We’ve all known it for a long time, but now rigorously researched statistics appears to back up the (overwhelming) anecdotal evidence: East Africans make the fastest ultra runners. Well, when it comes to 50km ultra races anyway.
In a study recently published in Scientific Reports, researchers investigated the age and race locations of elite ultra marathon runners, paying specific attention to their countries of origin. The researchers, headed by a team at the University of Zurich, and involving various sports science bodies from across Europe and South America, used data from over a million race records.
