Inside Kenya’s Rift Valley, which produces the world's best marathon runners year after year

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 thats home to many of the best runners in the world.

BusinessInsider USA Images

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, its flat, with mild temperatures ranging from 50 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit all year round, meaning its perfect for marathon training.

BusinessInsider USA Images

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 countrys sporting successes. Its mostly runners from Rift Valley who have gone on to dominate marathons for decades.

BusinessInsider USA Images

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 thats been going since 1968.

BusinessInsider USA Images

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 worlds gaze to the region.

BusinessInsider USA Images

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.

BusinessInsider USA Images

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.

BusinessInsider USA Images

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.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Johannes Eisele / AFP / Getty

Sources: CNN , The Atlantic , NPR

For Kenyan women first win was in 2000. The Atlantics Max Fisher said this discrepancy could have been be due to discriminatory laws and forced marriages. But after the countrys reforms, Kenyan women won nine marathons between 2000 and 2012. Heres Pamela Jelimo, the first Kenyan woman to win gold at the Olympics when she was 18.

BusinessInsider USA Images

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 worlds best, year after year.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Franck Fife / AFP / Getty

In 1990, Copenhagen Muscle Research Center compared school boys from Iten to Swedens national track team and found they consistently did better than the professionals.

BusinessInsider USA Images

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 Kenyas Olympic medal winners are from the Kalenjin tribe. There are about 4.5 million members of the Kalenjin tribe.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Franck Fife / AFP / Getty

Sources: The Atlantic , Active , CNN

Later controversial research said the reason for all of the success was genetics, but Keino condemned the research as racist. "Theres nothing in this world unless you work hard to reach where you are, and so I think running is mental," he said.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Franck Fife / AFP / Getty

So its remained a question without a definitive answer. Brother Colm OConnell, an Irish missionary who started training his high school students to be runners even though he had no sports background, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that he didnt know.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Knut Muller / ullstein bild / Getty

Sources: South Florida Sun Sentinel , CNN , ABC

OConnell, who has been called the "godfather of Kenyan running," watched 25 of his students become world champions, and four win Olympic gold medals.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Knut Mller/ullstein bild / Getty

Source: Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

"The only secret is theres no secret," author Adharanand Finn quotes OConnell saying. "Its not one thing but a perfect storm of elements that come together in Kenyas Rift Valley region to make the people there so strong at distance running."

BusinessInsider USA Images

Franck Fife / AFP / Getty

Sources: South Florida Sun Sentinel , CNN , ABC

OConnell also said it helped that it wasnt an expensive sport. He told ABC, "you dont need anything to be a runner. Even as young kids they run barefoot you dont even need a pair of shoes."

BusinessInsider USA Images

Franck Fife / AFP / Getty

Sources: NPR , ABC

Harvard evolutionary biologist Daniel Lieberman, who has studied the evolution of running, said something similar to NPR. It was impossible to quantify what made one runner better than another, he said. Instead, its a mixture of things like training, culture, biology, and the runners determination.

BusinessInsider USA Images

PYMCA/Avalon/Universal Images Group / Getty

Source: NPR

Lieberman said young people from the valley only had two options work on a farm or become a runner. And even if they train to be a runner, its not easy. They get "no goo, no gel, no sports drinks," he said.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Knut Muller / ullstein bild / Getty

Sources: NPR , The Guardian

What they get is to see roads filled with world champion runners every day. People like British Olympic champion Mo Farah travel to train in the Rift Valley. Hes been traveling there since 2008, and when hes training, he can run 140 miles a week. On his rest day he only runs 10 miles.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Getty Images

Source: The Guardian

The terrain is a factor. Runners train on dirt roads and rolling hills, as well as one challenging route known as "the big dipper," which is a steep hill that goes for a mile. Farah told The Guardian running in Rift Valley was like driving on bumpy terrain. "Instead of going 50mph, here you are just driving at 25mph and holding the steering on some bumpy road. Your legs and your body feel that," he said.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Franck File / AFP / Getty

Sources: CNN , The Guardian

The high altitude play a key role. Three scientific studies found training in high altitudes improves running performance when the runner is down at sea level. This is because when the runners are down at sea level the air is thicker air and gives them a boost of oxygen.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Siegfried Modola / Reuters

