(more on) genetics ?

I get your drift, Trishie.  I think that's a fair assessment.  They definitely play in at any level.

Here's my take:

We are all different.  Different genes, different life histories, etc.  Even if two people were genetically the same, trained exactly the same, but had different life histories, they STILL wouldn't have the same performance on race day.

So many factors go into your race performance, it's impossible to even really determine what they are, and how they affect each other.

So why worry about it?  Focus on the things you can control, namely your training, your diet, your race plan.  If someone trains less and finishes faster, good for him or her.  Train harder to beat that person, if that's a goal.

Not trying to be a jerk about it, but I think we tend to lose focus at times.

I like to compare this to the days of being a kid.  When you had field day.  All the kids go and run, jump and throw to see who will do what event.  Some run fast some throw far, some jump high or long.  And some are not athletic at all.  Fact is with little or no training some kids are just naturally athletic.  I could throw the ball far, but at 3ft nothing as a kid my jumping prowness was lacking.  As for running I was always MOP.  There were always kids that could run faster.  This had nothing to do with training as I played all the sports (soccer, baseball, hockey, lacrosse) 

I was in great shape, but I was not meant to run 5 minute miles.

Some people can some people can't this is called genetics.  I don't buy that with the right training anyone can do it.  But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try.  At the top of my game, being above ave in all the sports makes me competitive.  Triathlon takes a healthy dose of brawn and brains (strategy).  Strategy plays a huge roll in triathlon and makes a huge impact in success.  It's not all physical.

For those who want to view genetics as being the biggest factor here, what about epigenetics?  There's a growing body of research showing that the underlying genes may be pretty equivalent, but how those genes are expressed can be vastly different.  And on top of that, epigenetics can be changed as a person ages.

This is why life history places an important part of what you can currently do.  All those environmental factors can play a role, as can all the activities you undertook throughout your life.

Again, to me, it all goes back to what you can know and control.  I have no idea what my genetic potential is, and to be honest, I don't think I would want to know.

Yes, genetics has a role in endurance sports.  But really, I just don't think about it.  We can all make great improvements from where we started.  Some will make faster/larger gains than others.  Maybe due to genetics, but also could be that some people train harder/smarter than others.   We can't do anything about my genetics...but we can focus on being a better athlete through smart training and nutrition.  Better to focus on that and not worry about what athletic genes our parents gave us. 

Level of percieved effort.  I think alot of people just don't reach that limit, be it from injury preventing them or just being too scared or lazy to go all out.  Granted, with running this is a double edge sword, but many people do not come close to the level of effort they should be putting out.  

Lebron James, Micheal Phelps, Lance Armstrong - these are all genetics mutants built perfectly for their sport.  You don't want to use it as an excuse but in the same token, most of us weren't gifted with those abilities.

I'm not going to cry about it; all of us are gifted to the point we all own a computer and have a good quality of life.