing distance runners than Kenya is freaking hilarious. I had to check the calendar to make sure that it wasn't early April. The fact that Maine has more sub 13:20 guys so far this year doesn't mean anything. Kenya could fill a few school buses with 13:20 guys today. Guys who run 13:20 in Kenya don't go anywhere... no diamond league, no world champs, etc. They certainly don't make the headlines... Our sub 13:20 guys get shoe contracts and travel the world. That is why it appears Maine has more fast guys.

LennyZ wrote:

I am from Maine and live in New Hampshire, so I am biased. Best places to live and train IMO.

However, Rojo's article claiming that Maine is better at producing distance runners than Kenya is freaking hilarious. I had to check the calendar to make sure that it wasn't early April. The fact that Maine has more sub 13:20 guys so far this year doesn't mean anything. Kenya could fill a few school buses with 13:20 guys today. Guys who run 13:20 in Kenya don't go anywhere... no diamond league, no world champs, etc. They certainly don't make the headlines... Our sub 13:20 guys get shoe contracts and travel the world. That is why it appears Maine has more fast guys.

I agree lenny Z, in line with my point above......and in reply to Moxie, who said "I think that calling Maine's current crop of runners an 'anomaly' is completely disrespectful." -The definition of anomaly is something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected. So if Maine is producing more than its "expected" share of distance runners in a given year...or every year, then it is an anomaly (something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected)....no disrespect intended...one could say that comparing Maines large crop of distance runners to Kenyas large crop is disrespectful to Kenya, but I know that no disrespect was intended.