Popular Nigerian pastor, Apostle Johnson Suleman has queried why Kenyans make such great runners that have dominated marathons for decades.
His fascinating question came after Kenyan long-distance runner David Barmasai Tumo won the 2020 edition of the 42-kilometre Lagos marathon in a course record time of 2 hours, 10 minutes and 23 seconds.
Barmasai,31, pocketed Sh 5 million with the second and third place winners taking home $40,000 and $30,000 respectively.
"What's with Kenyans always coming 1st in Marathon race?..is it stamina or capacity for long-suffering?...dont dare a long distance race with an athletic Kenyan or you will only come 1st from behind...kudos to Kenyans on the victory at the Lagos Marathon..God bless you," he tweeted after Tumo’s win.
His tweet, as expected, has generated numerous reactions on social media with none of his twitter followers giving a definitive answer but just guesses.
Reacting to his tweet, Theophilus Sacker attributed Kenyans' excellence in Marathon to the nature of their geographical location.
Sir it's because they live in mountainous areas where at such altitude oxygen affinity goes high so their red blood cells production goes high and are able to trap more
Oxygen on lowlands hence making them utilize more energy and stamina — Theophilus Sacker (@TheophilusSac16) February 8, 2020
Theophilus-Truth-hurts also echoed the same and tweeted:
They're all from the Rift Valley region. And people are taking note -- marathoners from all over the world go there to train before major races. ?@SwetaSinghAT?
The reasons why Kenyans always win marathons lie in one region - CNN https://t.co/VqD9UA6XZn— Indian By Choice (@jamalsanmustafa) November 7, 2019
Another twitter user Femi Derricks linked Kenyans' track success to their alleged "red muscle".
This is linked to the kind of muscle the keyan posses. The "red muscle".
This is also called the Slow-twitch muscle fibers which support long distance endurance activities like marathon running.. — F E M I_D E R R I C K S (@Femi_Derricks) February 8, 2020
