New marathon domination, Kenya.

[The Hitch]

Up until recently Kenyans were kings of the 3000 metres and great at long distance running. But they were not the top dogs in long distance.

Etheopians dominated the 10 000m.

Only 1 Kenyan had ever won an olympic marathon or 10 000m gold medal.

But suddenly, there is no other force in the sport.

In 2008 the late Sammy Wanjiru won the olympic marathon at the ingredibly young age of just 22.

And since then, it their attack on the sport has gone Nuclear.

In the last 30 months 5 new Kenyans, 4 of them under 27 years of age, have posted new super times, which make up 5 of the 6 fastest ever. This includes both the new world record set last month and the second fastest time ever, set today.

These are the 10 fastest times in marathon history.

The bolded are new Kenyans who have posted their supertime since April 2009.

Time Athlete Country Date Location
2h03:38 Patrick Makau Kenya 25 September 2011 Berlin
2h03:42 Wilson Kipsang Kenya 30 October 2011 Frankfurt
2h03:59 Haile Gebrselassie Ethiopia 28 September 2008 Berlin
2h04:27 Duncan Kibet Kenya 5 April 2009 Rotterdam
2h04:27 James Kwambai Kenya 5 April 2009 Rotterdam
2h04:40 Emmanuel Mutai Kenya 17 April 2011
h04:55 Paul Tergat Kenya 28 September 2003 Berlin
2h04:55 Geoffrey Mutai Kenya 11 April 2010 Rotterdam
2h04:56 Sammy Korir Kenya 28 September 2003 Berlin
2h05:04 Abel Kirui Kenya 5 April 2009 Rotterdam

To clarify 3 years ago there would have been 2 Kenyans on the list. Now all but Haile are.

On top of this Geoffrey Mutai - in 8th, run an even faster time - 2.03 .02 in Boston, on a hilly course without pacemakers but it is not considered a world record course under IIAF rules.

Today, Kipsang just missed the world record by 5 seconds. 14 men went under 2.10.


10 of the top 11 places in this superfast Frankfurt Marathon were Kenyans.


Of course there are any number of reason why this could be. But this isnt just a doping subforum its a science one too.

Discuss.

 

[nighttrain]

Up until recently Kenyans were kings of the 3000 metres and great at long distance running. But they were not the top dogs in long distance.

Etheopians dominated the 10 000m.

Only 1 Kenyan had ever won an olympic marathon or 10 000m gold medal.

But suddenly, there is no other force in the sport.

In 2008 the late Sammy Wanjiru won the olympic marathon at the ingredibly young age of just 22.

And since then, it their attack on the sport has gone Nuclear.

In the last 30 months 5 new Kenyans, 4 of them under 27 years of age, have posted new super times, which make up 5 of the 6 fastest ever. This includes both the new world record set last month and the second fastest time ever, set today.

These are the 10 fastest times in marathon history.

The bolded are new Kenyans who have posted their supertime since April 2009.

Time Athlete Country Date Location
2h03:38 Patrick Makau Kenya 25 September 2011 Berlin
2h03:42 Wilson Kipsang Kenya 30 October 2011 Frankfurt
2h03:59 Haile Gebrselassie Ethiopia 28 September 2008 Berlin
2h04:27 Duncan Kibet Kenya 5 April 2009 Rotterdam
2h04:27 James Kwambai Kenya 5 April 2009 Rotterdam
2h04:40 Emmanuel Mutai Kenya 17 April 2011
h04:55 Paul Tergat Kenya 28 September 2003 Berlin
2h04:55 Geoffrey Mutai Kenya 11 April 2010 Rotterdam
2h04:56 Sammy Korir Kenya 28 September 2003 Berlin
2h05:04 Abel Kirui Kenya 5 April 2009 Rotterdam

To clarify 3 years ago there would have been 2 Kenyans on the list. Now all but Haile are.

On top of this Geoffrey Mutai - in 8th, run an even faster time - 2.03 .02 in Boston, on a hilly course without pacemakers but it is not considered a world record course under IIAF rules.

