How the Kenyan runner’s body structure affects sports results

Abstract

Purpose The aim of this study was to determine the dependency between somatic parameters of selected Kenyan marathon runners and results achieved in long-distance runs (marathon, half-marathon, 10,000 meters). Methods The research study was conducted on a sample of 9 top-level long-distance Kenyan runners whose results in Poland correspond to International Masterclass. All runners’ (mean ± SD) age: 23.67 ± 4.41 years, weight: 55.98 ± 4.84 kg, height: 169.18 cm ± 4.15cm. All participants had their anthropometric measurements taken: length, width, size and sum of three skin-folds. Having taken those anthropometric measurements, Body Mass Index (BMI), Arm Muscle Circumference (AMC), Waist to Hip Ratio (WHR), body mass and body fat (FM) (%), fat free mass (FFM) were calculated using the Durnin-Womersley method. Results and conclusions Significant relations (significant correlation, important dependency) were observed in dependency between 10,000 meters results and the foot breadth (<i>r</i> = 0.765) and torso length (<i>r</i> = 0.755). Similar relationships occurred between marathon results and the arm length (<i>r</i> = 0.73), forearm length (<i>r</i> = 0.75) and hip width (<i>r</i> = 0.77).