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    Running with the Kenyans: Passion, Adventure, and the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth
    Unavailable
    Running with the Kenyans: Passion, Adventure, and the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth
    Unavailable
    Running with the Kenyans: Passion, Adventure, and the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth
    Audiobook8 hours

    Running with the Kenyans: Passion, Adventure, and the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth

    Written by Adharanand Finn

    Narrated by John Lee

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    "A dusty road stretches into the distance like a pencil line across the arid landscape. Lions, rhino, and buffalo roam the plains on either side. But I haven't come to Kenya to spot wildlife. I've come to run."

    Whether running is your recreation, your religion, or just a spectator sport, Adharanand Finn's incredible journey to the elite training camps of Kenya will captivate and inspire you. Part travelogue, part memoir, this mesmerizing quest to uncover the secrets of the world's greatest runners-and put them to the test-combines practical advice, a fresh look at barefoot running, and hard-won spiritual insights.

    As a boy growing up in the English countryside, Adharanand Finn was a natural runner. While other kids struggled, he breezed through schoolyard races, imagining he was one of his heroes: the Kenyan long-distance runners exploding into prominence as Olympic and world champions. But as he grew up, pursued a career in journalism, married and had children, those childhood dreams slipped away-until suddenly, in his mid-thirties, Finn realized he might have only one chance left to see how far his talents could take him.

    Uprooting his family of five, including three small children, Finn traveled to Iten, a small, chaotic town in the Rift Valley province of Kenya-a mecca for long-distance runners thanks to its high altitude, endless running paths, and some of the top training schools in the world. Finn would run side by side with Olympic champions, young hopefuls, and barefoot schoolchildren . . . not to mention the exotic-and sometimes dangerous-wildlife for which Kenya is famous.

    Here, too, he would meet a cast of colorful characters, including his unflappable guide, Godfrey Kiprotich, a former half marathon champion; Christopher Cheboiboch, one of the fastest men ever to run the New York City Marathon; and Japhet, a poor, bucktoothed boy with unsuspected reservoirs of courage and raw speed. Amid the daily challenges of training and of raising a family abroad, Finn would learn invaluable lessons about running-and about life.

    Running with the Kenyans is more than one man's pursuit of a lifelong dream. It's a fascinating portrait of a magical country-and an extraordinary people seemingly born to run.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMay 15, 2012
    ISBN9780307989734
    Unavailable
    Running with the Kenyans: Passion, Adventure, and the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth
    Author

    Adharanand Finn

    Adharanand Finn is an experienced author and journalist. His book Running with the Kenyans was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book Award. A journalist at The Guardian, he also regularly contributes to Financial Times, The Independent, Runner's World, and Men's Health. He currently resides in England.

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    Reviews for Running with the Kenyans

    3.5/5

    65 ratings12 reviews

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    • 3/5
      nonfiction (sports memoir / running). I am not very familiar with the sport of running, and would not have picked this up if I hadn't been looking for a "stretch" book, but this was interesting. I did skim parts here and there and here again, but overall enjoyed it and gained an appreciation for the natural abilities of Kenyans and the stamina of anyone who trains to run marathons.
    • 3/5
      Started very weak, I had concerns about the colonialist to be in first few chapters. however once the story moved to Item & Eldoret, the Kenyans were presented as more human & less super hero or other.

      I ended up really liking it & agree with the assessment that Be. Colm O'Connel is one of the few mzungu not exploiting the Kalenjin.
    • 4/5
      Adharanand Finn, a casual runner who "might have been really good" and also a writer for Runner's World magazine, sets out to realize the dream of many runners, visit what one journalist has called "The Halls of the Mountain Kings," the town on the edge of the Rift Valley that is the epicenter of the Kenyan running explosion. Over the past 15 years, Kenyans from one particular ethnic group, the Kalenjin, have nearly completely dominated distance running from the 10K to the marathon. Their dominance, challenged only by their geographic neighbors from Ethiopia, has become so overwhelming that some major marathons have offered considerable incentives to encourage runners from other countries to try to break the hold of Kenyans over top places.