Today, Kipsang just missed the world record by 5 seconds. 14 men went under 2.10.


10 of the top 11 places in this superfast Frankfurt Marathon were Kenyans.


Of course there are any number of reason why this could be. But this isnt just a doping subforum its a science one too.

Discuss.

They are juiced to their gills, same as the '94-'98 Chinese Women Swimmers. Anamolies in endurance sports always lead back to chemistry. Yawn....

 

[BigChain]

Up until recently Kenyans were kings of the 3000 metres and great at long distance running. But they were not the top dogs in long distance.

Etheopians dominated the 10 000m.

Only 1 Kenyan had ever won an olympic marathon or 10 000m gold medal.

But suddenly, there is no other force in the sport.

In 2008 the late Sammy Wanjiru won the olympic marathon at the ingredibly young age of just 22.

And since then, it their attack on the sport has gone Nuclear.

In the last 30 months 5 new Kenyans, 4 of them under 27 years of age, have posted new super times, which make up 5 of the 6 fastest ever. This includes both the new world record set last month and the second fastest time ever, set today.

These are the 10 fastest times in marathon history.

The bolded are new Kenyans who have posted their supertime since April 2009.

Time Athlete Country Date Location
2h03:38 Patrick Makau Kenya 25 September 2011 Berlin
2h03:42 Wilson Kipsang Kenya 30 October 2011 Frankfurt
2h03:59 Haile Gebrselassie Ethiopia 28 September 2008 Berlin
2h04:27 Duncan Kibet Kenya 5 April 2009 Rotterdam
2h04:27 James Kwambai Kenya 5 April 2009 Rotterdam
2h04:40 Emmanuel Mutai Kenya 17 April 2011
h04:55 Paul Tergat Kenya 28 September 2003 Berlin
2h04:55 Geoffrey Mutai Kenya 11 April 2010 Rotterdam
2h04:56 Sammy Korir Kenya 28 September 2003 Berlin
2h05:04 Abel Kirui Kenya 5 April 2009 Rotterdam

To clarify 3 years ago there would have been 2 Kenyans on the list. Now all but Haile are.

On top of this Geoffrey Mutai - in 8th, run an even faster time - 2.03 .02 in Boston, on a hilly course without pacemakers but it is not considered a world record course under IIAF rules.

Today, Kipsang just missed the world record by 5 seconds. 14 men went under 2.10.


10 of the top 11 places in this superfast Frankfurt Marathon were Kenyans.


Of course there are any number of reason why this could be. But this isnt just a doping subforum its a science one too.

Discuss.

I have no doubt that some Kenyan runners dope. Many posters on this forum will simply state "They all dope", which I'm surprised Hitch you did not say yourself since this is normally your response for cyclists.

However the fact is that many Kenyans have seen the success of their countrymen and see running as a way to escape abject poverty. Many Kenyans, like Ethiopians, live at high altitude, and therefore already have an advantage for endurance running.

Running is part of thie lives. Many children live a long way from school and the only way to get there in a timely manner is to run. They often run 10km to/from school on an empty stomach, since many Kenyans only eat one meal per day. They will normally only have old runners, hand me downs, or maybe they run barefoot.

Gather these kids in one spot, such as the training centres around Eldoret in Western Kenya (altitude 2,100 metres), with the added motivation of breaking out of their circle of poverty, and there are going to be some seriously good runners coming through the ranks. There are a lot of ex athletes / talent scounts looking for the next big Kenyan name.

I have no doubt that some Kenyan runners might dope. However unless doping is state sponsored which knowing Africa I seriously doubt, then virtually no Kenyan runner could afford doping of any kind until they have already made a name for themselves as an elite athlete.

So in my opinion, and having been to Kenya about 30 times and knowing quite a bit about the country and it's peoples, most Kenyan runners will be clean, with the odd one here or there taking drugs.

 

[unsheath]

The recent Melbourne Marathon winner (sorry, can't find his name) suggested that the Kenyan's are now much more professional in their approach. Better funding and sponsorship coupled with now having managers has apparently given them more time and better resources to train than their predecessors.

