do Elite runners land heel, mid-foot, or fore-foot first???

Spalding,

I think you are definitely right. There might be some who are heel strikers, but I'm guessing the majority are mid-foot. Probably even more so the case when one is talking about the Kenyans and Ethiopians.

I think the impact with a mid-foot strike is much better dispersed than a heel-strike.

Of course, I am no expert, but this is just what I have seen and heard.

elite runners are roughly 70% forefoot/25% midfoot/5%heel

I'm not an expert, but I think that no one is running purely on their forefoot from around the 800 m (maybe the 1500m since the 800m is bordering on dash) on up. That's not a natural gait for the pace, unless you're a horse.

I think I read that somewhere, too - everyone hits on the heel and rolls forward for distance running.

I've read that too. Don't believe everything that you read. Most people will see pictures of elite runners mid-stride with the foot of the lead leg dorsiflexed and assume that they are going to strike the ground in that position, but that's not how it works. If that were to actually occur, the leg would be fully extended and about 45 degrees from the plane of the torso when the foot touched down, and it would touch down well forward of the plane of the torso. What is actually happening is that as the runner continues through the air, before the foot reaches the ground, the torso continues forward and the foot is pulled backward. Ideally, when the runner lands, his foot will be moving backwards relative to the body at the same speed as the torso is moving forward relative to the ground, with the result being that the component of the velocity of the foot in the direction parallel to the ground is very small or zero, so that the ground functions decelerate the foot in the direction perpendicular to the ground, but not in the direction parallel to the ground. Notice the posture of the elites next time you watch a race. Most of them will have a slight forward lean, but they will be leaning forward all the way from the ground up, not bent over at the waist. It would be very difficult to land heel first, with the foot in plane with the torso, with such posture. Try it sometime. I'd recommend you try it on a soft surface, because you'll probably be a nose striker, rather than a heel striker or a forefoot striker, if you try to land heel first with your body positioned in such a way ;)Finally, there's just no f&@#ing way that Abebe Bikila ran a marathon barefoot landing heel first. Not a chance.

idealist wrote:

I think I read that somewhere, too - everyone hits on the heel and rolls forward for distance running.

If you watch some guys like Geb run they seem to almost bound off just their forefoot. Coe was a ball of foot runner as well. If you watch EL G, he seems to have a flatter foot strike. Rodal and Ovett seemed to be definite heel strikers even at high speed. I think it depends on the athlete but I would venture that most elites tend towards the mid footstrike. The exception would be the Kenyans who really seem to get onto their forefoot and stay there.

I am not elite, but I have posted some decent times for a female.I have a very unusual foot strike in that my heel barely makes contact with the ground, even when I am running at an easy pace. The wear pattern on my running shoes indicates that the most wear occurs on the outside of the mid-forefoot area. The heels of the shoes look new. I have been told that I look as though I run on my toes.

There is a book entitled "Programmed to Run" by T. Miller, and there are some illustrations of elite runners demonstrating stride, arm carriage, foot strike, etc.

Bill Bowerman says in his book 70%midfoot, 20%heel, 10%forefoot. In the final analysis, I doubt it really matters. I've always noticed that the faster I'm running (at any distance) the more my heel is off the ground.

Helcul wrote:

elite runners are roughly 70% forefoot/25% midfoot/5%heel

Helcul,

How do you know this? No offense, because if El G. posted this, I would still ask.

Take a look at these videos from Golden League in Paris and study their foot-strikes:

http://www.joffroirunning.com/GrandPrix.html

ttc: Sorry I've read so much about running I don't recall the source. It has stuck with me for many years because when I was in college I wanted to change from heel to forefoot and wasn't able to though I'm finally midfooting. I'll check some references and see if its one I still have it.

I'll have to by-and-large agree with BCT. I think most of the elites land on the outer midfoot and quickly pronate to a position where their forefoot is supporting much of the weight, while at the same time the heel "kisses" the ground and the arch of the foot bows down to absorb shock, then the arch bows up a little as a spring while the heel is quickly picked back up and the forefoot presses downward to generate force and push-off. I think that heel-striking generally happens more in slower folks or when one's form is degenerating (think about how we look when we're trying to hold onto a pace and start to lose it -- we overstride, the form gets awkward, and we heel strike more).

It's always interesting to look at an elite (e.g. Coe) jog slowly during a victory lap, even then they stay on their midfoot/forefoot and don't heel strike. Whereas most folks jogging a cool down will heel strike.

I agree with the earlier poster that Abebe Bikila did not run a marathon barefoot by heel-striking. Try to run barefoot -- you don't heel strike (try this on grass before you try it on concrete a-la Abebe, but on concrete heel striking means a broken heel).