      Finn is able to live and run in Iten, Kenya, the county seat town where many of the best runners train at a variety of training camps. His goal is to discover the "secret" of Kenyan running success. As the spouse of a Kalenjin former runner for the past 30 years, I have lived and worked within the culture and was prepared to dislike this book, as so many brief visits by "running investigators" have led to vacuous descriptions of children running six miles to school, uphill both ways no doubt(ever wonder why they never build the schools near anybody's house? yeah, I'm being sarcastic) and the possibility that the running culture comes from the Kalenjin's history as cattle raiders or their habit of drinking soured milk. However, Finn's book is actually well-written, entertaining, and inspiring. Finn is culturally sensitive to realize that he is missing things socially, and this sensitivity and humble attitude is disarming. He also puts a serious effort into his running, but is realistic about his own goals and puts the focus on the dual theme of his own struggles as a runner and the stories of the Kenyans he meets and trains with. I don't think he's right to so completely dismiss the possibility of some as-yet unidentified genetic factor in Kenyan success, but that's really not the point of the book. It's a great read that I would recommend to anyone with even a passing interest in running or in Kenya.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. I thought the premise was interesting, but I'm not a runner and running sounds so utterly unappealing to me. Finn made me see why someone might want to run and also gave a good glimpse into a particular segment of a particular society (runner in Kenya) that I didn't really know anything about - and his descriptions of Kenya made the landscape sound appealing and beautiful (something I hadn't thought about Kenya before).I picked this up during the Olympics, after watching the Men's 800 meter race, won by Kenyan David Rudisha. This made the book that much more engaging to me, especially since Finn trains in the Kenyan town of Iten, where David Rudisha is also training.If you like "triumph of the wills" type stories, I think you will enjoy this one (even if you don't like running!)
    • 4/5
      What is it about the Kenyans? In the world of running they are the crazy-fast superstars. They seem to shatter world records as an afterthought and amass place medals with a regularity that is astonishing. But what is their secret? Is it their training, their diet, their running equipment (or lack thereof)? Or is it some special magic that only Kenyans possess? Author Adharanand Finn is determined to find out.Finn is a runner and a freelance writer for the UK version of "Runner's World". As such, he is fascinated by the Kenyans. So much so that he decides to go to the source and see for himself what they are doing and how they are doing it. Uprooting his young family (kudos to his wife!) for an extended stay in Kenya, Finn immerses himself in the world of Kenyan running. Running and training alongside elite runners and hardworking hopefuls, Finn sets himself the goal of running the Flouspar race - a 13.1 mile half marathon (uphill all the way) - that has developed into a rite of passage for Kenyan runners.Interesting, poignant, and at times funny, this book immerses you in African culture and the cult that is Kenyan running. A great book to read for any runner but non-runners interested in African culture shouldn't pass this one by. Photos at the beginning of each chapter make the stories all the more personal and interesting. So what is it about the Kenyans? Their barefood running? Their ugali diet? Their training regime? Or is it just that nebulous quality known as 'heart'? To find out, read this book.
    • 4/5
      An interesting read about what it's like to live and train in Kenya from the perspective of a UK runner. The book addresses some of my questions about why Kenyans are such great runners and why they didn't dominate the longer races until the last 20 years or so. Recommended for anyone interested in running or life in Africa.
    • 5/5
      British author Adharanand Finn spent six months living in Kenya with his wife and three young children trying to discover the reason that Kenyans dominate the world in running and attempting to learn to run like a Kenyan. No, he wasn't a world class athlete or even a serious amateur runner. Finn is a journalist at the "Guardian" with additional regular assignments from "Runners World". As a youth, he ran with a local club in Northampton, England. In college in Liverpool, Finn joined the running team but failed to take training seriously and simply participated. As an adult with a wife and three children, training was an indulgence that time did not permit.Although describing himself as an "overweight office worker," Finn never gave up his dream of training really hard and running really fast. This dream became a reality after he won a 10K charity race in Devon with his personal best time of 38 minutes and 35 seconds. (Kenyans commonly run sub 30 minute 10Ks.) His sister-in-law, who lived in Kenya, suggested that he run the Lewa Marathon, one of the toughest marathons in the world, run across a wildlife conservancy in Kenya. In the glow of his victory in the local charity run, Finn gave serious thought to the invitation. With the enthusiastic support of his wife, the whole family moved to Kenya.Kenyans dominate distance running, particularly those of the Kalenjin tribe. By living near and training with elite runners, Finn gained insight into reasons for their success.* Life style, culture, genetics and drive distinguish the Kenyan runners. They devote themselves to running. It's a vocation rather than an avocation. Running is one of the few ways to escape a life of poverty, creating the need to excel. A lack of alternatives fuels the drive to win.* Kenyans run, eat and sleep. They train in groups and, for races, live in training camps. Training is about two runs a day, with total rest in between. Kenyans will sleep as much as sixteen hours a day.* The diet of Kenyan runners is high in carbs. Ugali, the national food, predominates. This is a porridge or dough made of maize.* Genetically, the Kenyans are lean and built well to run. Males are generally below 130 lbs. The Kalenjins live at altitude and children grow up running everywhere they need to go. Running is a way of life."Running with the Kenyans" is a well-written narrative of the difficulties of integrating Finn and his family into the local culture and his path to completing the Lewa Marathon. You don't need to be a runner to enjoy this story.
    • 4/5
