East Africans Continue World Marathon Dominance in New York

Three Kenyans and three Ethiopians took all the podium places at Sunday’s (5th November) New York Marathon, to continue the East African countries' dominance of the world’s ‘big’ marathons.

Kenya’s Helen Obiri, who won the Boston Marathon in April, beat a talented field to win the women’s event in 2:27:23, edging out 10,000m World Champion Letensebet Gidey of Ethiopia (2:27:29) by just 6 seconds. Defending champion Sharon Lokedi of Kenya came third in 2:27:33.

It was Ethiopia’s turn when it came to the men’s event, with Tamirat Tola taking the tape in 2:04:50. He was followed by Kenya’s Albert Korir (2:06:57), while Ethiopia’s Shura Kitata was third in 2:07:11.

“I’m happy to have won here,” Obiri said after the race. “The race was very tactical but it helped that I’m a good sprinter. I knew the athletes I was competing against here, so I think that also worked in my favour.”

That means East Africans have won all but one of the six major world marathons this year, with the Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan victory in the London Marathon the only one missing. But Hassan was born in Ethiopia.

The six major marathons are Tokyo, London, Chicago, Berlin, New York and Boston. Deso Gelmisa (Ethiopia) won the men’s Tokyo marathon in March, with Kenya’s Rosemary Wanjiru the women’s champion. Kenya’s Evans Chebet took the men’s Boston marathon in April, with Obiri taking the women’s version.

The London Marathon was held in April, and Kenya’s  Kelvin Kiptum won for the men, while Hassan took the women’s title. Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya won the men’s Berlin marathon for the fifth time in September, while Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa set a world record for the women. Hassan would repeat her feat in Chicago in October, while Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum won for the men.

In addition, Uganda’s Victor Chiplangat won the marathon at the World Champions in August, while Ethiopia’s Amane Beriso took the women’s title.

Why are runners from East Africa so dominant?

Many reasons have been put forward to try and explain the phenomenon of the East African runners, some more old wives' tales than based on actual science. Famous British runner Sir Roger Bannister attributed it to factors such as heel bone length, subcutaneous fat, and differences in Achilles tendon length. But no scientific proof could be found for this.

High altitude was also put forward as an explanation, but it was pointed out that then all countries at high altitude like Mexico, Nepal and Peru would be winning these races. In fact, a study found that chronic exposure to altitude actually reduces rather than enhances one’s long-distance abilities.

Genetic endowment (‘it’s in the genes’) is also often stated as an ‘obvious’ cause of East African dominance, but again no scientific proof of this can be found, despite several studies.

A recent study claimed that because rural African children typically ran to and from school as children and adolescents, this contributed to the development of elite East African runners. It claimed that they ran or walked an average of 8–12 km a day, five days a week from age 7–8 years.

Bruce Hamilton, writing in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, concluded that there is no single factor that explains the dominance of East Africans in long-distance running.

“Domination of individual sports by countries or regions of the world is not a new phenomenon. It seems that the presumed causes of such domination are often recycled, out of date, and based on misinformation and myth,” he wrote. “Although there is no conclusive evidence for an inherited physiological advantage to the East Africans, this does not exclude the possibility that one actually does exist. It may be that the technology required to detect any differences is currently lacking.”