Make of that what you will.

For the record his time was 2.11+ but then again he's not in the top echelon of runners from his country.

 

[euanli]

Watching the Portsmouth 10 Mile race yesterday the commenators were going with the "they have been doing this since a young age so they just recover better and thus can train harder" angle.

 

[Andynonomous]

Fact is, if you dominate an endurance sport today (or a "sprint" sport like 100 mtrs, or "strength" sportsport like weightlifting), you probably are chemically enhanced, since most of your competitors are enhanced, and you are beating them.

It is just as ridiculous to make excuses for the Kenyans (they are poor, they got more discipline), as it was for Armstrong (he worked harder, he just set a higher cadence). It's denial either way.

 

[The Hitch]

I have no doubt that some Kenyan runners dope. Many posters on this forum will simply state "They all dope", which I'm surprised Hitch you did not say yourself since this is normally your response for cyclists.

However the fact is that many Kenyans have seen the success of their countrymen and see running as a way to escape abject poverty. Many Kenyans, like Ethiopians, live at high altitude, and therefore already have an advantage for endurance running.

Running is part of thie lives. Many children live a long way from school and the only way to get there in a timely manner is to run. They often run 10km to/from school on an empty stomach, since many Kenyans only eat one meal per day. They will normally only have old runners, hand me downs, or maybe they run barefoot.

Gather these kids in one spot, such as the training centres around Eldoret in Western Kenya (altitude 2,100 metres), with the added motivation of breaking out of their circle of poverty, and there are going to be some seriously good runners coming through the ranks. There are a lot of ex athletes / talent scounts looking for the next big Kenyan name.

I have no doubt that some Kenyan runners might dope. However unless doping is state sponsored which knowing Africa I seriously doubt, then virtually no Kenyan runner could afford doping of any kind until they have already made a name for themselves as an elite athlete.

So in my opinion, and having been to Kenya about 30 times and knowing quite a bit about the country and it's peoples, most Kenyan runners will be clean, with the odd one here or there taking drugs.

The point isnt that Kenyans do well at long distance. Its that in the last 2 years they have come to dominate the sport like nothing else, while before they were just another 1 of about 5 or 6 countries that do well in the sport, and worse than Etheopia.

Their dominance on marathon since 2009 is bigger than Belgiums dominance on Cyclocross.

Its as if suddenly the top 10 in the Tour de France all came from Switzerland. Yes Switzerland have always been good at the sport, always had great riders, but suddenly in 2 years 10 riders destroying everyone, would be very strange.

All the variables you list - training, alltitude, running to school, tribes, desire to get out of poverty, were as much the case 10, 20 , 30 years ago as they are now. They were as much the case 5 years ago.

To go back to the Switzerland analogy, it would be like explaining these new hypothetical TDF performances by saying that Switzerland has high Alpes, good training programmes, and great bicicle manufacturers.

All true, but they all were also true 10 years ago, and it would not explain why they jumped out of the pack so suddenly.

 

[just some guy]

Some of the growth in numbers competing for different events may come back to the dominance in middle distance - since the top 10 in 3000 5000 would mostly be made up of Kenyans and only 3 can complete in the Olympics and WC - Coaches athletes started looking at other events to make it in and thus started training differently .

 

[Cloxxki]

For some reason, Kenyan women don't seem to be on the same upswing. Not even the ones who married abroad.
Yesterday, female winner was +15% of the male winner.

Weren't women supposed to be relatievely good at long distances where strength and explosiveness is least a factor, dipping under the magical 110% of male times? Where did that reasoning go? With female emancipation supposedly still on the upswing, and money to be made more than decent, especially in a narrow top sport such as female marathoning, you'd expect things to change for the better.
Are the women really succombing to Radcliffe's times, waiting for the women herself to attack them with old age?

It's not impossible that the Kenyan's (usualy western) managers have come across some type of legal supplement which helps a bit more than beetrootjuice extract. And it's possible that it doesn't suit women's physiology as well.
I know that for me, there are supplements that can get a minute off my 10k time. With an already top elite atlete, you don't usually expect such gains to be made, as other limitations are hit.

