ABSTRACT
The eastern Rift Valley is a geological depression that divides Kenya from north to south and is the homeland of the Kalenjin people. Between the valley floor and the lining mountains the altitude ranges between 1,700 to 4,100 m above sea level (a.s.l.). Here the red murram paths have served as a training ground for the many endurance athletes who have dominated running at Olympic and world record level at distances ranging from 800 m to the marathon for the past 40 years. Athletes bearing the names Keino, Kiptanui, Tergat, Tanui and Barsosio and indeed Kenyan running per se, are synonymous with indefatigability, athletic excellence and world records. A question often asked, and the focus of this book, is why this extraordinary level of success? As discussed in detail throughout the different chapters, the possible explanations offered for the global athletic dominance of athletes from this small corner of the world are numerous and range from physiological considerations including the capacity for endurance running at higher fractions of maximal oxygen consumption (V
. O2
max) (see Chapter 8), superior running economy (see Chapter 6), altitude adaptation and genetic advantage (see Chapter 14) and social and economic considerations (see Chapters 1-4). None, however, has been shown to provide a definitive and ‘exclusive’ explanation for the remarkable achievements of east African endurance athletes. What is often termed a ‘Kenyan’ running phenomenon may more accurately be described as an ‘eastern Rift Valley’ or ‘Kalenjin’ running phenomenon as this area and tribal group, respectively, typically account for the majority of the national endurance teams (see Chapter 14). The running ‘sub-tribes’ amongst the Kalenjin demography include the Nandi, Marakwet, Tugen, Kipsigis, Keiyo, Pogoi and Kisii. As mentioned in Chapter 14, the birthplaces of most of the best east African endurance athletes are not evenly distributed throughout east Africa, rather, they are concentrated in distinct regions of Kenya and Ethiopia, named Arsi and Nandi, respectively; these east African regions are at high altitude (see Figure 14.1 and 14.2 in Chapter 14). Therein lies a commonly proposed explanation for the success of
partially responsible for their dominance of endurance running.