Sources: CNN , The Atlantic

But there are lots of places with high altitudes around the world, like the Mexican Andes and Nepal, so its not that alone.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Prakash Mathema / AFP / Getty

The runners rigorous routines are important as well. The tape above a runners exercise routine says, "Every Day." And thats part of it, too. Its a way of life.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Franck Fife / AFP / Getty

A runner named Justin Kipchumba told The Guardian, he followed the same daily routine. "I sleep, I run, I eat. One day I will win big races, he said. By 8 a.m. on the day of the interview he had already run 18 miles.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Franck Fife / AFP / Getty

Source: The Guardian

One of the bonuses of the town is that there are few distractions stopping runners from training. Here, runners rest by playing pool.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Franck Fife / AFP / Getty

Source: BBC

Food is another factor thats often pointed to. In particular a lack of junk food in runners diets has been said to help the athletes.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Franck Fife / AFP / Getty

Source: CNN

Renata Canova, a trainer who is called the "wizard," and who spends much of the year in Iten, told the Independent everyone was asking the wrong question. "We continue to speak about why the Kenyans are so strong. We should ask why is Europe so weak," he said.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Michael Steele / Getty

Source: Independent

Put more gently, Brother OConnell told BBC, "running is an extension of their lives. Its not something thats imposed on them - they do it instinctively."

BusinessInsider USA Images

Franck Fife / AFP / Getty

Sources: BBC , The Guardian

Regardless of the exact reason for success, Rift Valleys reputation has grown, and dozens of running camps have sprouted up. Most are for Kenyans, but some are for overseas runners, too. Full time physiotherapists live in the area to keep the runners in good condition.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Franck Fife / AFP / Getty

Source: France24

The Kenyan runners are hoping that by winning marathons or Olympic medals they can earn enough to secure their familys future, paying for children to go to school or buying farmland.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Franck Fife / AFP / Getty

Source: The New York Times

But that hope isnt entirely realistic. According to The New York Times, while young runners continue training to give themselves and their families better lives, the reality is that very few actually can ever live off what they make running.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Knut Muller / ullstein bild / Getty

Source: The New York Times

Welsey Korir won the 2012 Boston Marathon. Hes one of Kenyas top athletes and because of that the pressures even worse for him. Hes responsible for a foundation that pays for 300 children go to school, and which also supports 2,000 farmers.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Jim Rogash / Getty

Source: The Guardian

World champion runners like Korir, according to runner and writer Malcolm Gladwell, are idolized the way Americans idolize rock stars.

BusinessInsider USA Images

AP

Source: The Atlantic

But theyre also under a lot of pressure. Korir told The Guardian, If I win a race, those kids go to school next year. If I dont, they dont. Its a very big motivation. When you reach the pain, you have to have a reason."

BusinessInsider USA Images

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 dont know what youre doing. Its the same when you get a lot of money.

BusinessInsider USA Images

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.

BusinessInsider USA Images

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."

BusinessInsider USA Images

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.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Tony Karumba / AFP / Getty

Source: Reuters

But doping is a big concern for Kenyas 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.

BusinessInsider USA Images

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.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Franck Fife / AFP / Getty

Source: The Guardian

Inside Kenya’s Rift Valley, which produces the world's best marathon runners year after year

Recommended articles

Welcome, the sign says, to Iten, a small town on the edge of a plateau on Rift Valley in Kenya thats home to many of the best runners in the world.

Rift Valley, which began forming about 40 million years ago, at times reaches 7,000 feet above sea level. Up there, its flat, with mild temperatures ranging from 50 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit all year round, meaning its perfect for marathon training.

Kenya has 50 million people, but only a fraction of the population is responsible for the countrys sporting successes. Its mostly runners from Rift Valley who have gone on to dominate marathons for decades.

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 thats been going since 1968.

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.

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.

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 worlds best, year after year.

In 1990, Copenhagen Muscle Research Center compared school boys from Iten to Swedens national track team and found they consistently did better than the professionals.

Later controversial research said the reason for all of the success was genetics, but Keino condemned the research as racist. "Theres nothing in this world unless you work hard to reach where you are, and so I think running is mental," he said.

So its remained a question without a definitive answer. Brother Colm OConnell, an Irish missionary who started training his high school students to be runners even though he had no sports background, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that he didnt know.

