Wonder Women

Huh. The Boston Marathon was yesterday. I totally spaced on it. Not like I ever watch the thing though. I mean – I’ve lived in Boston through 37 of these suckers. My place of bidness was, for 25 years, right on the damn route – a block from the finish line. Tradition was, the owner bought lunch and we’d all sit in the second floor, floor to ceiling, accounting department windows, watching the runners cruise on by.

It was awesomely inspiring.

Also too, for a long time, The Amazing Bob and I lived just a few blocks from where the race entered Boston proper – Cleveland Circle. When we weren’t working on that day, we’d go check out the hooplah.

I was happy as hell when we moved outta that end of town and into Cambridge and when I no longer worked in Back Bay. The crowds were overwhelmingly monster huge. There was simply NO getting anything done. Even getting to the T stop was a huge production. It was best to stock up on any and all possible needs and hibernate indoors for the day.

In any case, yesterday’s results were different from the uszh – the Kenyans did NOT win. Shocking! No, really. They almost always win.

In the men's division, over the past 35 years, Kenyans dominated. In 2014, an American man, Meb Keflezighi (his family came to the U.S. from Eritrea – as refugees) won. Meb was the first since Greg Meyer in 1983.

The last American woman to win was Lisa Larsen Rainsberger in 1985. Since then 12 winners were from Kenya, seven from Ethiopia.

What's up with Kenya and running? From and NPR interview with Harvard evolutionary biologist Daniel Lieberman:

We have found that young Kenyan kids from rural areas who do a lot of running have incredible VO2 maxes (maximum oxygen uptake). They have VO2 maxes most of us would dream to have. It’s probably due to a combination of factors: that they’re very active and living at high altitude and perhaps some genetic component.

On that genetic thing, from The Atlantic:

…studies found significant differences in body mass index and bone structure between the Western pros and the Kenyan amateurs who had bested them. The studied Kenyans had less mass for their height, longer legs, shorter torsos, and more slender limbs. One of the researchers described the Kenyan physical differences as “bird-like,” noting that these traits would make them more efficient runners, especially over long distances.

Ok. This year though an American woman won. It was Olympian Desiree Linden (a Californian who trains in Michigan) who ran the course in 2 hours, 39 minutes, 54 seconds. Sarah Sellers (a full-time nurse anesthetist – NOT a professional runner) was second, 4:10 behind Linden.

Seems fitting, in this time of Women’s Marches, #MeToo, when historical numbers of women are running for public office that it’s American women (with the exception of Meb) who've broken the long Boston Marathon dry spell.

Heh, Wonder Women indeed.