Sammy Wanjiru, Olympic Marathon Champion
As runners compete in the marathon, they bounce up and down about 3” with each stride. Since the average runner takes about 1,000 strides per mile, a marathon consists of 26,200 strides. When you multiply 3” by 26,200, you get 6,550 feet, or 1.24 miles. This means a typical marathoner runs more than a vertical mile during the course of the marathon. -somaxsports.com
MY COMMENT: Practice running with a shorter stride to decrease vertical bounce.
If you run with a shorter stride, you take more strides, and your total vertical distance will be even greater.
ReplyDeleteWanjiru had a much longer stride than the Americans, but less vertical displacement.
Stride length and vertical displacement are two separate entities. Bounce is mainly a flexibility problem. The stiffer you are, the more you will bounce up and down. And you will also have a short stride.