With the US Olympic Trials Marathon starting in a few hours I thought I’d throw in a few thoughts about a few of the more well known participants and the unusual amount of scrutiny their running techniques have generated.

I must admit watching from afar that the US Olympic marathon trials almost seems to be bigger than the Olympics with numerous articles written about these races and many being etched in US distance running folklore. I’m not sure what US running fans think about it, but it does sometimes look like the US runners smashing each other up and perhaps even giving their best performance before they even get to the Olympics. Although recent medals by Meb Keflezighi and Deena Kastor possibly put that argument to rest.

The three male favorites, or at least most well known runners, have all had their running technique heavily scrutinized over the years for various reasons. These articles and comments have caught my eye from time to time and it’s amazing the debate that such comments generate. Here are some links to some of the more thorough and interesting pieces:

The perfect stride A controversial opinion piece about Alberto Salazar’s attempts to convert Dathan Ritzenhein into a forefoot runner. Pete Larson covered this also – more on Ritz.

Meb in Skechers versus Meb in Nikes Video of Meb before and after he moved to shoes with a design claim of making runners land more mid-foot.

Running form, elites and what it means for you A Pete Larson special, very thorough breakdown of some slow motion footage some of his students took at the 2010 Boston Marathon. Includes Meb versus Hall.

Does running form Matter? The Runner’s World view – good piece by Peter Vigneron that includes more Meb versus Hall analysis.

Elite technique comparisons, interesting for run nerds, not so relevent for regular runners

Despite my interest in running technique, I’m of the school of thought that if you’re a world class elite runner your technique is clearly very sound, so you won’t find me being critical of any given athlete. These runners all share the basic elements identified through my reading, observation and coaching as being fundamental to good running form.

The key thing that regular runners need to work on can be found behind you – in short getting stronger buttocks and learning to use them is the first step towards developing the strength needed to run with good technique. This is much more important than getting to hung up on trying not to heel-strike.

In my opinion this butt factor outstrips any arguments about foot-strike, forward lean and gravity assisted running, especially when it comes to what regular runners need to work on when training for proper running form.

So while it might be interesting to debate the merits of Meb’s heel-striking, the infamous Dathen Ritzenhein, Salazar forefoot strike rebuild and then compare them to Ryan Hall’s seemingly effortless stride, what you’ll find when you stop kicking the tyres and look under the hood that they all share very similar basic mechanics.

Ryan Hall’s form universally admired, but not so much his training approach

Ryan Hall is an interesting runner, as while US observers admire his form, the criticism he receives for finding his own pathway in his training methods seems unnecessarily harsh.

While I don’t share his faith, I do get where he’s coming from in terms of finding ways to really embrace and enjoy your running, I’d be surprised if his training philosophy that emphasizes recovery doesn’t get more credit in the long term than the current suspicion it arouses from some pundits. These types tend to believe if you aren’t out there smashing yourselves day in day out that you’re not a real runner.

While the marathon can throw up all kinds of surprises and bring even the most well conditioned or credentialed athlete undone, I hope Ryan Hall continues his good form shown in Boston 2.04 and Chicago 2.08 that incidentally seemed to attract a bunch of vitriol because he didn’t vomit like Meb in NYC!

I’m tipping Ryan Hall from Meb Keflezighi in a close finish.

It’s not a kinda magic

None of it is magic; there’s good genetics, strength and a lot of hard work over many years that allows you to run this fast over the marathon distance. But you’d be surprised at the number of times I’ve had comments about how some guru could improve the technique of world class and even world record holding runners. Would you believe even running immortal David Rudisha was singled out as needing to use gravity more to make him run faster? If only it were that easy or simple.

Strong fierce women

I’ve studied the form of the main female contenders slightly less, but have admired the strong running of Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan over a number of years, their achievements at international level already have them well and truly etched into running folklore.

Deena Kaster too has Olympic Bronze in the marathon (2004), but a spontaneous broken foot early in Beijing 2008 suggests some errors in preparation. The lightly built Kaster has reportedly been in the gym and paying more attention to nutrition in an attempt to improve her bone density, so hopefully we won’t see a re-occurrence.

Desiree Davila could lay claim to favoritism after a big performance at Boston 2011, look out for her to try and spoil Flanagan and Goucher’s party.

