Kenya's Rift Valley and the making of distance-running dominance

Training at twenty-five hundred meters elevation naturally increases red blood cell production for sea level races.

The Kalenjin tribe produces eighty-four percent of Kenya's elite runners despite being a small minority.

Thin lower limbs act like efficient pendulums to reduce the energy needed for every leg swing.

Communal training camps require stars like Eliud Kipchoge to perform manual labor like scrubbing toilets.

Running twelve kilometers daily to school builds a massive cardiovascular base before professional training begins.

A single marathon win can provide more wealth than a lifetime of local wages in Kenya.