Thursday 23 May 2019

The Conversation/Vincent O. Onywera: Kipchoge’s marathon success remains a mystery: some clues from my research

The Conversation

    Edition:

Africa

    Job Board

    Become an author
    Sign up as a reader
    Sign in

The Conversation
Academic rigour, journalistic flair

    Arts + Culture
    Business + Economy
    Education
    Environment + Energy
    Health + Medicine
    Politics + Society
    Science + Technology
    In French

Kipchoge’s marathon success remains a mystery: some clues from my research
May 21, 2019 1.47pm SAST
Author

    Vincent O. Onywera

    Professor of Exercise and Sports Science, Kenyatta University

Disclosure statement

Professor Vincent Onywera works at Kenyatta University, Department of Physical Education, Exercise and Sports Science. His areas of research interest include physical Activity and active transportation for health and well-being as well as the remarkable performance of Kenyan runners.
Partners

The Conversation is funded by the National Research Foundation, eight universities, including the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Rhodes University, Stellenbosch University and the Universities of Cape Town, Johannesburg, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Pretoria, and South Africa. It is hosted by the Universities of the Witwatersrand and Western Cape, the African Population and Health Research Centre and the Nigerian Academy of Science. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a Strategic Partner. more
Republish this article

Republish
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under Creative Commons licence.
Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge on his way to wining the London Marathon in April 2019. EPA-EFE/Facundo Arrizabalaga

    Email
    Twitter
    Facebook
    LinkedIn

Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge is undoubtedly the greatest marathoner of the modern age. He has won 11 of the 12 marathons he has competed in. His only loss was to another Kenyan, Wilson Kipsang, during the 2013 Berlin Marathon when he came in second.

In 2018, Kipchoge not only won the Berlin Marathon: he also broke the world record, completing 42km in 2:01:39. Earlier in 2019, he ran the second fastest marathon in history, in London.

Kipchoge, then, is virtually unbeatable over the 42km distance. This raises questions about his physical and mental strength and willpower. How does he do it? Is he superhuman?

Kipchoge isn’t the only Kenyan athlete to dominate the world’s record tables. Since the 1960 Rome Olympics, Kenyan runners have enjoyed unparalleled dominance in distance running events, from 800 metres to the marathon. Together with their Ethiopian neighbours, Kenyan athletes have not only dominated long-distance Olympic races but have also dominated the world cross-country and road-racing circuit.

So it is not surprising that questions abound about what makes Kenyan runners so talented. A plethora of studies have sought the answer, or answers. And they have come up with several possible reasons to elucidate the phenomenal performance of Kenya runners.

I have come to my own conclusions based on research that I have conducted on various aspects of Kenyan athletes over the past two decades. I have published several research papers on the subject. Some of the papers have looked at the exemplary performance of the Kenyan runners through different lenses.

In one of the publications, colleagues and I investigated the demographic characteristics of elite Kenyan endurance runners participating in international competitions. We tracked their evolution over the period of their international emergence and current dominance. In another paper, we looked at the running performance, nationality, sex and age in marathon running between 1999–2015. In 2005 my colleagues and I looked at the food and macronutrient intake of elite Kenyan distance runners.

Based on this body of knowledge and empirical data I would observe that Eliud Kipchoge’s extraordinary and excellent performance has a lot to do with his mental strength, physical fitness, diet, and great running economy which enables him to utilise oxygen and generate energy more efficiently. Overall, there is an interplay between nature and nurture in the success of Kenyan runners.

Read more: Why Kipchoge's spectacular Berlin run sets the stage for faster marathons

Admittedly, my research does not answer all of the questions surrounding the performance of Kenyan runners. More research still needs to be done to explain and fully understand the phenomenon.
Explanations about Kenyans

Researchers propose a series of explanations for the outstanding success of Kenya’s elite athletes in general. Some experts attribute their prowess to favourable physiological characteristics. Such characteristics include, among others, maximal oxygen uptake, higher ability of the body to convert certain fats to energy, particularly during prolonged periods, and the ability to efficiently consume oxygen.

Sports scientists like myself have also linked their success to their diet, which is typically high in carbohydrates and low in fat. Their protein intake matches that of other elite athletes. Generally, the staple diets of Kenyan runners include ugali (stiff porridge made from maize or millet flour), green leafy vegetables, milk, kidney beans, and eggs.

Genetic makeup is another factor. But studies have been unable to prove that Kenyan athletes are genetically adapted towards distance running. One thing that does work to their advantage, however, is the fact most of them were born and raised at high altitude. The body produces more and bigger red blood cells at high altitude. This increases oxygen delivery to the muscles and boosts performance.

Another factor to consider in analysing the dominance of Kenya’s athletes is the long distances they ran to and from school as children – often up to 10km one way. Many of them also engaged in daily physical activities such as farming, herding animals, fetching firewood and water. Experts believe that this led to the development of high aerobic capacity which means that their bodies take in more oxygen and use it more efficiently to generate energy.

Finally, some researchers have suggested that Kenya’s long-distance runners have a psychological and social advantage because they now see themselves as unbeatable on the global stage. This psycho-social edge over other long-distance runners has developed among Kenyan runners because they have an aura of invincibility, both in their own and their opponents’ minds.
Eliud Kipchoge’s case

Explanations for Kipchoge’s performance have included physiological characteristics like genetic endowment, and advantageous environmental conditions, such as being born and raised at high altitude.

Based on my own empirical research, most of which aligns with previous studies, I have come to the conclusion that – like many other successful elite athletes – Kipchoge’s success has a lot to do with a unique interplay between nature and nurture. This includes, but is not limited to, genetics, physiology, nutrition, coaching, and mental and emotional preparedness.

Kipchoge is at his peak. In 2017, he tried to become the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours. He will make a fresh attempt this year and I have no doubt that he can do it.

    Sports science
    Kenya
    Long distance running
    Marathon

    Tweet
    Share
    Get newsletter

You might also like
How sports science in Africa can be taught and thought about differently
How long before we break the two-hour barrier in the men’s marathon?
Why Kipchoge’s spectacular Berlin run sets the stage for faster marathons
What makes a successful marathon runner?
Most popular on The Conversation

    Repatriation: why Western museums should return African artefacts
    South Africa has a new presidential advisory unit. Will it improve policy?
    How South Africa can do better at reversing apartheid’s legacies
    The story of Oromo slaves bound for Arabia who were brought to South Africa
    Ebola survivors can lose their eyesight. What we’re doing to prevent it

    How do Nigerian gay and bisexual men cope? This is what they told us
    Fears of extremism live in the minds of South Africans, not in reality
    The who, why and what of South Africa’s minority Afrikaner party
    Safeguarding women after disasters: some progress, but not enough
    Why the Indian Ocean is spawning strong and deadly tropical cyclones

Expert Database

    Find experts with knowledge in:*

Want to write?

Write an article and join a growing community of more than 84,300 academics and researchers from 2,853 institutions.

Register now
The Conversation
Community

    Community standards
    Republishing guidelines
    Research and Expert Database
    Analytics
    Job Board
    Our feeds

Company

    Who we are
    Our charter
    Our team
    Partners and funders
    Resource for media
    Contact us

Stay informed and subscribe to our free daily newsletter and get the latest analysis and commentary directly in your inbox.
Email address
Follow us on social media

Privacy policy Terms and conditions Corrections

Copyright © 2010–2019, The Conversation Africa, Inc.


No comments: