A group of runners takes part in a training session on March 12, 2019 in Kaptagat.
Franck Fife / AFP / Getty
Kenya is home to many of the best marathon runners in the world.It’s no coincidence. Many of these world-class runners come from Iten, the “city of champions,” a town that sits on the edge of Rift Valley, 7,000 feet above sea level.Scientists and runners have questioned how they keep winning.Harvard biologist Daniel Lieberman, who studied the evolution of running, told NPR it was impossible to quantify — it’s a mixture of factors like training, culture, biology, and the runner’s determination.What used to be an unknown region is now a mecca for runners from around the world due its repeated successes. Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.Kenya’s Rift Valley is a mecca for running champions.For decades runners from Kenya and Ethiopia have been dominating distance races. From 1968 onwards, Kenyan athletes have been a force to reckon with.And what’s intrigued runners and experts is that so many champions come from, or train at, Rift Valley in Kenya. In particular, the town of Iten, which sits on the edge of the valley 7,000 feet above sea level, has produced so many marathon runners that it’s known as “the city of champions.”But there’s no clear factor for the region’s repeated successes. It’s a variety of things like altitude, training, culture, and runners’ determination.One thing’s for sure — from an early age, local children watch runners crowd the streets and dream of following in their footsteps. A successful career as a distance runner is a way out of poverty.Here’s what Rift Valley is like.
Welcome, the sign says, to Iten, a small town on the edge of a plateau on Rift Valley in Kenya that’s home to many of the best runners in the world.
A woman walks past a sign on a public road welcoming people to the town of Iten, western Kenya, April 12, 2016.
Siegfried Modola / Reuters
Source: Independent
Rift Valley, which began forming about 40 million years ago, at times reaches 7,000 feet above sea level. Up there, it’s flat, with mild temperatures ranging from 50 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit all year round, meaning it’s perfect for marathon training.
Rift Valley, Kenya.
Jean-Luc Manaud / Gamma-Rapho / Getty
Source: South Florida Sun Sentinel
Kenya has 50 million people, but only a fraction of the population is responsible for the country’s sporting successes. It’s mostly runners from Rift Valley who have gone on to dominate marathons for decades.
Athletes exercise in the early morning in the sports ground of the University of Eldoret in western Kenya, March 21, 2016.
Siegfried Modola / Reuters
Source: CNN
The latest example of this was on Sunday, when the male and female winners of the New York Marathon were both from Kenya. Geoffrey Kamworor won his second title and Joyciline Jepkosgei won her first. They continued a tradition that’s been going since 1968.
Geoffrey Kamworor (L) of Kenya won his second New York City Marathon (C) on November 03, 2019 in New York City.
Kena Betancur/VIEWpress / Getty
Source: CNN
It began with unknown runner Kip Keino, who ushered in a new age of running for Kenya when he won gold in the 1,500 meter at the 1968 Olympics, despite having a gallbladder infection. It was the first of many medals to be won by runners from Rift Valley, and it helped turn the world’s gaze to the region.
Kenyan long distance runner Kip Keino leads the field during the 2 mile race in 1970.
Ed Lacey/Popperfoto / Getty
Sources: South Florida Sun Sentinel, Independent
When Keino began training to be a distance runner, it was out of the norm. His neighbors and peers thought he was chasing the wind, or that he was a madman, but he knew what he was doing.
A runner in Iten, Kenya.
Franck Fife / AFP / Getty
Source: South Florida Sun Sentinel
He went onto win gold in 1972 as well, and his success began to catch on. Soon his neighbors were silver medalist Peter Koech and three-time steeplechase champion Joshue Kipkemboi.
Kip Keino of Kenya, the Olympic 1500 metres champion, finishes first in the two-mile event at Crystal Palace, London on 6th July 1970. Behind him is Brendan Foster (138) of Great Britain.
Popperfoto / Getty
Source: South Florida Sun Sentinel
After Keino, came winner after winner. Between 1988 and 2012, 20 out of 25 male winners of the Boston Marathon were from Kenya. In October 2011, after the Berlin Marathon, sports writer David Epstein said the statistics were laughable. “There are 17 American men in history who have run under 2:10 in the marathon. There were 32 Kalenjin who did it in October of 2011,” he said.
Kenya’s Geoffrey Mutai (C) celebrates winning the 39th Berlin Marathon ahead of his compatriots Dennis Kimetto (L) and Geoffrey Kipsang (3rd) on September 30, 2011 in Berlin.
