Comments on: Running Form at the 2010 Boston Marathon: Slow Motion Video of Barefoot, Minimalist, and Traditionally Shod Runners at sub-3:00 Pace

By: Skeks99

Skeks99 — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

To me, it looked like they were wearing flatter, less cushioned shoes and doing less of a heel strike and almost more of a forefoot strike. (except the third and last guy)

By: Marcus Forman

Marcus Forman — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I'm certainly no biomechanics professor, but it seems as though there is a LOT of energy being lost when the shod foot comes crashing down on its heel. I myself have an impossible time doing anything but heelstriking in those types of shoes; even in my Kinvara's it was tough to run with my midfoot strike.

By: Pete Larson

Pete Larson — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to briderdt.

Mostly an artifact of the camera not being level. If there was a downhill, it was pretty slight.

By: Brad Patterson

Brad Patterson — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

It's also interesting to note that the top six finishers never completely straightened their leg (i.e. locked the knee), as compared to many of the runners straightening their leg in the first video. I wonder if this is due to the higher speed/cadence of the elite 6 or perhaps just better form than the runners in the first video?

By: Brad Patterson

Brad Patterson — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to Richard Ayotte.

I was thinking the EXACT same thing, Flammon! If you look at a lot of the "heel strikers", it appears that a lot of them might be landing on their forefoot if they were running in a more minimalist shoe.

By: Shelly Latsha

Shelly Latsha — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The thing that is most striking to me is that those who are heavy heel strikers are landing with their knee locked, leg fully extended. Those landing in the midfoot or forefoot region all have a bend at the knee. Whether or not this has anything to do with injury pattern is still up for debate. I would love to study this long term!

By: D. Casey Kerrigan, M.D.

D. Casey Kerrigan, M.D. — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Honestly! All the other runners just look like they’re running in high-heeled shoes… which brings it all back for me to one of my first studies on footwear published in the Lancet in 1998 showing that high-heels increased knee torques — http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pu… — I see no real difference here.

By: Paul Henry

Paul Henry — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I think the videos of the barefoot and VFF runner show that their toes/forefoot is reaching for the ground as they end the foward swing of their lower leg, whereas in many of the shod runners the toes are not reaching, in some cases they may even be being flexed away from the ground.

Looking foward to the videos of the recreational runners now

By: Cole Townsend

Cole Townsend — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

laughed out loud as the bike rolled across the screen. great post!

By: Just A Lurker

Just A Lurker — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to Ruben Berenguel.

Hard to say without force plates (I can't tell anyway). A little less leg straightening and heel hammering than the other shod runners, but nothing like the BF dude and the VFF runner, both of whom did not straighten at the knee and clearly landed flat and not on heel.

By: David Steinberg

David Steinberg — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The videos don't seem to be up.

By: Pete Larson

Pete Larson — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to James.

James, so that's you in the video?

Sent from my iPad