Jack Gray, 28:27, most bizarre style for elite runner

1) There was a thread about this last week
2) His mileage isn't that low. The article you're referring too was taken out of context.
3) His 'bizarre style' is only not bending his arms more. His legs move normally, Mantz has a more bizarre style and still manages to run pretty damn well = get over it.
4) What possible genuine answer were you looking for/expecting, by asking loads of anonymous message board accounts how a 28min guy runs the way he does

I prefer/think Mantz's style/technique is more efficient. Conner's foot placement, pigeon toed, is unusual, but many sprinters run this way - not necessarily a bad thing. Jack Gray appears to waste so much energy from his arms, but perhaps that is optically misleading.

Salazar made some technique adjustments for Ritz which might have helped him run 12:56, but following those adjustments Ritz got injured.

In the final analysis, changing someone's technique is perhaps counter productive once the tutee has reached a certain age.

A 28:27 guy isn't an elite.

It is elite in most people's eyes. National teams in most countries. This British runner, with the ungainly arm action is a full time worker, so it could be argued that he's an amateur runner. Semantics may lead to confusion.

There was a bourbon ad in Australia back in the mid-2000s that referred to "The Cougar". Dude reminds me of the running action depicted at about 20 seconds in.

Also, I've always thought of Mantz as a little Shetland pony, the way he canters along with his knock-knees.

The answer is that what your arms are doing doesn’t really matter. He isn’t really wasting energy.

Your arms while running mainly act as a counter balance to keep you aligned while running. If this is his natural form then it's totally possible his arms flailing a bit and going so low is what's needed with his physiology and gait to keep his stride smooth. Maybe it could be optimized, maybe not. I'm curious if he's ever thought about or done a half or full marathon and if his arms got pretty tired during one.

Dude should try some upper extremity-focused Rolfing, deep-tissue massage, maybe Botox injections in those tight muscles. Next thing you know he'll be running like those Japanese women with their arms hanging at their sides like zombies.

Open image

Well, most likely, he should just forget about it and run, baby, run!!! See this article on the unimportance of armswing:

studyfinds.org

Swinging your arms while running does nothing for your speed, study says

@studyfindsorg

Scientists say the common thought is swinging your arms while running propels you forward and acts as a counterbalance to the momentum of your legs.

Open link

Those were Chinese women, not Japanese, with the super low arm carriage. In the photo, a female Chinese elite woman, named Sun, with a 2:22:00 marathon best, long before Supershoes.

He's got great front side mechanics.

That's actually a photo of Chinese runner Sun Yingjie from about twenty years ago. I still find her form to be the most annoying of any world-class runner, and was thrilled to see her busted for doping in late 2005, keeping her out of competition for two years. She returned to competition in early 2008, but never returned to international-caliber form, thereby sparing the world from seeing her run again at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Perhaps the most unusual running form I recall of a truly great world-class runner was that of 5000m Olympic champ and four-time world cross champ John Ngugi, whose extremely long stride and pendulous arm swing made him look much slower than he actually was. If you watch some of his greatest cross-country races (especially, I think, the snowy world championship in Boston's Franklin Park), you will see that he appeared to be jogging throughout the race, even as he built up a massive lead over the world-class field. Although others thought that his form was ungainly (I believe his nickname early on was "the donkey," I thought it was beautiful, and he is still perhaps my all-time favorite runner to watch.

Jack Gray's running form does not seem especially unusual for a middle-distance runner; it reminds me very much of the form of former 1000m world-record holder Rick Wohlhuter, and perhaps also the 1000m form of Seb Coe (who broke Wohlhuter's WR). Maybe a bit more unusual if sustained for a full 10,000m or (especially) marathon, but I don't know what his form looks like over those distances.

Assuming his full name is John Gray, it would be interesting to match him up over 10k against John Gray the legendary 800 runner.

Here ya go, Japanese, too:

Open image

I agree, not a relevant article to the discussion here. More to the point is not to worry about arm swing, just running how comes naturally regarding arm swing is probably best in most cases - kinda my point with "just run, baby, run". Here is a better article supporting this thought.

runforefoot.com

Classic Arm Swing Style No Advantage on Running Performance

Bretta Riches

What does your arm swing look like when you run? The arm swing method we are most familiar with involves pumping your arms back and forth at your sides....

Open link