Time to see how the races play out. Hopefully it’ll be bigger than Texas!

Written by Brian Martin

Results

Women: Flanagan, Devila, Goucher

Men: Keflezighi, Hall, Abdirahman

Image credits:

Meb Keflezighi by Erica Sara Neuman

Ryan Hall by George Roberts

Kara Goucher by Stewart Dawson

The Melbourne Marathon festival of running took place on Sunday 9 October 2011 and I was a more than an interested observer knowing a few runners Mark and I have worked with throughout the year were lining up over the 10k, half marathon and the longer 42.195km race. The Melbourne Marathon can turn on all variants of our city’s famous fickle weather and Sunday was no exception, cool, windy and sometimes rainy conditions greeted thousands of runners as they toed the line in their respective events.

I elected to check-out the 10km road race first, a mixture of performance, passion and participation summed up the event with a great mix of elite speed machines, just above walking pace competitors, as well as everyone running and jogging in between. After spending most of the past few years observing and writing about running form, it’s fair to say that there were many different examples of running technique out there on display. Hats off to everyone who braved the cold weather and came out and ran no matter what their motivation or goal. It was great to see the moving train of runners winding their way around Melbourne’s iconic Botantic Gardens alongside everyone’s favorite running destination the 3.8km Tan Track.

At these types of events I always try and take my camera to capture examples of good running technique and once such example that stood out on the day was the strong running form of local athlete Amanda Paulin competing in the 10k. Amanda is a middle distance specialist, which is perhaps why she’s making running in a longer event look like an easy jog!

37 Kilometers

I’d missed out on the early stages of the marathon, but was keen to see how the runners were faring late in the race, the 37km mark was positioned on a testing climb alongside the botanical gardens and Melbourne’s famous 3.8km Tan running track. They were idyllic surroundings, not that you would notice if you were running and hauling your way inside the final 5km of a Marathon. The leaders looked epic and strong, what you’d expect from talented and hardworking runners, but it still gives you the chills when you see top level running at close range. Kenya’s Japhet Kipkorir emerged out of the gloom flanked by Melbourne’s finest constabulary on his way to defending his title and producing 2.11.12 in less than ideal conditions. He looked like he was running a 5k rather than the full Marathon distance.

Out of the gloom, Japhet Kipkorir making short work of the climb

Kenya’s Japhet Kipkorir – strength late in the race

Has this guy already run 37km? Kenya’s Japhet Kipkorir – running tall and with great strength.

Julius Karinga showing signs of hurt but hanging on bravely to second place

Peter Nowill refueling and looking strong on his way to third place

Wondwosen Geleta shows determination on the climb

Commonwealth Games Marathon Silver Medalist Kenya’s Irene Mogaka on her way to victory

Quad killer

It seems a bit of a cruel end to the course to have to climb and then descent late in the race, I could only imagine the quads would have hurt some on this decline heading towards 38km.

The 20 minute personal best

A special mention to Jonathan Cahill who after staring in an earlier article about Orthotics and Nike Frees wiped a massive 20 minutes off his Marathon personal best to record an impressive 3.08 marathon wearing a pair of Adidas Adios marathon racers. No orthotics! The fact that he did this off three runs a week and his triathlon training suggests there is more than one way (in addition to high mileage) to run well over the marathon distance. Here’s Jonathan looking the goods with only about two miles to run.

The people’s four minute mile

Probably the most gut wrenching thing I saw while on course was runners beginning to drop off the three hour pacers, I guess because that’s a time I’d ultimately like to run and that many keen runners aspire to. I could feel their pain as that goal began slipping away. The pacers do an awesome job when you think about it, even if running their respective speeds is well within their ability, they also have to carry the flag and shout encouragement!

The seductive mistress

After swearing I wouldn’t have a crack at it again for a few more years after abandoning my buildup to the Paris Marathon a couple of years back when my brother developed a stress fracture and I was knocked off my game after initially failing a medical for the event. Having to stop running and wait three weeks to endure various tests to get the all clear wasn’t the ideal build up. So the closest I came to breaking my goal of running under the three hour mark was breaking the cardiac stress testing protocol on the Epworth Hospital treadmill!

But the Marathon is a seductive mistress and watching the raw courage and determination of runners competing in the race had me looking for a place to sign up for the 2012 event! Perhaps only other runners will truly understand the emotional involvement you develop when you’re watching an event like the Marathon unfold. By the time I packed up and headed for home I was churning on the inside and pumped full of admiration for the runners I’d watched out there on the course.

Well done to every runner out there who overcame their own struggles and adversities just to get to the start line and then to grit it out over 42.195 kilometers is an awesome effort. I may see you next year.

Written by Brian Martin

Complete race results

Collins Cheboi stole the show at the 2011 Stawell Gift running 3.56.67 on grass in the Herb Hedemann 1600m: not quite a mile, but after you read the full circumstances of the run, you’ll agree it was a truly extraordinary achievement.

Sometimes running throws up surprises. This one happened at an Australian Rules Football ground called Central Park in Stawell, a small town inside the state of Victoria in south-eastern Australia. Every Easter, the cream of Australia’s athletic talent descends on this modest town of 6000 residents to enjoy the Stawell Gift Athletics Carnival. Most famous for its Sheffield Distance (120m) handicap sprint race, the so named “Stawell Gift” – a race that carries over $60,000 Australian dollars in prize money.

This year the organizers had managed to attract 2003 world 100m champion Kim Collins to race in that event. However, the run that stole the show was the 3.56.67 performance of Kenyan Collins Cheboi in the Herb Hedemann Invitation 1600m. As the starter marshaled the runners few were expecting the Cheboi charge that followed.

For the uninitiated, the Victorian Athletic League (VAL) organizes a series of events – all run on grass tracks over the course of the Australian summer.  These culminate in the Easter weekend where traditionally Stawell has been the last and most prestigious of the athletics meetings held.  This footrace has history stretching back 130 years into the gold rush days when now tiny Stawell harbored a population of 200,000+ fortune seekers.  This year as the famous town hall clock began to chime out 1pm, a select field of 25 national standard and more than handy sub-elite 1500m runners stood spread out over their allotted handicaps for the Herb Hedemann invitation 1600m.  These runners were chasing prestige as much as the chance of winning a brightly colored silken sash and novelty sized cheque, for the prize money was a modest $5000, with $2,250 allocated for the winner.

Almost all races organized by the VAL are handicapped by distance; with slower runners afforded a head-start on faster competitors.  It makes for entertaining racing and gives more than a sporting chance to those of humbler abilities.  In fact, often runners try to outfox the handicapper by deliberately underachieving or running dead, until they are allocated what they perceive to be a winning mark.  Runners known for their surprising ability to produce stunning improvements to win a race at Stawell have also been seen cleaning out the bookmakers with dramatic last-minute betting plunges.  This all adds to the intrigue of racing at Stawell over the Easter long weekend.

It’s worth noting that in this race, the competitors were of a high standard – about 4 minute or faster 1500m runners with many times on the record available for scrutiny, so the handicaps were about as fair and transparent as possible.  The front marker was given a 110m head start on Kenyan Collins Cheboi, the owner of a 3:33.82 1500m personal best.  The front marker would run 1490m, whereas Cheboi, running from the 0m scratch mark, would complete the full 1600m journey.  Also in the field was Brenton Rowe, the third place getter in the 2011 Australian 1500m championships with a personal best of 3.39.68, running off 25m and Philo Saunders, a former winner of “the Herb” and a consistent National 1500m finalist over the past 10 years, with a personal best of 3.41.22 – Saunders running off 35m.

Earlier in the weekend Cheboi had blown up spectacularly after reeling off a 53 second lap during a chase for victory in the back-markers mile, so a few of the wise old heads about town considered he didn’t have the racing nous to chase down the seasoned group of competitors entered in the Herb Hedemann 1600m.  Handicap running is all about expending your energy as wisely as possible.  Over the years at Stawell I’ve seen a few national standard distance runners, sporting the back-marker’s red vest, out-kicked by a runner of lesser ability.  Such is the nature of handicaps by distance; the back marker not only has to run faster, but also cover more ground.  This can leave the men in red vulnerable in the closing stages as they have expended all their energy to make the catch, leaving little in reserve to raise a kick in the run for home.

Collins Cheboi is clearly a fast learner, because this time he expended his energy more wisely,  peeling off a slightly more conservative 1.54 for the first 800m!  Running is such a sport of relativity, a runner of Cheboi’s class was making some very good runners look pedestrian as he began working through the colored jerseys of some solid citizens of the mile.  A 60 second third lap looked explosive as the field settled down, Cheboi running around the field was good enough to hit the front with 400m to run.  His courageous style of running had the crowd on their feet and the commentators struggling to find the right superlatives to describe what was quickly developing into a very special piece of middle distance running.

As the final lap unfolded Cheboi looked for a moment as if the chase had caught up with him, as he slowed slightly and Brenton Rowe threatened with a well-paced run, but to the delight of his adoring fans, Collins Cheboi managed to summon the energy to kick home for a comfortable win.

While 1600m is a short mile, consider three factors that make this an exceptional run.  Running wide and in traffic for much of the race would have to mean that if Cheboi didn’t run the full 1609.344m, he must have come close.  Peter Coe suggests that running on the outside of the inside lane is equivalent to running an extra 1.6m per lap – so we’ll give Collins at least an extra 5m for the first three laps when he ran wide on the bends, sometimes three or four abreast. Further, the psychological impact of chasing on performance can’t be underestimated, seeing runners spread out over 100m ahead of you is bound to get the blood pumping and force you to expend more effort than needed in the early stages.

The slower second half of the race and Collins Cheboi hitting the lead with 400m to run is a testament to this phenomenon.  And I didn’t mention, that at Stawell and in professional foot racing, runners are not allowed to wear a watch, therefore judging pace becomes a critical element in handicap racing.  Finally, running on grass tracks must be something of a shock to the system for runners accustomed to the energy returning properties of modern rubber athletics tracks.  However, given the cross country pedigree of most Kenyan runners, perhaps this wasn’t as much of a barrier to Collins Cheboi as to some of the local runners.

I hope Collins Cheboi comes back to Stawell in 2012, his fearless, swashbuckling running was entertaining to watch and something that few who witnessed it will be likely to forget.

Watch Collins Cheboi storm to victory on YouTube courtesy of OneHD and Jump Media Marketing.

Watch on YouTube

For a close to the ground perspective, inclusive of dodgy camera work, watch it on Running Technique TV.

Watch on Running Technique TV

Written by Brian Martin

Is running technique important? This is a surprisingly controversial question; many commentators and coaches would have you believe that it’s not possible to change your technique.  The reason being, they say “that we evolve into the most efficient running technique for our own body.”  It’s a nice simple idea, but not one that stacks up to scrutiny.  I’d challenge any person to name an elite high profile sport where technique isn’t considered vitally important. But surprisingly, middle and long distance running seems a long way behind sports such as swimming and cycling.  At the elite level of running I can understand a reluctance to think about technique as a means to improve performance or avoid injury – the main reason being that these runners already exhibit very good technique, they wouldn’t be elite if they didn’t.  Having said that, I’ll circle around on that idea later on this blog because it also warrants challenging.

If elite runners are so good because they combine excellent technique, giant hearts and lungs and killer psychology what can we learn from this?  We might not be able to do much about our cardiovascular tank or train so hard we vomit, but what about technique?  To me the most important thing a normal everyday jogger or club athlete can do is make sure they have a serviceable, basically sound running technique.  This was my stepping off point for writing a book about running technique and launching this website.  I’m a runner from my early teens, but I gave away the sport for fifteen years because I kept breaking my body, not only that I couldn’t get any faster than when I was 14 years old – very frustrating for someone who is driven and competitive.

I came back to the sport about four years ago determined to make amends.  I armed myself with all the right information about how to train and had another go at making things better.  It was somewhat successful with a few best times at longer distances, but ultimately the depressing cycle of injury returned.  Not only that I couldn’t run any faster, by this I mean my 5km pace was more or less the same as my 15km pace.  If I tried to run faster my body felt out of control.  Ultimately after analyzing my technique and beginning to think about why it was that more talented runners ran better, I decided to correct my broken running technique.  After 13 weeks of training I stepped on the track and lowered my 5km personal best time by more than a minute to 17.56.  A few weeks later I had this down to 17.42.  More importantly I was uninjured and enjoying running without pain. It wasn’t easy, but it convinced me that it was possible to take someone with a terrible technique and improve it.  My running technique is far from perfect even today, but it has improved and if I can do it off a low base, anyone can.  So running technique does matter and there is something you can do about it.

Written by Brian Martin

Writers always approach the blank page with trepidation.  What if nothing good comes out?  What if there’s nothing to say?  When I first began entertaining the thought of writing an eBook about my experiences in changing my running technique I had exactly those thoughts in my mind.  Was there really enough material to justify a book?  Fast forward 12 months and the answer is clear, as the book draft grew to something approaching 100,000 words I knew there was plenty to say, in fact there was too much material to include in a single book.  During the second draft I was cutting material that didn’t fit, but would have been great to discuss on the web.

That brings me to the reason for bringing this website into the world.  The eBook is on its way and I’m excited about launching it soon, but there is much more to say and definitely more to discuss about running technique.  For all of the conclusions I reached through my own research, observation and experience another few questions always remained.  And if it wasn’t a question, it was the search for a reason – I know this happens in good technique, but why?  Running Technique has not been researched and written about extensively so there’s plenty of whys and hows floating around that need resolution.

There is a real lack of good scientific evidence available about running technique.  I certainly found the task of finding good studies a challenge when doing my own research.  There’s a good chance that some good quality research does exist, but it may well be locked away inside national sports institutes and even in the research and development labs of sports shoe manufacturers.

One thing is certain there is not much guidance written for runners on what they should be aiming for in improving their running technique and how to make this happen.  If there is one overriding goal I have for writing my eBook “Running Technique” and launching this website it is to provide that information in a clear, easy to understand way.  The website also gives me the opportunity to use the skills I picked up over the past few years working in the online learning area of an Australian University.  There is only so much you can do to communicate about a physical skill like running with words and still photography.  You need video and other multimedia; you need to be able to interact with someone occasionally to clarify their understanding.  Can you show someone how to improve their running technique online?  I think so, but ultimately you can be the judge of that.  I hope you enjoy reading more in the months and years ahead.

Written by Brian Martin

There’s no doubt humans are very connected to running, it’s been our primary form of swift and economical movement for thousands of years.  Some even argue that the human ability to endure and run for long distances has allowed us to become the dominant force we are today.  I don’t get primal flashbacks to persistence hunting scenes when I run, but I do get a sense of calmness, belonging to the environment and a buzz when I’m done that’s hard to beat.

I’ve loved running since I was a young teenager, but the problem was it didn’t love me back.  Soreness and injury forcing me to abandon running for long periods or at other times only jog one or two days per week.  Eventually at age 33 I got serious and tried to give running another chance.  I followed all the right training advice, ran in all the recommended shoes and worked hard in the gym.  I even swam a few days a week to give my muscles a chance to recover.  And it worked … but only to an extent, I was still getting sore, but more importantly I wasn’t able to run as well as I thought I should be able.  So weekly massages became part of the routine, those massages were a killer, working through my smashed thighs and ITBs and along my hurtful shins.  They helped keep me on the road, but eventually I again succumbed to injury.

In the process of diagnosing the cause of the injury I realized that I didn’t know how to run properly.  How did I come to this realization?  I had some video taken of my running technique – a gait analysis you could call it.  I shopped the video around to a few professionals and realized that there was very little specific expert advice available about good running technique.  It was easy to see I didn’t move the same way as more talented runners, but what I didn’t understand was why and what I could do about it.

So it was never intended to come to this.  The answers about my own running shortcomings and what I could do to alleviate them were not easily forthcoming.  By the time I read through most popular running texts and started delving into biomechanics academic journals, I knew I needed to start documenting what I was finding.  I was getting the answers I wanted now but they were so deeply buried in scientific literature and encoded in difficult language that I decided writing a book on running technique for regular runners would be a useful thing to do.

That project is drawing to a close now and publication online is only weeks away.  Over the course of two years I’ve examined every possible aspect I could think of and find in relation to what good running technique is and how regular runners can get it.  The finished product is something I’m excited about sharing; a detailed but easy to understand guide for a runner of any level of ability to understand, learn and train for better running technique.  Everything I’ve written is geared towards helping you run better.

This website well help share some of my ideas, but more importantly look closely at the challenges all runners face in trying to do what we love – running.  I’m also hoping to capture as much unwritten lore and experience about running technique as possible.  I’ve learned a lot about the subject, but there is no doubt there is always more to know, I hope by sharing I can continue to learn.  Finally, I trust that visitors to this website and readers of my book will be able to learn as I have to love your running.