Running To School

I am a big fan of long distance running.  Kenyans seem to dominate in this running distance.  Why?  They live at altitude, yes, but then so do many people in other countries including my own.  They run to school, often in bare feet.  They have to go miles to get to their school.  Interesting.  Think of someone who would run miles in not the best shoes and not the best roads, to go to elementary school.  Mere children.  Are the schools in Kenya the best?  I doubt they are stellar or wealthy with resources.  Now, in this country, there are children who live a few blocks from school, and don't go, or if they go, are not interested.  I don't think I would run five miles to go to school unless I had to.    But 5 miles?  What if my school was so so?  It is not that our schools are so bad and dangerous that you cannot learn though this is a problem.  People are getting killed on the roads and byways of Kenya. their economy is struggling.  I am fascinated by people who will go to great effort to learn when the deck is stacked against them, and others who just give excuses for the same deck.
 But even at its best here, schools with lots of resources and safety, would a kid go run five miles to a school?    And so the Kenyans continue to win.  Want a free ride to a good college?  Start running five miles back and forth to elementary school.  Invest in good shoes too.  As with many things, it depends on how badly you want something.  Kenyans want it.  They challenge me in my own goals.