The Sports Gene Chapter 12

 Chapter 12: Can every Kalenjin Run? 


The chapter talks about the KenSAP which is an initiative that aims to get the best Kenyan students from the western Rift Valley into premier colleges in the U.S.  The Western Rift Valley is home to the Kalenjins, who represent about 12% of Kenya's population, but over 75% of Kenya's best runners. One theory is that their running abilities date back to their cattle raiding skills. I liked reading about Manner's "great tryout" through KenSAP which seemed to produce some pretty successful runners, confirming their specific group had some sort athletic gene. What about them was so special though? Manner thought it could be a differece in the muscle fibers.  One study that really interested me was by the University of Copenhagen's Muscle Research Centre that compared Kenyan runners to Danish boys living in Copenhagen. Kalenjin boys from villages had higher VO2max from Kalenjin boys from cities, but it was similar to the active Danish boys. One notable finding was that Kalenjin boys were on average about 2 inches shorter than the Danish boys, but they had legs that were about 3 quarters of an inch longer. Not only was the length different, but the girth as well, as Kalenjin boys had about 15-17% less volume and thickness in their legs than the Danish boys. This finding was important because the leg can be compared to a pendulum, and if there is more weight at the end of the pendulum, the more energy is required to swing it. This chapter also discussed running economy which is super interesting because I can correlate what I know to my exercise physiology class. Untrained Kalenjin boys were overall better than untrained danish boys. Kenyans had the superior running economy, making them better runners. Maybe because that is what they are trained to do more so in Kenya than in other countries like Denmark. Maybe its genetic, maybe its emphasis on running more so than any other sport. 

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