Running culture in Kenya is of course something dfferent from the rest of the world. if you show any type of talent for running, you WILL be scouted. And you WILL show up to practice. You don't pass up such dream of getting rich doing nothing but running. Many compatriots are doing it. Even if you don't really like sports, you do it for your family.
Go scout for talent in the West, and try to convince a talented non-runner to take up marathoning, to after a few years maybe have a go at getting rich. Who'll take you up for it?

 

[Bertie]

An average kenyan man of a certain height weighs less than an average white man of the same height. Principal reason, bone weight.
Their muscles are more flexible too.
They havent been brought up in a sedentary lifestyle
They havent been brought up eating crap
A large percentage have lived for extended periods at altitude
If we don't be successful runners we can always eat mcdonalds, if they don't they can starve - motivation.

It is not a level playing field, and it is surprising they are only 3 minutes or so faster than us.

To me the interesting point is what is going on between Ethiopia and Kenya. To be fair, this is just a swing to Kenya. Kenyand were better in the 70's and 80's, Ethiopia have had the better of it through the 90's and most of the last ten years. Now its swinging back to Kenya. Who knows the reason, but I'll wager that a lot of it is team spirit, training camps and the like. It is hugely important for Kenyans to beat Ethiopians and vice versa. Everyone else is caught in the crossfire.

 

[Cloxxki]

An average kenyan man of a certain height weighs less than an average white man of the same height. Principal reason, bone weight.
Their muscles are more flexible too.
They havent been brought up in a sedentary lifestyle
They havent been brought up eating crap
A large percentage have lived for extended periods at altitude
If we don't be successful runners we can always eat mcdonalds, if they don't they can starve - motivation.

It is not a level playing field, and it is surprising they are only 3 minutes or so faster than us.

To me the interesting point is what is going on between Ethiopia and Kenya. To be fair, this is just a swing to Kenya. Kenyand were better in the 70's and 80's, Ethiopia have had the better of it through the 90's and most of the last ten years. Now its swinging back to Kenya. Who knows the reason, but I'll wager that a lot of it is team spirit, training camps and the like. It is hugely important for Kenyans to beat Ethiopians and vice versa. Everyone else is caught in the crossfire.

You could reason that a white guy getting within 3 minutes of the top clean Kenyan must still be doped to the gills. Especially as some fast white guys on 10-42km seem to have terrible form.

One thing is going on though. Raceorganisors, athlete manager and sports union board member, can in athletics easily be one and the same person. And don't you dare even mention this fact at the wrong intonation...

 

[Le breton]

.....
These are the 10 fastest times in marathon history.

The bolded are new Kenyans who have posted their supertime since April 2009.

Time Athlete Country Date Location
2h03:38 Patrick Makau Kenya 25 September 2011 Berlin
2h03:42 Wilson Kipsang Kenya 30 October 2011 Frankfurt
2h03:59 Haile Gebrselassie Ethiopia 28 September 2008 Berlin
2h04:27 Duncan Kibet Kenya 5 April 2009 Rotterdam
2h04:27 James Kwambai Kenya 5 April 2009 Rotterdam
2h04:40 Emmanuel Mutai Kenya 17 April 2011
h04:55 Paul Tergat Kenya 28 September 2003 Berlin
2h04:55 Geoffrey Mutai Kenya 11 April 2010 Rotterdam
2h04:56 Sammy Korir Kenya 28 September 2003 Berlin
2h05:04 Abel Kirui Kenya 5 April 2009 Rotterdam

To clarify 3 years ago there would have been 2 Kenyans on the list. Now all but Haile are.

On top of this Geoffrey Mutai - in 8th, run an even faster time - 2.03 .02 in Boston, on a hilly course without pacemakers but it is not considered a world record course under IIAF rules.

Today, Kipsang just missed the world record by 5 seconds. 14 men went under 2.10.


10 of the top 11 places in this superfast Frankfurt Marathon were Kenyans.


