Fast coincidence

I had written yesterday that "Going flat out may result in being flattened...."

As luck would have it, the WSJ had an interesting piece on American runners and on Kara Goucher, America's greatest hope in the marathon.

According to the article, "....In a bold move aimed at catching the Africans who have owned this event, Ms. Goucher has taken all the tactics generated by U.S. running experts in the last 20 years—the charts, the mileage recommendations and high-tech motion-sensing computer readouts—and stuffed them in a dumpster.

"I want to be one of the best runners in the world," she says, "and winning an event like this means that's what you are."

The glory years of U.S. distance running started in 1969 with the arrival of Steve Prefontaine, the charismatic runner from the University of Oregon who won seven NCAA championships between 1970 and 1973 and was known for his all-out style and fearlessness on the track. "Pre" as he was known, would jump out to early leads, race as hard as possible and wear out opponents. Before he died in a car accident at 24, he set U.S. records in every event between 2,000 and 10,000 meters....

Meanwhile, African runners began winning everything in sight. Since 1983, runners from places like Kenya and Ethiopia have won 28 marathon medals in 18 major international events, while Americans have won four. Some went as far as to suggest the Africans weren't just more motivated—they might be genetically superior. A recent study by Swedish and South African scientists concluded that the biochemical phenotypes of many Africans' muscles are better suited for distance running than those of western Europeans.

Jim Estes, associate director of long-distance running programs for USA Track and Field, says many American runners of that era (himself included) hated the rigors of training—but the Africans never seemed to care. "Their threshold for pain just seemed much higher," he says.

Tom Ratcliffe, an agent for several Kenyan runners, says Africans "enjoy the battle" in endurance running while most Westerners "race with anxiety." He says his runners usually have no idea how many miles they run per week, or how fast. They just want to win.

Felix Limo, a Kenyan runner who has won the 2006 London and 2005 Chicago marathons, says U.S. runners rely too much on structure and scientific programs—the sorts of things described in those books in the 1970s. They fix their minds on certain speeds, he says, and aren't flexible enough.

"I don't need a mileage like the runners here," he says. "I can push myself."

One of the first Western runners to figure out the Africans was Great Britain's Paula Radcliffe, who has won eight major marathon events since 2000. She's got some structure to her training, but she's known more for her relentless attacking and competitiveness.

Ms. Radcliffe's emergence coincided with the 2001 founding of the Mammoth Track Club in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., whose mission is to advance the naturally aggressive "run first, ask questions later" style the Africans run with....