OConnell, who has been called the "godfather of Kenyan running," watched 25 of his students become world champions, and four win Olympic gold medals.

"The only secret is theres no secret," author Adharanand Finn quotes OConnell saying. "Its not one thing but a perfect storm of elements that come together in Kenyas Rift Valley region to make the people there so strong at distance running."

OConnell also said it helped that it wasnt an expensive sport. He told ABC, "you dont need anything to be a runner. Even as young kids they run barefoot you dont even need a pair of shoes."

Harvard evolutionary biologist Daniel Lieberman, who has studied the evolution of running, said something similar to NPR. It was impossible to quantify what made one runner better than another, he said. Instead, its a mixture of things like training, culture, biology, and the runners determination.

Lieberman said young people from the valley only had two options work on a farm or become a runner. And even if they train to be a runner, its not easy. They get "no goo, no gel, no sports drinks," he said.

What they get is to see roads filled with world champion runners every day. People like British Olympic champion Mo Farah travel to train in the Rift Valley. Hes been traveling there since 2008, and when hes training, he can run 140 miles a week. On his rest day he only runs 10 miles.

The high altitude play a key role. Three scientific studies found training in high altitudes improves running performance when the runner is down at sea level. This is because when the runners are down at sea level the air is thicker air and gives them a boost of oxygen.

But there are lots of places with high altitudes around the world, like the Mexican Andes and Nepal, so its not that alone.

The runners rigorous routines are important as well. The tape above a runners exercise routine says, "Every Day." And thats part of it, too. Its a way of life.

A runner named Justin Kipchumba told The Guardian, he followed the same daily routine. "I sleep, I run, I eat. One day I will win big races, he said. By 8 a.m. on the day of the interview he had already run 18 miles.

One of the bonuses of the town is that there are few distractions stopping runners from training. Here, runners rest by playing pool.

Food is another factor thats often pointed to. In particular a lack of junk food in runners diets has been said to help the athletes.

Renata Canova, a trainer who is called the "wizard," and who spends much of the year in Iten, told the Independent everyone was asking the wrong question. "We continue to speak about why the Kenyans are so strong. We should ask why is Europe so weak," he said.

Put more gently, Brother OConnell told BBC, "running is an extension of their lives. Its not something thats imposed on them - they do it instinctively."

Regardless of the exact reason for success, Rift Valleys reputation has grown, and dozens of running camps have sprouted up. Most are for Kenyans, but some are for overseas runners, too. Full time physiotherapists live in the area to keep the runners in good condition.

The Kenyan runners are hoping that by winning marathons or Olympic medals they can earn enough to secure their familys future, paying for children to go to school or buying farmland.

But that hope isnt entirely realistic. According to The New York Times, while young runners continue training to give themselves and their families better lives, the reality is that very few actually can ever live off what they make running.

Welsey Korir won the 2012 Boston Marathon. Hes one of Kenyas top athletes and because of that the pressures even worse for him. Hes responsible for a foundation that pays for 300 children go to school, and which also supports 2,000 farmers.

World champion runners like Korir, according to runner and writer Malcolm Gladwell, are idolized the way Americans idolize rock stars.

But theyre also under a lot of pressure. Korir told The Guardian, If I win a race, those kids go to school next year. If I dont, they dont. Its a very big motivation. When you reach the pain, you have to have a reason."

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.

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.

FOLLOW BUSINESS INSIDER AFRICA

Recommended articles

10 African countries with the least soft power influence over the world

Kenyan government rejects calls to ban TikTok, recommends tighter control over

Congo accuses Apple of conflict minerals in its supply chain

Top 10 African countries with the highest fuel prices in April 2024

The gold trade in Uganda makes a huge comeback

Best live dealer casino: Top USA live casinos online

Best real money online casinos USA: Top 10 casino sites in 2024

OPEC excited about partnership with Namibia

The US loses to Russia and China in popularity across Africa

Trending

The rise and fall of Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao, the ex-Binance CEO who pleaded guilty to anti-money laundering charges and could spend 3 years in prison

Luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault just put 2 more of his nepo baby kids on the LVMH board

See inside Trump's prized $100 million Boeing 757 private jet he's managed to hold onto despite his costly legal battles

See one of the world's biggest aircraft 'graveyards' where planes go to die — and airlines can dissect them for parts