SUB-2 Running Form - Kipchoge, Desisa, and Tadese Analysis

Some thoughts on running form after watching Nike's Breaking2 Attempt in Monza Italy.

[altowlee]

To the narrator- stop questioning what you're saying! These things DO matter, and you hit the nail on the head with every point. It is really surprising to me how much extraneous movement there is in both Lelisa Desisa and Zersenay Tadese, especially Lelisa. If they were both to contain their arm swing more and focus on less side-to-side frame movement, I think they'd be remarkably more efficient and would run faster.

And I must agree- Eliud's form is absolutely beautiful. He is essentially flawless. Thanks for the great video!

[jasplund_tv]

Kipchoge, Tadese, and the pacers have great form with a slight lean and relaxed arm swing! I feel like if Lelisa relaxed his arms a little more he wouldn’t waste as much energy, which may contribute to him running a little faster. A good strategy is to weight for the kick to start really driving the arms. That’s when major arm drive is important !

[snakey]

Kipchoges form is clearly the best- no wasted movement

[Ultrademus]

Great analysis! And agree with you on your first points that we as "get into running" or are looking to break something like a sub-3hr marathon (non-elite level) things like the externally rotated foot, excessive arm swing are the "fine tuning" that would come after "building" up a strong aerobic engine.

I would assume all of these guys had the world's strongest/ fittest "aerobic engines" already and that their coaches worked to try and get in as much "fine tuning" as possible before the attempt.

It does make an interesting contrast with Kipchoge's whose form is, yes, nearly flawless and superior stable upper body. I threw the video in a slow motion analysis software myself the day after it came out and the only thing I could spot "wrong" with him was some excessive pronation/ ankle collapse around miles 25-26.

[Loppy]

Zersenay Tadese is the world record holder for the half marathon, but he ran it in 2010 and is past his peak now. Desisa is young, but Kipchoge is at his peak age for the marathon and is expected to be several minutes faster than the other two. The labs and running analysis have shown that Tadese has the more efficient running form.

[miguelgomes]

Great video. You should have more views.

[PoetWithPace]

Kipchoge is awesome....and mainly mid-foot striking :-)

[paulovazquez]

A few things I took away from these three runners:

Desisa has way too much swing in his upper body and he arches his back way too much. I believe that the arching of his back makes it harder for him to lift his knees. He's working harder to lift his knees which is more energy wasted. His upper body I believe is inefficient as it does swing a lot and he barely uses his arms. Combine him barely using his arms and that swing, and it is making his body work harder to propel himself forward.

Tadese has too much bounce in his stride and he's hunched over quite a bit at the shoulders. That bounce in his stride is also wasted energy. I really believe Tadese has a strong engine, I've seen him across the years and he's incredible. But I have always seen his form in comparison to guys like Bekele and Kipchoge. I also believe Tadese is too hunched at the shoulders, which makes him mode stiff and have to work harder as moving your arms does help you move forward.

Now in terms of Kipchoge, probably the only thing I can point out his his arm carriage. It is also very minimal, but in comparison to Tadese and Desisa, his upper body is highly stable. There is no wasted motion in his upper body. He is straight upright, like a plumb line, runs from his ears to his hip to his feet. No arching of the back, which means he smoothly lifts his knees as they're meant to. And he is not hunched over, which means his upper body is not tense at all which means he is wasting less energy.

This is what I've taken away from watching these athletes race. All of these athletes are phenomenal and have had great accomplishments, but there's always room for improvement

[idonaveh]

The first thing that comes in contact with the ground is either the ball of the foot or the heel. Midfoot or forefoot is the same thing. One is either a ball of foot striker or a heel striker. You can't land flat on both, because there would be no absorption and it would be very painful. even if it looks like it on the outside, inside the shoe one of them is taking the impact. In some runners it looks more prominent due to factors like the shape of the foot, amount of pronation, type of shoes ect. Galen Rupp for example has a very prominent forefoot strike due to the fact that his feet land on the same line (inwards)- but the main piont- they all land on the ball of the foot, and more prominent or less prominent can't point to a better technique.
About pronation- almost all runners have some pronation, they rarely land with the toes straight forward. I think it is even better this way because it allows the foot to dorsiflex even more and get a better angle for a longer stride.

[guntherpelipada]

That’s why Eliud is the 🌍 🌎 Record Holder. He’s the ultimate competitor in marathons. And he’s an absolute Beast!

[CristianMolina]

Nice analysis. I also think this little thinks matter here, they are trying to beat a WR! I'm sure they have an enormous team of specialists on technique. Is THAT hard to try to change a runner habits (even if they are the best)? Do they want to try w/ different styles to see what happens? Regards! (and sorry my poor English)

[Brianf]

Please do a video comparing running form of Kipchoge and Haile Gebrselassie, I think if Haile was running in his prime and part of the Breaking Two project they may have done it

[stayontrack]

almost every good runner runs with their toes pointed outwards, from sprinters to the marathon

[victorkarm]

Hi..i have been running on the balls of my feet which is midfoot striker i think? Im fealing with plantar fasciitis right now as well and i heard running on the balls of your feet puts stress on parts of the foot and plantar fascia? Is this true?..ive been trying to find videos on eliye runners foot strike and seen this video helpful, so shoild i try to gradually chamge my foot strike?

[oliverrietz]

Nice Analysis. But Kipchoge has never ever a Forefoot strike. This is absolute Midfoot. Obviously

[yaroreiners]

Those guys need MUSIC! You can't run properly without listening to music.