this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2024
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Damn, that's interesting!
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Sorry to be that guy, but this picture gives us no evidence that the advantage of these people is biological and not the result of other factors such as culture or environment.
This picture doesn't, but if you look into it then you'll see studies have shown the Kalenjin people have quite small ankles and calves which mean their legs weigh less and so make it easier for them to run long distances.
That isn't to say genetics are the sole reason they are good. But it's undeniable they have a genetic advantage.
Maybe a small advantage, but they also have a culture of training specifically for long distance running. That's almost all of it. The size of your ankles doesn't matter if you don't practice.
There are better ultra marathon runners in Mexico who look nothing like these Kenyans. They barely warm up with a marathon, so they don't place highly. They are good because their culture involves running ultra marathons. They will keep running for fun long after everyone else has died.
Training is what matters. If you went and joined a running club in Kenya, you would be able to beat any Kenyan who didn't practice. It's 99% practice.
Ultra marathons are an entirely different sport from the 10k, and even marathons. Obviously training matters, but we also don't have to pretend all humans are identical and only training and grit separate them.
I mean yeah no shit someone who trains to run marathons is going to be better at running marathons than someone who doesn't.
The point is when you get to the highest level, where everyone is putting in the absolute max hard work and training, then their biology gives them an advantage.
My point is, you are putting too much emphasis on genetic gifts. Take a sport like basketball, where being tall is clearly an advantage. It's a much bigger advantage than "small calves" are in running. You basically can't play in the NBA at all unless you're 6ft or taller.
Even among people 6ft 9 and up, you really have to practice with a good teacher. Someone who's a foot shorter will easily beat you if they are good.
Running isn't just "moving your legs". There's strategy that these guys learn from their running group at a young age. They practice running as a sport. That's why they're good.
It's the same reason why people from the US, who are all genetically different, play basketball and baseball better than most other countries. They practice it competitively when they're young.
I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall here.
Nobody is arguing that someone who doesn't train is going to be magically better at a sport than someone who does train.
But like you yourself literally just said, there's a reason everyone in the NBA is over 6 foot. Because when you compare a 6ft6 dude that trains to play basketball and a 5ft6 dude that trains to play basketball, then the tall guy is going to be better because of his biological advantage.
And that's why these people make up the best long distance runners in the world, because COMpARED TO OTHER PEOPLE THAT TRAIN FOR LONG DISTSNCE RUNNING they have a biological advantage.
Because again, to make this really clear. No one is saying that biology makes it so these guys can magically be world class athletes without training. But when they do train, they do better even when compared to people that trai just as hard as they do, that learn the same strategy from the same young age they do and practice it as a sport like they do.
If you took an average white European baby and raised them in a Kalenjin village exactly like any other Kalenjin, and trained them to be a long distsnce runner from a young age just like a Kalenjin, they would never be able to be the best at it, because of their biology, just like the 5ft6 guy will never get into the NBA no matter how hard he practices. Because their will always be other people practicing just as hard as he is, but with a biological advantage.
Do you get it now?