IMPASSIONED debate continues over the "Kenyan issue," and American running couldn't have asked for a better present. Kenyan issue could be
boost to U.S. runningWhen Craig Masback took over USA Track and Field last year, he said his goal was to stimulate new interest in the sport.
He didn't expect a controversy eliciting charges of racism and nationalism would do the trick.
But, if you're the czar of a sport that can't hold a candle to the exposure enjoyed by the NBA, the NFL, the NHL and Major League baseball, there's really no such thing as bad publicity.
Should we kill this high-altitude-bred East African monster that is devouring Americans in every distance race from the 800 meters to the marathon?
Should we slow it down?
Should Americans simply train tougher and persevere in their pursuit of the Kenyans?
If we have no fear in the sprints, why should we fear the distances?
The race directors who have taken steps to lessen the impact of Kenyan participation in their races say we, the media, are having a hard time interviewing the Kenyans and making them identifiable with the average American sports fan.
There's some truth to this.
A seemingly endless stream of new Kenyan names, breaking records and winning major races, doesn't help put a recognizable face on the Kenyan phenomenon.
Quick: Who was the last Kenyan to win the Boston Marathon, the Honolulu Marathon, or the last Kenyan to set a world best on the roads?
If you answered, Moses Tanui, Eric Kimaiyo and Joseph Kariuki, then you almost deserve a job with Runner's World magazine.
But these runners with the forgettable names, who were supposed to be killing the sport in the U.S. with their success, are now putting it in the spotlight with this debate.
Ask anyone -- even someone who could barely give a hoot about running -- if Kenyan athletes should be held back so Americans can succeed, and you're bound to get a strong opinion.
The most volatile arguments against Kenyan exclusion use the term, "racism." It's an inevitable element, and it gets everyone's attention.
One Colorado columnist even compared the directors of the Bolder Boulder 10-kilometer race (May 25), who are now limiting elite runners from foreign countries (and the U.S.) to three-member teams, to Nazis.
COOLER heads dismiss racism but pointedly argue that Americans should not be saying, "This is my ball and if you don't play by my rules, I'll play by myself."
They want to know what happened to Steve Prefontaine's feisty "bring-on-the-world" attitude.
"There is something very wrong-headed about this trend," said Duncan Macdonald of Kailua, the former U.S. 5,000-meter record holder who ran against the world's best in the 1970s. He said he never cowered away from taking on the best and doesn't see why any American should now.
On the other hand, the most recognizable name in U.S. distance running history, 1972 marathon gold medalist Frank Shorter, contends that the Boulder approach is justified. Why?
Because Americans must be lured back into the fight.
Shorter points out that America's best are no longer even showing up at major events dominated by Kenyans. Sadly, he is right about this.
If Prefontaine were alive today, he would be shaking his head in disgust.
I think the best result the Kenyan debate could produce would be to goad American distance runners back into a Pre-era mentality.
He'd say the Kenyans have altitude, but we have attitude.
Pat Bigold has covered sports for daily newspapers
in Hawaii and Massachusetts since 1978.