Eliud Kipchoge Boston Marathon 2023 Running Form Analysis

Eliud Kipchoge leads the pack in the Boston Marathon 2023

To say Eliud Kipchoge’s Boston Marathon didn’t go the way most people anticipated is putting it mildly. And yet this performance was actually more revealing about what makes him one of the greatest marathoners of all time than his many successes have been. I’m sure I wasn’t alone in feeling a baffled sense of unreality … Read more

London Marathon 2020: Kosgei, Hall, Chepng’etich, Kitata, Kipchumba, Kipchoge

Sara Hall passes Ruth Chepng'etich London 2020

What a joy to watch a marathon again. Let’s just dive right in and look at the different movement strategies the runners used and how this related to their performances. As interesting as it is to watch any individual athlete, it’s in comparing athletes that you really see how they’re running. Brigid Kosgei and Ruth … Read more

London Marathon 2018 Running Technique Analysis–Cheruiyot, Keitany, Dibaba, Kosgei, Bekele, Kipchoge, Kitata, Farah

The winner of the 2018 London Marathon—both women’s and men’s races—was the forward lean. Both Eliud Kipchoge and Vivian Cheruiyot have flawless forward leans when they run, and since I had the good fortune to be on the racecourse with my camera, I’ve got high-speed slow motion video to show you how that works and … Read more

The 2015 Berlin Marathon: Kipchoge, Symmetricality, and Those Insoles

The biggest story from this morning’s 2015 Berlin Marathon was that Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge won it with the insoles of his trainers hanging halfway out. Here’s a picture. Talk about an impressive victory. There are obviously many remarkable things about this feat. Since others have already written about how uncomfortable it was for him, and how … Read more

Sifan Hassan’s Running Form, London Marathon 2023

Sifan Hassan running form analysis, London 2023

Sunday, April 23, 2023, was a historic day in the annals of mid-run stretching. On that day Sifan Hassan stopped twice–once for a brief quad stretch and once to stretch her glutes–and went on to win the London marathon. Let’s look at Sifan Hassan’s running form along with her explanation to understand what happened. After … Read more

“Run Lola Run” Gait Analysis

Franka Potente with excellent gait in Run Lola Run

People have been asking me to do a gait analysis of Franka Potente’s character Lola in the film Run Lola Run for years. I love this movie and only hesitated to write about it because I was afraid only people my age or older would know it. (I was 28 when it came out in … Read more

Drafting to Reduce Drag: the Effects of Air Resistance on Runners

runner in a headwind behind blowing grasses

Alex Hutchinson recently wrote about a study showing significant benefits from drafting behind other runners to reduce drag, or air resistance in a marathon. In a real-world situation it would amount to a savings of somewhere between 3-4 minutes due to less energy spent pushing yourself forwards–whether you’re Eliud Kipchoge, Brigid Kosgei, or simply a … Read more

Letesenbet Gidey’s 5K World Record – Running Form Analysis

Letesenbet Gidey 5k world record

“…She runs like a dragonfly hovering above lily pads on a lake,” was how someone described Letesenbet Gidey’s running form to me on Twitter. He wanted to know the specifics that create that impression:  was there something about Gidey’s beautiful form that was an asset to her successful attempt to set a new 5K world … Read more