who would have thought it was possible!?!
who would have thought it was possible!?!
A little digital editing and we're all heel strikers.
true, true.
He's using the heelstrike as a braking mechanism because he's finishing a marathon. Geez.
That guy looks strong.
I think he was slowing down, hence the arms raised, the finish line, and the smile. And possibly one more tip off would be the finish tape.
yeah he was defintly slowing down, sorry trainer boy, ur still wrong.
Do you guys REALLY think that NO international distance runners (especially marathoners) heel strike??? Others have linked pics of Rodgers Rop doing the same in the MIDDLE of races.
Not every person runs the same. Also, it is recommended to have your toes pointed up just before landing, and thus difference between having your heel just barely touch first before the rest of you foot vs having the midfoot touch first, in some ways is not that different. If he landed milliseconds later his midfoot would hit first.
There are studies that show that the INITIAL contact of foot to ground is not where/when the most force/impact occurs. The most force/impact occurs as your WHOLE foot is on the ground and your weight is fully supported with your foot/leg right under you. So that brief initial touch/contact of foot to ground might not be as important as many think. More important is how your foot/leg react to support the body right in the middle of the stance phase (as opposed to initial ground contact).
I have plenty of footage of this guy from when he ran Chicago in 2002. I will slow down the tape and get back to all of you on Thursday. I believe he is not a heel striker from what I can remember. He ran 2:06:00 and broke the Japanese Nat'l record in Chicago.
I wish I looked like that; I could run 2:16 even with my crappy lungs.
-Ishmael
Sir Lance-alot wrote:
There are studies that show that the INITIAL contact of foot to ground is not where/when the most force/impact occurs. The most force/impact occurs as your WHOLE foot is on the ground and your weight is fully supported with your foot/leg right under you.
As much as I agree with the rest of your post, you are slightly wrong on this point. The greatest ground reaction force (GRF) is during toe-off. There are two peaks of GRF during running (and walking). First is heel strike, which in walking is roughly 1.5x body weight. The second is at toe-off, which during walking is equal to heel strike.
In running, however, the heel strike peak is 3+x body weight and the propulsive peak (toe-off) is 2x that peak.
The point during stance phase which you discuss actually has a lower force than either heel strike or toe-off; it's when the foot in pronating.
But good post nonetheless.
(God I love these crazy discussions with the "forefooters" who don't understand biomechanics)
Plus, you can NEVER tell exactly how a person runs just from a still photo.
That is one fit looking dude!!
Usually, I would agree, but it was reported he ran a 3:00 last kilo. I think he is sprinting for the line.
3:00/k = 2:06:30 = not that far from his marathon pace.
EndurRunner wrote:
Usually, I would agree, but it was reported he ran a 3:00 last kilo. I think he is sprinting for the line.
Sir Lance-alot:
Very interesting obwervation and I would agree with what you're saying. I once had an argument with HRE about Culpepper's landing (he saw a photo of him landing on his heel) but I always thought it's not so much of what it appears but (1)what happens to the foot right after the landing and how quickly it happens and (2)in the case of discussed photo, the photo was actually taken split second (or 1/10th of a second) BEFORE the actual landing. And, yes, he must have been slowing down at the tape also.
However, Takaoka seems to be actually a pretty heavy heel striker. I always thought he would not make a good marathon runner because he's so tall and gangly and seems very heavy on his heel. I was completely wrong! He doesn't appear to be a good sprinter but Karl Keska, who got passed by Takaoka in Sydney, told me that his sprinting was darn good!
blahblahblah wrote:
Sir Lance-alot wrote:There are studies that show that the INITIAL contact of foot to ground is not where/when the most force/impact occurs. The most force/impact occurs as your WHOLE foot is on the ground and your weight is fully supported with your foot/leg right under you.
As much as I agree with the rest of your post, you are slightly wrong on this point. The greatest ground reaction force (GRF) is during toe-off. There are two peaks of GRF during running (and walking). First is heel strike, which in walking is roughly 1.5x body weight. The second is at toe-off, which during walking is equal to heel strike.
In running, however, the heel strike peak is 3+x body weight and the propulsive peak (toe-off) is 2x that peak.
The point during stance phase which you discuss actually has a lower force than either heel strike or toe-off; it's when the foot in pronating.
But good post nonetheless.
(God I love these crazy discussions with the "forefooters" who don't understand biomechanics)
and what about those many athletes who land mid stance first then heel and roll through
:)
Nobby wrote:
I always thought he would not make a good marathon runner because he's so tall and gangly
Oh yeah, like a certain Paul Tergat?
The thing I tend to look at is not so much the heel strike, but what happens next. The heel strike in the photo in this thread looks to occur on the bottom of the heel most like allowing of relatively smooth transfer of weight from the back to the front. When I see a combination of heel strike and forefoot smack on the road or track then a red flag goes off in my head. That is what I saw from Ritz last summer in the trials and the games.
Ah, yes he's tall but not gangly. He's tall and smooth.