Kenyan Running Dominance: Cultural, Not Genetic

You realize we have 306 NCAA Division I schools, which amounts to over 5000 guys lacing up running 60-100+ miles per week in America and we still can't compete with their performances over 13.1 and 26.2 miles?

y' wrote:

You realize we have 306 NCAA Division I schools, which amounts to over 5000 guys lacing up running 60-100+ miles per week in America and we still can't compete with their performances over 13.1 and 26.2 miles?

The Kenyans don't have to run indoor.

ADHARANAND FINN's book, Running with the Kenyans, explores this topic. It's an entertaining read, more of a travel log than a training study.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/212082/running-with-the-kenyans-by-adharanand-finn/9780345528803/

y' wrote:

You realize we have 306 NCAA Division I schools, which amounts to over 5000 guys lacing up running 60-100+ miles per week in America and we still can't compete with their performances over 13.1 and 26.2 miles?

Good point.

On the other hand, these 5000 D1 guys didn't grow up running 60-100 mpw since age 10 like the Kenyans, they've only been doing it for 1-6 years.

And for these 5000 D1 guys, what's their motivation to train hard and race fast? An almost unimaginably better life for themselves and their families? No, not really.

Reasonably, most observers have deduced that the source for this incredible strength that African, Kenyan, and more specifically Kalenjin distance runners exhibit must be due to their innate physical genetic superiority- that they have greater potential to excel in running than their European and American counterparts because of the unique genetic qualities that they have had since birth. Their outward dominance over the rest of the world seems to overwhelmingly suggest this theory. However, this is a lazy and incomplete conclusion, one that merely glances at the wins and end performances of these runners, neglecting to looker deeper into other possible causes for their athletic success, and is a theory that doesn’t take into account that their athletic prowess may stem from sources other than genetic differences. In fact, evidence of genetic advantages in East African runners over their European or American counterparts, has, through countless scientific studies, failed to materialize, and instead, strong evidence has risen to support that the root of their success comes from mainly cultural, training, and psychological differences originating from circumstances unique to their countries. Their exposure to considerable aerobic endurance during their early years, their motivation to achieve success in running in order to escape poverty and achieve riches, their national traditions of producing champions, and their specialized training and living at high altitudes and in competitive training camps are, instead, the main factors that should be attributed to their international success. It is important to make this distinction, as it provides earned admiration and respect for the feats of these skilled runners, rather than just dismissing their success as the cause of something totally out of their control. It also provides insight into what it takes to build a nearly unbeatable runner, and challenges other nations of the world to step up their game in order to create an even more competitive professional running sphere, inviting more competition and better overall running success.

Wait, don't tell me, EPO doesn't work on them.

Their minds aren't weak like the rest of the world.

Cultural, Not Genetic

Is this true for the NBA and NFL too?

martin545 wrote:

Cultural, Not Genetic

Is this true for the NBA and NFL too?

I never heard of a Kenyan in the NFL nor the NBA.

You make good points. You neglected to mention even though it rains often in Ethiopia and Kenya, the weather in both countries fluctuates between (55 to 80) F all year, which is great running weather. The weather in Texas to Florida is miserable for long distance running most of the year. The weather from Montana to Maine is miserable for long distance running most of the year. Conversely, are the best US male athletes in the (100 to 150) lbs. range choosing to be runners? I doubt it.

y' wrote:

You realize we have 306 NCAA Division I schools, which amounts to over 5000 guys lacing up running 60-100+ miles per week in America and we still can't compete with their performances over 13.1 and 26.2 miles?

they ate too much as children and their skeletons grew too big to be efficient over long distance. It is really that simple.

Also take into account the money factor. I'm sure we have many potentially great runners who stop after college or soon after because of financial reasons.

A poor Kenyan can set himself/herself up for life with one major marathon win or a good season of road raced all over the world.

I also think that the college set up is meant to make the college successful and not the long term potential of the athlete.

Bad Wigins wrote:

y' wrote:

You realize we have 306 NCAA Division I schools, which amounts to over 5000 guys lacing up running 60-100+ miles per week in America and we still can't compete with their performances over 13.1 and 26.2 miles?

they ate too much as children and their skeletons grew too big to be efficient over long distance. It is really that simple.

No matter ho much you feed a Thoroughbred, it won't turn into a Clydesdale. The opposite is true as well.

A number of studies have been conducted aiming to discover whether or not Kenyan running success is due, at least in part, to unique genetics, to see if these elite runners really do possess some “super gene” that helps them achieve greatness. However, the general consensus has been that there has been no evidence of specific genetic predispositions giving Kenyans and other Africans any performance edges over those of other nationalities. One such study investigated the genetic ancestry of “291 elite Kenyan endurance athletes” (Warner), 70 of whom had competed internationally for Kenya. By means of mitochondrial DNA research, it was found that these elite runners “revealed a wide distribution” within their ancestral trees, “in contrast to the concept that these runners are a genetically distinct group” (Warner). Additionally, it was concluded that many of the Kenyans that were tested in fact shared closer ancestral relations to Europeans than to other Kenyan athletes, opposing the theory that Kenyans, overtime, have “developed [an] ancestral endurance phenotype” by remaining cut off from the rest of the world in the highlands of the Eastern Africa (Warner). This particular study provides scientific grounding to the conclusion that Africans are not genetically superior than other races, evidence based in science that the opposing viewpoint simply does not have. Another study sought to answer the question of whether genetics play a role in Kenyan running dominance by genotyping elite Kenyan athletes for possession of two of the only performance enhancing genes known to humans- ACE and ACTN3 (Warner). Both of these genes were found to not be “a significant determinant of [the Kenyans’] success” (Danser), providing further evidence that unique genetics play no role in their success. Genetic factors unique to Kenyans, in summary, have not been shown to play a role in their outstanding running performance. No “super gene” has been, or likely will ever be, discovered that grants Kenyans or Ethiopians the natural ability to outperform Scandinavians, Italians, or Mexicans. Rather, this “super gene” theory, mistakenly believed by many, is unsupported by any scientific research, and was likely begun by some frustrated runner as a way to explain their constant defeat at the expert hands (or legs) of a seemingly unbeatable Kenyan. What this deflated runner didn’t realize was that this Kenyan runner’s ability to utterly defeat him, to completely destroy his hopes and aspirations with the seemingly effortless strength of his powerful stride, wasn’t begun by some genetic head start at birth, although it was begun early, early in the days of his childhood.

They just haven't isolated the genes yet.

Tergat lived half a mile from school and walked there.

None of your post addresses trying to refute the science of their genetic advantages, as laid out in Sports Gene.

Yeah no advantage to being thin and small build... allllll cultural. You post is a wall of words and full of crap. Also, what is wrong with having success due to a genetic advantage?

Nobody is saying a Kenyan can win big without training. Different people have gifts for different things. Taking advantage of those benefits takes hard work and diligence.

It's not as simple as one or the other. A disproportionate leg to torso ratio is the ideal running physique for anything over 800. This tribe you talk about produces mostly this body type. This wouldn't lead to huge differences by itself, the culture pronounces this advantage.

So I guess the culture of West African blacks, in a multitude of different countries is the reason for their sprinting dominance ?

It is cultural.

Note the schools that are always strong, and those which aren't. History holds power. Look at Hunter's old high school, Loudon, doing well now. You think it's genetic?

Consider how entrenched basketball and American football are in this country, and not in Africa. Is there any chance any part of Africa can have an American football team? Not likely. Is there any reason that an Alabama club hockey team isn't amazingly good? You'd think at some point the gene pool would be perfect for a hockey team there, right?