Should Mo Farah's stride be changed?

He's got A LOT of gold medals so I'd say Mo. I mean NO.

Paula's coach tried changing her form. It didn't work out.

form guy wrote:

Isaac Einstein wrote:

Dude, there's this thing called gravity. It exerts 9.8 N/kg on runners and they push back 9.8 N/kg, averaged throughout the course of their runs. No one wastes more or less energy than another Bouncing up and down or whatever. Mo's form is fine.

Must not have taken a physics course yet. The acceleration due to gravity is 9.81m/s^2. The unit of force is a Newton(N) which is Mass*Acceleration whose unit is kg*m/s^2.

....and therefore by what you just said, N/kg = m/s^2. You make yourself look stupid when you don't understand how units work and try to lecture people on how they work.

Now a Coach wrote:

form guy wrote:

Also interesting to note that as someone has already mentioned, many of the african runners run with an odd looking side tilt as if it this were created when they were children carrying a load to school.

Most Africans live in towns or villages within a short walk of a school. You really need to stop reading 1990s RW back issues.

But most runners come from rural areas where it is often the case. I had a Kenyan friend in college who ran 4 miles to school, back for lunch, back to school, back home again. Most classmates did, some even further.

The only thing that is crazy and superfluous in this whole situation is that you think that Mo consciously tries to bounce with each stride. Natural is subjective. If you tried to tell him to run differently it would take conscious control (unnatural?) and would probably strain his muscles more.

Do they have an hour for lunch in Kenya.? Not bad at all to cover 8 miles( or more) in the hour plus eat lunch too.

I'm surprised they don't eat Ugali during marathons with that sort of digestive fortitude.

form guy wrote:

More naturally means he's not concentrating on bouncing all the time. Right now he runs with a bounce each and every stride. I use the term concentration intentionally because the body wouldn't run like that if on its own. Mo is injecting his own style into his run which is, albeit to a small degree, hampering his efficiency. If he were to let go and let his body run without the bounce I'm certain that his times would increase and certainly his potential in the marathon would be better.

We all know what natural looks like. Its just looks right- it looks pretty and smooth as if their body is running for them. Think Bekele, Rupp, Jordan McNamara. Simple and smooth.

You are so incorrect.

Runners at this level almost always are running with a "natural" gait.

But, the nature of everyone is different. You cannot be fighting yourself and be efficient.

Kiprop does not run like Symmonds, yet they are both good.

HardLoper wrote:

Now a Coach wrote:

Most Africans live in towns or villages within a short walk of a school. You really need to stop reading 1990s RW back issues.

But most runners come from rural areas where it is often the case. I had a Kenyan friend in college who ran 4 miles to school, back for lunch, back to school, back home again. Most classmates did, some even further.

Hardloper, I have spent a considerable amount of time in Iten and Eldoret. For the most part, this whole "running to school" thing is false. However, there are at least three organized runs a day leaving from Iten. All of these runners are well equipped with shoes, tights, etc. I do not doubt that your friend ran from a young age, but it was probably not out of necessity.