To those who watched the Berlin Marathon and saw Askale Magarsa (from Ethiopia) flailing her way to a 2nd place finish, have you ever seen an elite runner with a more awkward, inefficient gait? It looked like she was trying to play "Twister" while running!
On the other hand, if she can run that fast, I guess I can't use my poor biomechanics as an excuse for being slow.
You say so, but she kept that same awkward looking stride right till the end. I wasn't too proud of it, but in the middle of the race I was really looking forward to see what she would look like at the tail end of the race running out of gas and in pain, just to see how contorted her style would become on top of that. But she looked pretty much the same, and didn't look none worse for the wear.
Joan Benoit had quite a hitch in her stride. One leg flew out to the side every stride.
That Chinese marathoner Sun who ran with her arms hanging completely limp down her sides. Try duplicating that form for 100m.
Uh, Paula Radcliffe. Mary Akor too. If I remember correctly, Bill Rodgers used to bring one of his arms across his body to compensate for some lower body deficiency. They actually tried to correct it in a lab test, and his economy was worse!
Ute Pippig never bent her knees. Jaouad Gharib can't run 100 m without figeting.
alan webb can't run for 3 miles without dropping out of a race.
Everyone you guys mentioned are poetry in motion compared to Canada's Paul McCloy. His nickname was Two Lanes McCloy. He ran sub 28 for 10K but that guy looked like he was having a seizure. As JDaniels can attest to, aesthetics have nothing to do with running economy but that guy was all over the place. For those of you that never saw him run, think Erin Donohue and Lameck Aguta....then spread it all over the track. He was an absolute nightmare to run beside. No one has ever run with more wasted motion that McCloy.
It was actually "three lane".
I suppose Emil Zatopek was just the regular sunday morning jogger.
Zen and the Art of M.M........ wrote:
. . . As JDaniels can attest to, aesthetics have nothing to do with running economy . . .
Example: Salazaar. Can't stand to watch footage of that.
Jen Rhines is a shuffler.
Did anyone ever see Bob Busby run. A very good runner in his day and his form was interesting at best.
There's a dude from the DC area, who I've heard was actually pretty decent in his day (I've heard low 2:20 marathoner)and I didn't know him then, but I can't believe he'd have the same stride as now, but I swear there are strides where he jumps straight in the air. To see him finish a race is a sight to behold. Yelping, spittle flying, leaps and jumps and contorsions unfold in the most mysterious manner.
Also I think Tafa's armswings became more accentuated as she was finishing. Not sure if it was from being tired or working it harder to the finish.