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Lead Stories: Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Is the World catching
up to the Kenyans?

Posted August 9th, 2007 at 8:50 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

With headlines such as “Current Crop of Runners Not Up to Task” and “Change Tact[ics] Or Sink”, recent articles published by Kenyan journalists have been harshly critical of Kenyan distance running. Among other concerns are that Ethiopian and Eritrean athletes are closing the gap. But are these reports accurate?

Not according to statistical evidence, which shows that Kenyan running is as dominant as ever – if not more so. I broke down the statistics into all the middle-distance and all the long-distance performances from 1997-2006. I grouped all elite (world-class) performances for middle-distance (800m, 1500m, Mile, 3000m and 300m SC) into one chart and all elite performances for distance (5000m, 10000m) into another chart. I also broke it down even further, analyzing the top 100 performances of all time for both the middle-distance and the distance categories.

The Kenyans have dominated both the middle-distance and the distance categories, both in the elite and the top 100 of all time performances. In fact, in the middle-distance category, Kenyan runners have run more top 100 all time performances tham the rest of the world combined.
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Podcast 71: South African distance-running legend HENDRICK RAMAALA

Posted August 8th, 2007 at 7:46 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Special Features, Interviews, Podcasts

Episode 71 of TheFinalSprint.com Podcast features my interview with South African running legend HENDRICK RAMAALA.

Hendrick, the 2004 ING NYC Marathon Champion and a two-time IAAF World Half-Marathon silver medalist, finished 12th at last Sunday’s NYC Half-Marathon and is set to compete at the World Champs in Osaka and then return to NY on November 4th for the Marathon.

In the interview Hendrick talks about his disappointing performance at the NYC Half and the sleep issues he had leading up the race, having the chance to get to know and bond with American marathoner Peter Gilmore and his admiration for the NYRR.

Download the interview to hear Hendrick discuss these topics, as well as, being disappointed that the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials will prevent America’s best from competing in the NYC Marathon his belief that Americans runners are just as talented and train just as hard as those from any other country (including African nations), why he feels he can continue to compete for another five years, and much more!

Listen In
[PLAY] (To Download: Right click and select “save as”)

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Host: Adam Jacobs
Guest: Henrick Ramaala
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 9.07 MB
Length: 13:12