Comments on: Is Keynan Running Dominance a Numbers Game? http://www.thedeets.com/2007/11/19/is-keynan-running-dominance-a-numbers-game/ Consistently against torture. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:23:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Mike N. http://www.thedeets.com/2007/11/19/is-keynan-running-dominance-a-numbers-game/#comment-3629 Mike N. Tue, 20 Nov 2007 01:15:33 +0000 http://www.thedeets.com/2007/11/19/is-keynan-running-dominance-a-numbers-game/#comment-3629 Don't forget socioeconomics. A Kenyan is much more motivated to become a professional runner. The money he or she will make as a runner is a lot more lucrative than what an Ameican will make. The American dollar is much more valuable to a Kenyan than an American. Don’t forget socioeconomics. A Kenyan is much more motivated to become a professional runner. The money he or she will make as a runner is a lot more lucrative than what an Ameican will make. The American dollar is much more valuable to a Kenyan than an American.

]]> By: The Other Mike http://www.thedeets.com/2007/11/19/is-keynan-running-dominance-a-numbers-game/#comment-3624 The Other Mike Mon, 19 Nov 2007 22:53:51 +0000 http://www.thedeets.com/2007/11/19/is-keynan-running-dominance-a-numbers-game/#comment-3624 And which came first, chicken or egg? The chicken 'Kenyan genetic advantage' or the egg 'youthful lifestyle that values, expects, and encourages being active and running' resulting in a youngster who appears as a genetically superior runner? I don't think it is genetics as much as total acclimation (and I don't mean elevation, although you could tack that on too). Think of it as learning by immersion, like a new language from youth onward. Heck, I was skinny at 15 too, and would have been even more skinny had I spent more time running instead of playing burst sports like baseball, basketball, tennis, and football...would I have been Kenyan fast? Not likely, because of environmental limitations like the lack of support and competition for youthful running in the USA. And only THEN it is the numbers game. We only see the top 50 or so Kenyan runners here or on TV, the other million, who would all run circles around even a well conditioned me, are back home scratching out life (like me! :)). Kind of like the every four years Kenyan x-c skier. They always have fitness and endurance, but none of the lifetime on skis that make a world-class skier. Are Scandinavians genetically superior skiers? While fabulous athletes, I think not. However they have a lifetime of support and competition and skiing expectations behind them...and then their skier numbers kick in. But, isn't it fun to see a running story in SI and the blogsphere!!! And which came first, chicken or egg?

The chicken ‘Kenyan genetic advantage’ or the egg ‘youthful lifestyle that values, expects, and encourages being active and running’ resulting in a youngster who appears as a genetically superior runner? I don’t think it is genetics as much as total acclimation (and I don’t mean elevation, although you could tack that on too). Think of it as learning by immersion, like a new language from youth onward.

Heck, I was skinny at 15 too, and would have been even more skinny had I spent more time running instead of playing burst sports like baseball, basketball, tennis, and football…would I have been Kenyan fast? Not likely, because of environmental limitations like the lack of support and competition for youthful running in the USA.

And only THEN it is the numbers game. We only see the top 50 or so Kenyan runners here or on TV, the other million, who would all run circles around even a well conditioned me, are back home scratching out life (like me! :) ).

Kind of like the every four years Kenyan x-c skier. They always have fitness and endurance, but none of the lifetime on skis that make a world-class skier. Are Scandinavians genetically superior skiers? While fabulous athletes, I think not. However they have a lifetime of support and competition and skiing expectations behind them…and then their skier numbers kick in.

But, isn’t it fun to see a running story in SI and the blogsphere!!!

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