Of course there are any number of reason why this could be. But this isnt just a doping subforum its a science one too.

Discuss.

This surge in performance coincides with the advent of AICAR (aka GW516), or, maybe it's not a coincidence! (What does Steinbeck think about it?)











"of mice and men". If puzzled google marathon mice.

 

[Bumeington]

The point isnt that Kenyans do well at long distance. Its that in the last 2 years they have come to dominate the sport like nothing else, while before they were just another 1 of about 5 or 6 countries that do well in the sport, and worse than Etheopia.

Their dominance on marathon since 2009 is bigger than Belgiums dominance on Cyclocross.

Its as if suddenly the top 10 in the Tour de France all came from Switzerland. Yes Switzerland have always been good at the sport, always had great riders, but suddenly in 2 years 10 riders destroying everyone, would be very strange.

All the variables you list - training, alltitude, running to school, tribes, desire to get out of poverty, were as much the case 10, 20 , 30 years ago as they are now. They were as much the case 5 years ago.

To go back to the Switzerland analogy, it would be like explaining these new hypothetical TDF performances by saying that Switzerland has high Alpes, good training programmes, and great bicicle manufacturers.

All true, but they all were also true 10 years ago, and it would not explain why they jumped out of the pack so suddenly.

The answer is money. Wanjiru is a great example, he was running super fast marathons at 22 and younger. The greats of the 90s/00s like Geb and Tergat could make the most money on the track, and only switched up to the marathon once a bit older. Now, the major city marathons offer a lot of money for the winners, so the incentives for a 20 year old Kenyan runner with promise are to go straight into marathon.

Geb's world record of 2:03:59 was set when he was 35! In my opinion, he could have gone faster at 28 if he had focused on the marathon since his early 20s.

P.S. Mutai's 2:03:02 had a massive tailwind, that's the reason it was so quick, the top runners being on average 2 minutes quicker than in previous years.

 

[mastersracer]

The point isnt that Kenyans do well at long distance. Its that in the last 2 years they have come to dominate the sport like nothing else, while before they were just another 1 of about 5 or 6 countries that do well in the sport, and worse than Etheopia.

Their dominance on marathon since 2009 is bigger than Belgiums dominance on Cyclocross.

Its as if suddenly the top 10 in the Tour de France all came from Switzerland. Yes Switzerland have always been good at the sport, always had great riders, but suddenly in 2 years 10 riders destroying everyone, would be very strange.

All the variables you list - training, alltitude, running to school, tribes, desire to get out of poverty, were as much the case 10, 20 , 30 years ago as they are now. They were as much the case 5 years ago.

To go back to the Switzerland analogy, it would be like explaining these new hypothetical TDF performances by saying that Switzerland has high Alpes, good training programmes, and great bicicle manufacturers.

All true, but they all were also true 10 years ago, and it would not explain why they jumped out of the pack so suddenly.

there is nothing in the area of phenotypic plasticity that is inconsistent with their rise - you may claim that the variables you list haven't changed, but that's pure speculation. Further, the phenotypic response to environmental changes isn't necessarily linear. Combined with the increasing realization of rapid/recent gene change, there's nothing particularly problematic about these changes.

 

[Epicycle]

The rise of Kenyans in the marathon coincided with their association with an Italian doctor named Gabriele Rosa. Not surprisingly, Rosa had been a cycling doctor before he shifted his focus to runners. Also not surprising that Rosa has been implicated in doping issues (and more recently than this NY Times article):

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/02/sports/marathon-forecast-for-marathon-cloud-may-be-following-several-runners-around.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/siadventure/2001/long_distance/

There's a lot more stuff about Rosa out there for anybody interested in searching.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

However the fact is that many Kenyans have seen the success of their countrymen and see running as a way to escape abject poverty. Many Kenyans, like Ethiopians, live at high altitude, and therefore already have an advantage for endurance running.

Running is part of thie lives. Many children live a long way from school and the only way to get there in a timely manner is to run. They often run 10km to/from school on an empty stomach, since many Kenyans only eat one meal per day. They will normally only have old runners, hand me downs, or maybe they run barefoot.