Johannes Eisele / AFP / Getty
Sources: CNN, The Atlantic, NPR
For Kenyan women first win was in 2000. The Atlantic’s Max Fisher said this discrepancy could have been be due to discriminatory laws and forced marriages. But after the country’s reforms, Kenyan women won nine marathons between 2000 and 2012. Here’s Pamela Jelimo, the first Kenyan woman to win gold at the Olympics when she was 18.
Pamela Jelimo of Kenya celebrates as she crosses the line to win the Women’s 800m during the IAAF Golden League Gaz de France meeting at the Stade de France on July 18, 2008 in Paris, France.
Michael Steele / Getty
Sources: The Atlantic, Independent
All this success by different people from the same region, led many to wonder what it was about Rift Valley that made so many of these runners the world’s best, year after year.
A group of runners takes part a training session on March 13, 2019 in Iten, Kenya.
Franck Fife / AFP / Getty
In 1990, Copenhagen Muscle Research Center compared school boys from Iten to Sweden’s national track team and found they consistently did better than the professionals.
A group of runners takes part a training session on March 13, 2019 in Iten, Kenya.
Franck Fife / AFP / Getty
Sources: The Atlantic, Active
That same study found that Kalenjin people from the region could outrun 90% of global population. The Kalenjin tribe is often mentioned in regards to marathon winners, because about 73% of Kenya’s Olympic medal winners are from the Kalenjin tribe. There are about 4.5 million members of the Kalenjin tribe.
A group of runners takes part in a training session on March 12, 2019 in Kaptagat.
Franck Fife / AFP / Getty
Sources: The Atlantic, Active, CNN
But they’re also under a lot of pressure. Korir told The Guardian, “If I win a race, those kids go to school next year. If I don’t, they don’t. It’s a very big motivation. When you reach the pain, you have to have a reason.”
A group of runners takes part a training session on March 13, 2019 in Iten, Kenya.
Franck Fife / AFP / Getty
Source: The Guardian
For those who do win big, the injection of money into their lives can have the same intoxicating effect as alcohol. Moses Tanui, who won the Boston Marathon twice, told The New York Times, “When you drink a lot of alcohol you become stupid — you don’t know what you’re doing. It’s the same when you get a lot of money.”
A group of runners takes part a training session on March 13, 2019 in Iten, Kenya.
Franck Fife / AFP / Getty
Source: The New York Times
For instance when Duncan Kibet won the Rotterdam Marathon in 2009 and ran the second fastest time ever at that point at 2:04:27, he won $180,000. But what was meant to be enough to set up his life was mostly gone within two years, after he helped pay for school fees for relatives, bought a house for his mother, and a car and clothes for himself.
Kenya’s Duncan Kibet lies on the ground after crossing the finish line to win the 2009 edition of the men’s Rotterdam Marathon April 5, 2009.
Paul Vreeker / United Photos / Reuters
Source: The New York Times
Kenya has also been plagued by concerns over athletes doping. Dick Pound, who investigated Russia for doping, said in 2015 it was, “pretty clear that Kenya have enjoyed huge success in the endurance events and it is also pretty clear that there is a lot of performance-enhancing drugs being used in Kenya.”
Richard (Dick) Pound.
AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Dave Chidley
Sources: The Guardian, Reuters
From 2004 to 2018, 138 Kenyans had tested positive for prohibited substances, but a World Anti-Doping Agency report said the incidents were uncoordinated, and not part of an institutionalized system.
A Kenyan professional athlete who admits to doping sits for an interview with AFP at Iten, known colloquially as the ‘world’s running capital’, legendary for producing some of Kenya’s most elite athletes and a training ground for other international top distance runners on May 8, 2019.
Tony Karumba / AFP / Getty
Source: Reuters
But doping is a big concern for Kenya’s runners. A ban from races means the runner has no way to provide. One Kenyan runner, who kept his identity secret, told Al Jazeera doping was a common practice, as his peers felt an intense pressure to succeed. “I know doping is bad, but as runners we have to support our families by whatever means. This is my livelihood,” he said.
A pharmacist gives an interview to AFP in Nairobi, where he admits doping has become a common practice in Kenya, where it is very easy to get EPO, on May 22, 2019.
Tony Karumba / AFP / Getty
Sources: Al Jazeera
Drive, more than anything else, may be the reason why these runners keep on winning. As Korir told The Guardian, the reason they run so fast is simple. “We are running away from poverty,” he said.
Runners leave a training session on March 13, 2019 in Kaptagat, Kenya.
Franck Fife / AFP / Getty
Source: The Guardian
More:
Features
Politics Slideshow
News
Kenya
Chevron iconIt indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.