Also agree with the poster who pointed out not to believe everything you read. I'm fairly sure many running mags try and tell us all to be heel strikers. -- Spidey

Not to solve the original question, but to add some insight. We ran tests on many runners while having them run using their chosen foot-strike, then fore-foot and rear-foot and mid-foot (one of which may also have been their chosen method). Most were most economical using the choen foot-strike (be it for, rear or mid), but we found some fore-foot runners who were more economical switching to rear-foot and visa versa, which seems pretty amazing to me -- that a runner who has used a particular foot-strike technique for years could immediately be more economical by changing. However, now the confusinig part -- the tests were on a treadmill and of course treadmills are more like a road thana good synthetic track, so th ewhole thing changes. As was pointed out heel-striking on a road is tough, but on a nice springy track it can be most enjoyable. Add grass as in cross country and I think rear-foot striking may offer better traction (the small area of a fore-foot landing on a soft (especially muddy) surface is not too great for running fast). So we have to imagine that the whole conversation is related to a standard track surface, and my guess is that you will find different foot-strike patterns among the good runners. Then there is the issue of whether you mean what foot-strike do elite runners use when running easy pace or are you only interested in what they use at race pace

Question for jtupper about those tests: Was there any differentiation between various types of forefoot strike, various types of heel strike, and various types of midfoot strike? I ask because I would expect, for example, that a forefoot striker who runs as Spidey describes above would be more economical than one who lands with the foot plantar-flexed very far, does not relax his calves, and bounces back up as if he is trying to look like a ballerina prancing around the track, and similarly a heel striker who lands nearly flat-footed would probably be more economical than one who lands with the foot dorsiflexed very far, as if he were walking. Thus, I would expect that one of the prancing ballerinas would show more improvement in economy when changing to a midfoot or rearfoot strike, and one who digs the heels sharply into the ground with the toes still pointing upward might do better immediately with some other sort of footstrike, but the ones who were already fairly smooth to begin with probably wouldn't. Just my guess, and I'd be curious to hear what you observed.

ive actually been known as a complete forefoot striker. I have monsterous calves (generally i need to get them smaller). I switched to more of a heel strike position this summer and have been running a lot faster and more economically than before. Keep in mind i am by no means elite.

Our coach explained the whole thing against heel striking. To put it simply if you are landing on your heels you are breaking (slowing down) on ever stride as your foot it planted out in front of your hips. Opposed to landing on the fore or midfoot when you are ready for the next stride without breaking.

My high school track coach was a 25 year old football player. He explained the same thing to me. It makes plenty of sense, but is not a complete explanation. As stated, this could lead one to believe that it is a bright idea to land with the foot fully plantar-flexed. If the calf is already maximally contracted upon landing, I'm not sure how the heck one could possibly push off. In order to take advantage of the strength of the calf and of the ability of the achilles tendon to quickly and powerfully flick the foot downward, the calf must initially be relaxed, or at least not fully contracted. The way to be "ready for the next stride without breaking" is to begin to pull the foot backward relative to the torso as the foot prepares to contact the ground. If the foot is moving backward relative to the torso at the same speed as the torso is moving forward relative to the ground, then the foot will be stationary relative to the ground, and the only breaking caused by contact with the ground is in the vertical direction, arresting the downward velocity of the foot. If the foot is moving forward relative to the ground when it contacts the ground, then it must either slip (runner falls on his ass, as when man in dress shoes runs on ice) or else the forward component of its velocity must be arrested by the ground (braking as you were describing it). If a runner can land on his heels while executing that sort of pullback, then he could run with heel strike without breaking. Most would find this awkward, though, and thus land on the forefoot (or else do the braking thing).

meis wrote:

Our coach explained the whole thing against heel striking. To put it simply if you are landing on your heels you are breaking (slowing down) on ever stride as your foot it planted out in front of your hips. Opposed to landing on the fore or midfoot when you are ready for the next stride without breaking.

Didn't really try to look at different types of rear-foot, mid-foot or fore-foot strikers, but did look at different mid-sole materials, and that also affects which strike method is most economical. The extreme -- bare-foot running almost dictates fore-foot landing to absorb the landing shock with the calves. We made one shoe with a mid-sole of very soft material and it worked best landing rear-footed. It felt like you were rolling over a wave of sponge material, that shot you forward with each step. Of course not legal nor too practical because it was so thick (1 inch of midsole) that if you pronated at all it would exagerate your pronation and probably produce injury. Of course the shoe companies consider most runners to be rear-foot strikers, thus the exagerated cushioning is most shoes' heel areas. Naturally they are selling shoes to not too fast a group of people. I did have Jim Ryun try to run a 4:00mile on the treadmill one time and we definitely noticed that he was landing rear footed (who knows if there was any difference becasue of the treadmill instead of over ground). I remember being quite surprised at the rear-foot landing. He didn't make the full 4 minutes, but pretty close. A treadmill seems to get much fazster as you start to fatigue, and of course no easing off in the middle, with a kick the last minute.

Of course the Kenyans don't hit there heel to the ground!!!!

They run easy days at 5:30 pace!!!

When you see elite guys on TV they are running fricken fast!!!

When you run 7:00min pace it is natural for you to go heel toe!!!

Don't make yourself run a certain way!

Do whatever your body naturally does when you are running in shoes!!!

The Kenyans aren't awesome because of their footstrike. Its because they run a shitload of miles their whole lives and develop into awesome runners. Just like people in the ghetto who play basketball all day. You are gonna get fricken awesome at something if you do a lot of it for every damn day of your life. I don't understand why this is such a hard concept for every1.

Helcul wrote:

ttc: Sorry I've read so much about running I don't recall the source. It has stuck with me for many years because when I was in college I wanted to change from heel to forefoot and wasn't able to though I'm finally midfooting. I'll check some references and see if its one I still have it.

Helcul,

Don't worry about getting the exact source. I was questioning whether you were merely guessing, versus relaying us some well-read information.