Running with the Kenyans - a review

Adharanand Finn's new book, "Running with the Kenyans," is structurally similar to Christopher McDougall's "Born to Run." The latter is about the Tarahumara Indians; Finn's book is about the Kenyans, especially those from one particular ethnic group, the Kalenjin. Both narratives proceed towards a culminating race at the end of the book, the first Copper Canyon Ultramarathon in McDougall's and the Lewa Marathon in Finn's. Both are fascinating studies that provide insights on "natural runners" and why they are so much better than the rest of the world. A slight difference is Finn wrote from a more personal perspective. The flow of McDougall's story is more evenly gripping, whereas Finn's story began somewhat more slowly and picked up around half way through the book. The Tarahumara Indians are natural, super athletes--but largely unknown to the rest of the world, even after McDougall's book and the start of the Copper Canyon Ultramarathon series. The Kenyan runners, on the other hand, are well known via their dominance in world long distance running. How dominant? Here are some numbers from Finn's book. In 1975, the number of sub-2:20 marathons ran by Americans, Britons, and Kenyans was 34, 23, and 0, respectively. By 2005, these numbers have flipped to 22, 12, and an incredible 490 (!), respectively. Illustrative of how much better the Kenyans are, compared with the rest of the world, is a telephone conversation Finn had with a Kenyan runner. Finn was trying to locate Wilson Kipsang, who later would run the Frankfurt marathon in the second fastest time in history (2:03:42). At the time of Finn's call, Kipsang's time was still a mere 2:04. :) Finn got Kipsang's number from a friend, but, by mistake, that number was for a William Kipsang. After a few confused exchanges, Finn said oh, I thought you are Wilson Kipsang, the 2:04 marathoner, right? William Kipsang replied, no, 2:05. In that part of the world, even if you dialed a wrong number ...

So, what makes Kenyan runners so good? Here's a list from Finn: "the tough, active childhood, the barefoot running, the altitude, the diet, the role models, the simple approach to training, the running camps, the focus and dedication, the desire to succeed, to change their lives, the expectation that they can win, the mental toughness, the lack of alternatives, the abundance of trails to train on, the time spent resting, the running to school, the all-pervasive running culture, the reverence for running." So, there is no one secret ingredient that, if known, can make runners elsewhere equally good. Still, there are many lessons that can be learned to become better runners. I already have a list of changes to my own training.

Running late ... in life

In this year's family Christmas morning opening of presents, I got a number of running-related items (surprise!), which, unlike many presents at this time of the year, are guaranteed to be well-used. In one of the boxes, the store had thrown in the current issue of some running magazine, in which an article by John Bingham, "When I'm 64," caught my eyes. The title refers to the Beatles' song, which, when Bingham first heard it, had seemed so far away. Now, he is 64 and making a living "as the world's slowest professional runner," after having started running at the ripe age of 43. He makes a sort of out-of-the-box observation that, for those who start running late in life (after the prime age for long-distance running of ~30), all their personal records are still ahead. Yes! That must be one of the answers to a question I've asked myself many, many times, without--still--a definitive answer: Why do I run?

So, "instead of sincerely wasting away," there will still be many as yet untraveled roads to explore.