That's all well and good, but it applies to a lot of other countries in East Africa too - the Ethiopians, Eritreans, Rwandans, and outside East Africa even many Saudi Arabians. But recently, we have a sudden spate of Kenyan successes. The Kenyans have always been good at distance running, and the reasons you give naturally come into it - but their improvement recently has gone from being "competitive, top quality endurance runners" to "completely obliterating everybody else on the planet". That's why this thread is here. How come those Ethiopians and Eritreans can no longer compete when they have a similar situation? That is the question being posed.

 

[blackcat]

Bernard Kohl's coach/manager/doping preparatore, Stefan Matschiner, also had some Kenyan runners in his stable.

 

[blackcat]

The rise of Kenyans in the marathon coincided with their association with an Italian doctor named Gabriele Rosa. Not surprisingly, Rosa had been a cycling doctor before he shifted his focus to runners. Also not surprising that Rosa has been implicated in doping issues (and more recently than this NY Times article):

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/02/sports/marathon-forecast-for-marathon-cloud-may-be-following-several-runners-around.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/siadventure/2001/long_distance/

There's a lot more stuff about Rosa out there for anybody interested in searching.

with Matschiner... provides a good start to the theory...

 

[blackcat]

The recent Melbourne Marathon winner (sorry, can't find his name) suggested that the Kenyan's are now much more professional in their approach. Better funding and sponsorship coupled with now having managers has apparently given them more time and better resources to train than their predecessors.

from the Armstrong school of spin. Measures his food, works harder, better sports science.

 

[blackcat]

An average kenyan man of a certain height weighs less than an average white man of the same height. Principal reason, bone weight.
Their muscles are more flexible too.
They havent been brought up in a sedentary lifestyle
They havent been brought up eating crap
A large percentage have lived for extended periods at altitude
If we don't be successful runners we can always eat mcdonalds, if they don't they can starve - motivation.

It is not a level playing field, and it is surprising they are only 3 minutes or so faster than us.

To me the interesting point is what is going on between Ethiopia and Kenya. To be fair, this is just a swing to Kenya. Kenyand were better in the 70's and 80's, Ethiopia have had the better of it through the 90's and most of the last ten years. Now its swinging back to Kenya. Who knows the reason, but I'll wager that a lot of it is team spirit, training camps and the like. It is hugely important for Kenyans to beat Ethiopians and vice versa. Everyone else is caught in the crossfire.

ceteris paribus, you think the last para explains it? IS that the change?

Not denying physical advantages, and their potential athlete catchment, from nigh their entire male population. That is not the thesis proposed.

But it is absurd they are not on the same performance enhancement regime of other pro athletes, when their agents like Matschiner get hold of them for the Golden League and Berlin Marathon and NYC and Boston. Its economics stoopid, like has been said. They are offered a way to material comfort, and not agrarian pain.

 

[The Hitch]

Disapointing for Kenya today. Only got first 2 places in New York Marathon and only broke the course record by 3 minutes.

Domination is greater than i thought though.

Apparently the top 20 runners for 2011 are all Kenyan

Commentators were saying that its ALL because they focuse on marathon when they are 19.

Even though the guy that just won the race and is probably the greatest of them all - Geffrey Matui, is 30 years old.

Funny thing is that they only get 3 places for the olympics. Meaning that either the world record holder or the guy that missed the world record by 4 seconds are staying home.

Apparently even Mutai might not go even though hes the world number 1 lol.

Would be even more complicated if Sammy hadnt died - would qualify automatically as Olympic champion.

 

[More Strides than Rides]

No one really knows why 2011 is special. There are a few ideas already in the thread though that are legit.

The fact that Kenya dominated the long track events only preludes their marathon success. You point to Ethiopia, but they have the stars, (Geb, Bekele, Sileshi Sihine, recently Jeilan), but Kenya has the depth beyond compare. Those that aren't in the consideration for top 3 in the 1500 step up, same with the 5k and 10k. "leftovers" try their hand in the Marathon. There is also a lot more money in the marathon, encouraging a lot of those bubble runners to step up. Other countries don't have the depth to have such good "leftovers".

