When I read the book "Chi Running" by Danny Dreyer, he mentioned several Kenyan techniques aside from the ones that he braided with the principles of "Tai Chi".
I must admit, most of the techniques are not that easy to follow. It takes a lot of practice before your body can adapt to it since it may not be the more common approach most local runners are accustomed to.
Male Kenyan runners are currently in the top of the Internatio
nal Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) world lists in all events, not to mention Kenyan Nelson Kirwa Rotich who won first place at the 2008 Subic Marathon with a time of 2.27.11.79, while Filipino Marathoner Eduardo Buenavista placed 2nd at 2.27.55.89.
About 75% of these Kenyan runners come from the Kalenjin tribe compelling researchers to look deeper into several factors that leads to the remarkable performances of these Kalenjin athletes.
A lot of studies have been done from food intake to oxygen capacity of these Kenyans (due to the fact that most of them lives at high altitudes, around 2000 meters above sea level) but none has been concluded accordingly.
In a study done by Pui Wah (Veni) KONG (University of Pittsburgh, USA) and Hendrik de HEER (PhD candidate in Health Psychology, University of Texas at El Paso and MPH student at the UT-Houston Health Science Center), it shows that biomechanical factors can contribute to success in performance in terms of improving running economy and preventing injury. They also added that Running economy has been shown to correlate with certain gait characteristics such as stride length, ground contact time, vertical oscillation and lower extremity angles . According to the study, these elite Kenyan runners have slender body type, low body mass index, and slim limbs and that these runners travelled to school by walking or running at young age. The researchers also stated that their slim legs may positively contribute to good running economy. With a low moment of inertia of the leg about the hip, less muscular effort will be required in leg swing. They also move forward faster covering a greater horizontal range compared to Japanese runners.
Danny Dreyer also observed that Kenyan runners have a beauti
ful forward lean when they run, which does two things: It allows gravity to assist in pulling their body forward, and it allows them to land on their midfoot instead of their heels, thus avoiding the breaking motion of the heel strike, which is common in most other runners (pages 19-20).
Sources:
Journal of Sports Science and Medicine
http://www.jssm.org/vol7/n4/12/v7n4-12text.php
Dreyer, Danny. Chi Running. New York: FIRESIDE Rockefeller
Center, 2004.
International Association of Athletics Federation
http://www.iaaf.org/
Subic Marathon 2008 website
http://www.subicmarathon.com/winners.html
I must admit, most of the techniques are not that easy to follow. It takes a lot of practice before your body can adapt to it since it may not be the more common approach most local runners are accustomed to.
Male Kenyan runners are currently in the top of the Internatio
nal Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) world lists in all events, not to mention Kenyan Nelson Kirwa Rotich who won first place at the 2008 Subic Marathon with a time of 2.27.11.79, while Filipino Marathoner Eduardo Buenavista placed 2nd at 2.27.55.89.About 75% of these Kenyan runners come from the Kalenjin tribe compelling researchers to look deeper into several factors that leads to the remarkable performances of these Kalenjin athletes.
A lot of studies have been done from food intake to oxygen capacity of these Kenyans (due to the fact that most of them lives at high altitudes, around 2000 meters above sea level) but none has been concluded accordingly.
In a study done by Pui Wah (Veni) KONG (University of Pittsburgh, USA) and Hendrik de HEER (PhD candidate in Health Psychology, University of Texas at El Paso and MPH student at the UT-Houston Health Science Center), it shows that biomechanical factors can contribute to success in performance in terms of improving running economy and preventing injury. They also added that Running economy has been shown to correlate with certain gait characteristics such as stride length, ground contact time, vertical oscillation and lower extremity angles . According to the study, these elite Kenyan runners have slender body type, low body mass index, and slim limbs and that these runners travelled to school by walking or running at young age. The researchers also stated that their slim legs may positively contribute to good running economy. With a low moment of inertia of the leg about the hip, less muscular effort will be required in leg swing. They also move forward faster covering a greater horizontal range compared to Japanese runners.
Danny Dreyer also observed that Kenyan runners have a beauti
ful forward lean when they run, which does two things: It allows gravity to assist in pulling their body forward, and it allows them to land on their midfoot instead of their heels, thus avoiding the breaking motion of the heel strike, which is common in most other runners (pages 19-20).Sources:
Journal of Sports Science and Medicine
http://www.jssm.org/vol7/n4/12/v7n4-12text.php
Dreyer, Danny. Chi Running. New York: FIRESIDE Rockefeller
Center, 2004.
International Association of Athletics Federation
http://www.iaaf.org/
Subic Marathon 2008 website
http://www.subicmarathon.com/winners.html
Posts
...and so if I do my training runs in high altitude areas like Tagaytay, lose more weight and be as black as them, I can run faster too!
ReplyDeleteProbably Sam... :) but they are yet to prove the "high altitude" part- wether it's really a contributing factor or not :)))
ReplyDeleteNice entry Dave! I'd like to think that it's a unique combination of genes, high altitude and their way of life. I mean, we don't have guys here running 20k everyday just to get to school. So I guess they're the beneficiaries of a unique set of circumstances.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Luis
p.s. I am happy that Buenavista went head to head with the Kenyan :)
I agree with you Luis. They should feel lucky they don't have this thing called "school bus" :)
ReplyDeleteI'm happy for Buenavista too :) kaw na raw sunod after your Botak 50K :)
the kenyan secret in running is in their feet! they run barefoot on the dirt roads & their oval tracks are made of dirt which make their ankles, ligaments, & feet bones strong. their feet acts as springs when they touch the ground. of course, their lean & thin body structure also helps. the lighter your weight is, the faster you can run & be able to spring your feet off the ground faster & lighter! nice post. btw, there are two nice books written by toby tanser about how the kenyans run.
ReplyDelete"the kenyan secret in running is in their feet! they run barefoot on the dirt roads & their oval tracks are made of dirt which make their ankles, ligaments, & feet bones strong. their feet acts as springs when they touch the ground. of course, their lean & thin body structure also helps. the lighter your weight is, the faster you can run & be able to spring your feet off the ground faster & lighter! nice post. btw, there are two nice books written by toby tanser about how the kenyans run."
ReplyDelete---Those are really apprising information Sir.
Thanks so much for dropping by! :)
Nice informative post, Dave
ReplyDelete