Environments of World Record Runners:
Sun & Cold


Two regions stand out:
Africa around the equator: Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia, “east Africa.”
Norway, Scandananvia, for cold related factors like seafood.
 
The comparison is not equivalent because Scandanavia has a small population and many other sports to distract while winter prevents running easily.
 
East African running for decades has produced more record breaking long distance runners now currently holding all records: men’s 5k and up, and women’s 1500 K and up.  
 
In explaining African success, much of the attention has gone to training at elevation, which gives a relative advantage when coming down to lower elevations to compete.
What is not considered is latitude as in closer to the equator and strongest sunlight. 
Uganda and Kenya are on the equator.
Ethiopia’s northern corner is halfway between the equator and tropic of cancer, still pretty far south. 
 
The top woman runner ever is Letesenbet Gidey from Ethiopia:  24 years old record holder in the 5k, 10k, 15k, and half marathon, 
She even set a 10k record within the 15k road race,
She is gunning for the marathon in her first shot in December.
 
Another relationship to the environment with African runners is running barefoot growing up that provides better mechanics and grounding electrically with earth while receiving sun.
Some of the boys including current record holders ran to school and back 10K each way slowly.
 
It’s been hard to credit or imitate their training, which is often too much.
The Kenyan Bernard Lagat had to leave because every easy day run turned into a race.
Lagat become an American and holds the 1500 meter record and held the 5k record until recently. He made 5 Olympics teams his last in his 40s through resting more often.
Kipchoge from Kenya just broke his own world record in the marathon last weekend and declares he can never take a day off.
These guys run insane miles and no one seems to be taking a different approach so there are no comparisons or control groups to see isolate the variables of what works.  I’ve critiqued this before in my New Theory of Running.
Their great environments seem to enable them get away with these training regimes.
 
At the high school level there are comparisons. I’m out on cross country courses talking to champion coaches. My local Plymouth, Michigan, USA, team coach won a team state championship and sent a runner to nationals two years to place 4th and 2nd in unusually competitive fields by doing lower miles, like 35 a week. No need to taper. He does what I call “train like you’re peaking.” Either you have enough rest between work outs or you don’t.
Another local team runs 70-80 miles a week and perform poorly in races.
“Gotta get those miles in” is the manta of runners who have no theory of running and often fail to PR or are injured as a result.
In contrast, the body building world figured out their theory with exact quality control metrics for over-training and progress that can be measure every workout without excuses.
 
The top male runner under the Scoring Table of Athletics after Usain Bolt is the 400 meter hurdler from Norway, Karsten Warholm that won races with a large lead in the Olympic year, 2021.
Another sensational Viking boy is Jacob Ingerbritsen. At age 21 is winning races frequently even against top Africans.
 
I don’t know what the factors are in Norwegian success, but the first thing I think of is cold water seafood. In my experience, Norwegian mackerel is a super food:
  • The fattiest fish with most DHA, EPA.
  • Northern water fish are cold adapted
  • Northern waters are cleaner
  • A small fish that does not accumulate mercury
  • Always wild, can’t be farmed
  • The quality stuff is from Japanese markets, not Chinese.
  • Canned mackerel is overcooked but not worthless.
  • It seems to help my cold adaptation/thermogensis training in the winter that is the only thing that seems to fully compensate for lack of sun, not even far infrared sauna and heaters does enough, although it helps a lot.

​I am purely speculating here about Norwegian runners’ success. But I don’t care because I’m going the Japanese market to get my frozen mackerel with its beautiful blue stripes and make some finger hearts with cute, sweet Japanese girls, teehee, because environment is everything.
 
Eat to energize, detoxify & immunize.
Move to circulate, align, & relax.

​Primal Rejuvenation Health Coaching

Find out what you get in a
Free Assessment
See how I support you fully in
Health Coaching Steps ​

 I work over video: Facebook, Zoom, Google, from  Michigan, USA                 
Hess.PaulC@gmail.com 
 
 Follow me on FACEBOOK:
​ choose “See First” to get all notifications. blog posts

​INSTAGRAM
​
​Primal Rejuvenation

Systematic
enough to make a difference
Simple
enough to implement
Sensitive
​to individual needs ​