However, that doesn't do anything to point to 2011.

You could say that a lot of the infrastructure for the running culture in Kenya is paying off. The training camps, athlete exposure for agents in local races, ect. could be delivering their first class of stars. They have been doing this for a while, but maybe it only sophisticated itself recently, and this class of runners has gone through all of it. That being said, Mutai coaches himself.

There is a running culture in Kenya that should not be underestimated. Even if that "most dedicated, most prepared" mantra is too familiar from the Armstrong camp, they do have the most. But without a doubt they are simply the "most". Not to mention environmental and physiological advantages.

But, this doesn't explain why 2011 is special. I think the answer is somewhere between the first two, and that doping is woven between them. Track and field is more aggressive than cycling in doping control, but mostly during competition. The testers that go around Europe to test cyclists are not flying to Kenya to knock on the door of an African training camp. There won't be labs to bust, and a money trail to trace. Many Kenyans are notoriously absent from the grid (competition testing) until "the big one", be it a medal winning performance or top marathon place. The Kenyan national running organization is wacky, and I don't trust them to maintain a high standard of cleanliness in every one of its runners (again, there are a lot). They have a lot to lose in thorough widespread testing.

I think that their performances are not enhanced. Kenyans are all over the map: in the US collegiate system, Japan, Europe; not all of them hide, and the best ones aren't tucked in a hut. They dominate regardless of the doping control of their environment. It would be the agents who push to dope, and it would be their money. There's not enough of it in running at the bottom level. The best guys walk home with hundreds of thousands in appearance and prize money, but they're the ones who are best tracked and monitored.

Even doping doesn't explain why 2011 is exceptional, to the original point. But thats my piece

 

[More Strides than Rides]

Double Post, but read this if you are interested:

http://www.sportsscientists.com/2011/11/marathon-era-seismic-shift-and.html

 

[scullster46]

I didn't read through the whole thread yet, so forgive me if this has been brought up before.

The consensus among running fans is that the recent marathon improvements are due to financial reasons. Top marathons put up a lot of money for fast times and top competitors, far more than track races do. This has attracted more talent to the roads, specifically young talent. Wanjiru spearheaded this when he started breaking the half marathon record. Before Wanjiru, the common philosophy was that you moved up to the marathon when you could no longer cut it on the track. However, Kenyans are now doing marathons in their early 20s. At this age, they have far more speed left in their legs, which is critical for running fast times. Endurance is learned, while speed is inherited. I can guarantee that in a few years, most of these young Kenyans that are putting up great times will have disappeared due to overtraining and/or racing. But by then they'll have made enough money to be set for life in Kenya.

Another reason that Kenyans are moving to the roads at an earlier age could be the influx of Ethiopians on the track. For various reasons, almost all Ethiopians have better kicks than Kenyans, so Kenyans aren't winning as much on the track. However, there superior endurance shines through on the roads.

I'm not saying that there aren't clinic issues possibly at play, just that its a lot less likely than most people think, and their is a reasonable explanation for it.

 

[The Hitch]

I didn't read through the whole thread yet, so forgive me if this has been brought up before.

The consensus among running fans is that the recent marathon improvements are due to financial reasons. Top marathons put up a lot of money for fast times and top competitors, far more than track races do. This has attracted more talent to the roads, specifically young talent. Wanjiru spearheaded this when he started breaking the half marathon record. Before Wanjiru, the common philosophy was that you moved up to the marathon when you could no longer cut it on the track. However, Kenyans are now doing marathons in their early 20s. At this age, they have far more speed left in their legs, which is critical for running fast times.

Well I would point out that the best of these Kenyan runners is not in his early 20's but 30. 2 years ago he was just another good marathon runner, pb 2.07.

Now hes maybe the fastest in history, and winning Boston and then New York marathon, and probably will be the first name on the Kenyan team sheet.