Number of men running under 2:20 for the marathon in 1975:
From Britain: 23, From USA: 34,
From Kenya: 0
Number of men running under 2:20 for marathon in 2005:
From Britain: 12, From USA: 22, From Canada: 13,
From Kenya: 490!
So it seems that Kenyan dominance is not 'entirely' solely due to "Kenyan" factors (such as genes, altitude, diet, etc) - rather, perhaps it is likely a combination of all this and more. And maybe, we in the "west" are just not as "hungry" in the marathon as we used to be?
[I also read the other day that for the 2012 IAFF/IOC Olympic men's marathon standard, while there are only a handful of North American men who have met the standard, there were/are just under 500 Kenyans who have met the standard and could, if their country had sufficient spots, all attend the Olympics - wow!].
I suppose we can take comfort in that the Canadian Olympic hockey team (even the bedraggled Leaf's of late, for that matter!) seems a shoe in over the Kenyans (do they even have a hockey team?). The last time there was a "Canada-Kenya" hockey "friendly", we won 118-0.
Kidding.
So, as my Torts Prof in law school used to say:
"discuss".
Anyone have any thoughts on this? Esp. as it relates to Canada (given we only have 2 - yes, 2: Reid C and Eric G - lads headed to London 2012 for the Marathon, and I don't believe we have any women who have run under the standard at all).
Why the dominance? Why the decline in "western" marathon running times? What can be done to "catch up", if anything?
johnny boy
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