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For this study, we'll going to take a look at the same runner running at three different
speeds, namely his 200, 800 and 3000 metre race pace. Obviously, the leg cadence changes
at different paces, so the clips are only in synch somewhere around the middle of the
video. The most obvious difference across the speeds
is in the arm action. It's vigorous at the fastest speed, with the hand almost going
up to the eye-line. However, at the 3000 metre pace, it's become rather lazy. At all paces,
this runner does tend to let his hands flop rather more than they should do.
In our next posting, we'll be looking at how different runners plant their feet differently,
and how distance runners tend to leave their feet behind, but you can also see this happening
when the same runner runs at different speeds. So if you watch the angle of the shin as the
foot comes down to the ground, you'll notice that it is pretty much vertical on the fastest
run, while the shin points forwards at the 3000 metre pace. As we'll see in our next
video, getting the correct angle of the shin is an important part of engaging the correct
muscles, but it's also interesting how the same runner changes this at different speeds.
The driving knee comes through higher at faster paces, while conversely the trailing foot
is left further behind at the slower paces. Also, when the nearside leg drives, if you
look at the motion of the hip marker against the cross-hairs, you'll see a much more vigorous,
horizontal drive on the 200 metre run when compared with the 3000 metre pace.
We'll watch a final run through, this time following the runner to the end of the zone
and beyond. As he gets towards the end of the zone, watch how the angle of the shin
changes, as the runner first goes into 'cruise mode', and then slows down for the end of
the run. This is a good example of how the forwards slant to the shin is associated with
slowing down or braking.