      Running with the Kenyans by Adharanand FinnThis was one of my favorite reads of the year so far. My perspective is not that of an athlete by a long shot, but the idea of going to Kenya and running across the country was so intriguing. Still, the running information was interesting, especially the different attitudes and beliefs of Kenyans compared to Americans. (Although, the author is British) The relationships between coaches and athletes were different. The biggest part of the story for me was the author and his wife making the decision to move to Kenya for this adventure, taking their two children with them. This is a great story for both runners and armchair adventurers. I found myself missing these people when I finished the book.
    • 4/5
      If you’re interested in running and travel, you’ll want to read this book. It’s the story of a guy from England who, wondering what it would take to become a better runner, packs up his family and moves to a small town in Kenya to figure out the secrets of the best runners out there.The secrets, as it turns out, are not very surprising, and are a combination of factors rather than one single thing. Lifestyle plays a huge role in producing top runners; Kenyan children in rural areas live hard, physically-demanding lives, and often run miles every day just as a way of getting to and from school. When they choose to become athletes, they have an extremely high level of dedication because achieving success can change their lives so dramatically; even a relatively small amount of prize money can allow them to vastly improve their families’ standards of living. And once some runners have achieved such success, it sets off a spiral of positive reinforcement: more people are driven to become runners, and their families are willing to make sacrifices so that they can dedicate their lives to training. Other factors are mentioned as well: barefoot running, and diet, and so on.These “secrets” are mainly presented in an anecdotal way; there are occasional mentions of scientific studies, but that’s not the driving force of this book. Mostly, Finn just talks to people and considers what he sees. This makes for a very easy read, but it did occasionally lead me to have doubts about his conclusions. He largely rejects the idea that the specific subgroup of Kenyans that excels most in races, the Kalenjin, has some sort of genetic advantage, at least partially on the grounds that this would diminish their achievements and discourage other competitors. He also confidently asserts the benefits of a low-fat diet, when I’d thought that recent science had rejected this idea. There’s no doubt that the standard western diet leads to a lot of health problems, but I’d thought that it was now seen as more a matter of refined carbohydrates and specific types of fat. I’m certainly not an expert on the matter, and I may be completely wrong—but Finn isn’t an expert either, and he presented no convincing evidence to support his position and make me change my views.So, this has to be viewed as more a travelogue and memoir than as a serious work of scholarship on Kenyan athletes. And I don’t think that’s a problem, as long as you go in with the right expectations. As a travelogue, I'd say it’s only average in terms of writing and depth of observation, but the interesting premise of going to train with the Kenyan runners is enough to make it a worthwhile read in my eyes. I don’t really know of another book like this, though I do have Toby Tanser’s More Fire on my TBR pile.Ultimately, I found this a quick and interesting read, but was left feeling that I wanted to get a little bit deeper into this world. Finn focuses pretty exclusively on the runners he meets and the runs he participates in, but one of my favourite parts was actually his description of his daughters’ first day at the local school. I would have liked to read a bit more about life in Africa, both his own life and that of the locals. Maybe because he was a foreigner and only lived in Kenya temporarily, I didn’t feel like I really came away with a great understanding of what life was like for a Kenyan runner. We heard about life in the training camps, but I wanted to know more about the runners’ childhoods and their families as well. I didn’t feel as connected to the people described here as I did to the ones in, say, Stephanie Nolen’s 28: Stories of AIDS in Africa. I’m left hoping that someone like Jacques Steinberg (You Are an Ironman) or Liz Robbins (A Race Like No Other) will eventually write a book profiling a small group of Kenyan runners in the leadup to a major race. In the meantime, though, Finn’s book has the advantage of actually existing; it’s a quick and easy read, and worth the time if you’re interested in the topic.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed reading about what the author experienced in Kenya and the glimpses we were able to see of daily life for Kenyan runners. On the other hand, I quickly got tired of the author's search for the secret to Kenyan running success.
    • 3/5
      Adharanand Finn, or just Finn, moved his family to Kenya for six months in hopes of learning the secrets of Kenyan runners. Is it their barefoot running style or just plain necessity that has set the Kenyans as the gold standard in distance running? Finn sets out on his ambitious journey to not only run with the Kenyans, but also to compete.Finn's book fell flat for me. The story started out well, an English mid-pack runner sets out with visions of grandeur to become one with the Kenyan running lifestyle. However, once Finn arrives in Kenya the story becomes dull and repetitive. Most chapters of the book went something like this: Finn meets world famous athlete, running times are shared, everyone eats and Finn goes to sleep. Next Chapter: Finn goes out for a run and is slower than everyone else, but is improving. Next Chapter: Finn meets world famous athlete, running times are shared, everyone eats or watches television, and Finn goes to sleep. Rinse, Repeat. I think another reviewer put it best... this would have been a brilliant magazine article, but there was just not enough content to keep the reader interested for the entire book.
    • 1/5
      I really wanted to love this book. I've lost track of the number of times I've watched Kenyan runners head for the finish line of a race I've barely started. Adharanand Finn moves his young family to Kenya and trains for a marathon with some of Kenya's elite runners in an effort to figure out their secret. It's an intriguing premise, but the characters Finn meets are so indistinguisable and his writing is so flat (and sometimes downright ungrammatical) that by the time I was two-thirds of the way through this book, I didn't care how Finn did in the marathon. This is a book that should have been a magazine article.