Thursday, April 23, 1998

Kenyans still
have a home in
Honolulu

Unlike some races, the
Honolulu Marathon won't restrict
them in favor of Americans

By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

A controversial effort to restrict Kenyan participation in American distance running is being championed by some of the top American runners of yesteryear.

Experts say the Kenyan stranglehold on high-stakes money races threatens the future of a sport intended to exhibit American talent and promote corporate sponsors.

The means justify the end they say: to restore the American runner to a competitive position.

But Dr. Jim Barahal, president of the Honolulu Marathon Association, vowed this week to resist the growing pressure to restrict participation by African runners.

According to Road Race Weekly, Kenyans won 36 major marathons last year, with Boston and New York the most prominent.

Some running experts say it threatens the future of the sport in this country. They cite media concerns about the marketability of African running stars who have little or no English skills and who have names and countries of origin with which few can identify.

Kenyans have won nine of the last 11 Boston Marathons and the last eight in a row. No American has won Boston since 1983 (Greg Meyer).

The trend was started by Ibrahim Hussein, who made his marathon debut at the Honolulu Marathon in 1985 and set a course record here in 1986.

Hussein dominated the Honolulu Marathon from 1985-87 before going on to score multiple wins at Boston and New York.

Kenyans have won the local race eight times since 1985, and runners from the African continent have won it 11 times.

No American man has won Honolulu since 1982 (Dave Gordon).

"Never," Barahal said when asked if he would impose restrictions on foreign runners. "Our race is open to everybody and I can't imagine we'd ever restrict Kenyans or anybody."

Barahal said he wants to recruit the "best athletes available" every year, no matter who they are.

"We'd love to get top Americans in our race, but there aren't any," he said.

One race in New Jersey excludes Kenyans altogether. Two others award prize money only to Americans. The 15-kilometer Gasparilla Distance Classic in Tampa, Fla., which has not had an American winner since 1989, eliminated prize money altogether.

Frank Shorter, the only American man in modern times to win an Olympic gold medal in the marathon (1972), said he believes Honolulu should remain what he calls "a wonderfully independent race."

But he advocates controls on the participation of Kenyans in mainland races.

"We want to create a situation where the Americans at least start showing up again," Shorter said.

"I think we're allowed to be a little chauvinistic about Americans. We should be asking what we can do to create more interest in Americans. It has gotten to the point where Americans don't even show up any more."

Said Barahal: "Frank wants to create American role models in running, but why can't Kenyans be role models?"

Shorter and organizers of the prestigious Bolder Boulder road race on May 25 are resorting to a format that restricts all foreign runners to three-man teams. Americans will be allowed unlimited entries.

In 1997, Kenyans took six of the top eight positions in Boulder, and the year before, they took eight of the top 10.

"We want to level the playing field," Bolder Boulder race director Bill Reef said in a New York Times article.

"The way you level the playing field is to have Americans run faster," Barahal said. "If Americans aspire to be better runners, there's more to be gained by competing against the Kenyans than by avoiding them."

Barahal said running is "not a nationalistic endeavor."

He said that if you lined up the eight best sprinters in the world, they might all be Americans.

"And why shouldn't the seventh best sprinter in the world be allowed into a race?" he asked.

Four-time Boston Marathon winner Bill Rodgers said he supports the concept of limiting foreign participation to bring Americans back . But he said he sees an even larger problem with Kenyan domination.

"I don't even see this as an American vs. Kenyan thing. It's the Kenyans almost dominating the world," Rodgers said.

"The only runners who can duke it out with them most of the time are other altitude-born athletes from places like Ethiopia and Morocco."

But Rodgers said the entire issue is "very touchy." He cited claims by some Kenyans that the trend to limit their participation is racist.

Craig Masback, executive director of USA Track and Field, supports the concept of limitations.

"We're not limiting opportunities for foreigners, we're creating opportunities for Americans," he said in the Times article.