Countries with the Fastest Marathoners

Yet a marathon is a long-haul race... ;)

Well, I'll go there: Japan???

Wow, that Kenya number is impressive.

I know it's implied, but you should specify that it's the "men's" marathon times. Hope you can put together a women's quiz too.

I don't see a reason to rename it as this quiz is inclusive of women who have run sub-2:10 marathon times.

Excellent point, thanks

Ironic to see Greece isn't up there given that it's named after a Greek city.

They made it a spectator sport to view other countries' misery after that.

And almost all their great runners are from the Kalenjin (and especially the Nandi) people. From Wikipedia: "Since the mid-1960s, Kenyan men have earned the largest share of major honours in international athletics (track and field) at distances from 800 meters to the marathon; the vast majority of these Kenyan running stars have been Kalenjin. From 1980 on, about 40% of the top honours available to men in international athletics at these distances (Olympic medals, World Championships medals, and World Cross Country Championships honours) have been earned by Kalenjin."

To me, Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania were the obvious ones.

I think you got it wrong with South Africa. 2:06:33 is Stephen Kiprotich's time in London Olympics Marathon. He is Ugandan.

All I got was Ethiopia and Kenya, lol.

Good quiz. But, can somebody explain why USA was guessed more than Kenya? Even though Kenya appears to have more people in this list than the rest of the World put together? Also, I note that some were surprised by the Japanese. Shouldn't be when you consider their "national character". Dogged determination and giving up brings shame.

Because it's 3 characters (easy to type) and a lot of marathons are held here (big country with lots of cities). If I want to run a marathon I can just go down the street, or drive a little while. Or even just fly to Kenya if there's a marathon there, it's not that expensive. Harder for a Kenyan to get over here, I imagine.