Size and speed

[Eric Jeppsen]

As I was waiting to cheer my wife on at the Utah Valley half marathon I had a chance to watch the men's leaders go by, and I was surprised by how small they were. Honestly, I knew elite runners are small, but even so my first thought was, "Wow, what a bunch of munchkins." (No offense to any of my FRB brothers )

It's no secret that elite male runners are shorter than average (interestingly, according to the book Racing Weight, elite females tend to be taller than average). Chris Solinsky is really not that big by most standards, but he's a radical outlier in the running world. Can anyone explain how height limits running performance and by how much? (For example, take a 2:20 marathoner and scale him up to 6'0"--would he be a 2:25 runner? 2:30? Slower?)

[baldnspicy]

I'd say he'd be a 4:15, give or take, but that's just me.   

[Steve P]

I don't think we really know why. In fact, I don't know that height in itself is a limiting factor. One example is Usain Bolt. Many people thought that being tall would limit sprinters, but Bolt is 6'5". And now Tyson Gay thinks he has a disadvantage from being too short. Another example is Andrew Wheating. He's also 6'5" and was the best collegiate middle distance runner in the country this year. The tallest elite marathoner I know about is Robert Cheruiyot (the older one) who is 6'2" (I think). I doubt there's a physiological reason that tall runners are less common. If anything, it may be the taller athletes are more drawn to other sports. In fact, I think even Andrew Wheating says he'd rather be a pro soccer player than a pro runner if he could do either.

[Jon Allen]

I believe Noakes looked at body temperature (i.e. overheating) versus size.  In that aspect, smaller is better.  So that is one reason many elites are smaller.  Also, smaller means less weight to haul around and cause injury.  There are definitely outliers, but most elites are small.

[AndyBrowning]

The cost of the extra weight that a taller runner carries is greater then the benefits (e.g. longer stride).  I always get the "you've got a runner's body because of your long legs" comment and I have to correct them that it is actually a disadvantage. 

[Paul Petersen]

Great, now I'm a munchkin. I like to  joke that if you put me, my pregnant wife, and my 2-year-old together, you would get one NFL lineman (and an undersized one at that).

If I were taller or bigger I most certainly would have played football or basketball. But since I was/am little, weak, and unathletic, I had to become a runner instead. I think that's what it comes down to.

[Rob Murphy]

Paul, I bet you're a better athlete than you give yourself credit for. As a high school coach I say give me an "athlete" anyday. There is definitely a dearth of general athleticism in high school running and as a coach I have to spend a significant amount of time with drills and strength training to try and remedy this. But some of my best runners turn out to be kids who get cut from the soccer team.

The fluid, economical stride that most top runners posess and the general "feeling and looking comfortable" in their own body

[Rob Murphy]

Oops, submitted the last post pefore I was done...

Anyway, I think most elite runners posess a high degree of athleticism that is maybe not generally recognized as such. I know that I can almost always recognize potential in a young 9th grade runner and what makes it the most obvious is that they are comfortable in their own body. Kind of a vague concept I know, but I know it when I see it.

[Paul Petersen]

All I know is that I got cut from basketball in 7th grade. In rural Indiana, this is the type of thing that can scar a youth for life.

[Michelle Lowry]

I'm not a munchkin, but I am uncoordinated.  I tried out for basketball in eight grade, and though I could run up and down the court with zeal all day, I couldn't make a basket, so I didn't make the team.  If I were coordinated I would have liked to play tennis--sweet outfits.  I am grateful to be able to run though!

[Sean Sundwall]

To Paul's point, I wonder if people who run do it BECAUSE they are smaller just like guys who are super tall tend to gravitate toward sports like basketball. In other words, i don't know that a taller person who is still very lean cannot be a fast runner. I think that those people generally don't get into running. One of my most memorable observations from the Olympic Trials is how incredibly short and small almost every single one of them was. Meb is a certified midget. Hall is quite tiny as is Ritz. I seem to recall the tallest guy there was Alan Culpepper. At 5'8", I felt right at home among midgets.

So I guess I am saying that I don't think we know that taller people can't be fast runners because i don't think we have the sample size to know.

[Sasha Pachev]

2:08 marathon is possible for a 6'3 guy ( proved by Derek Clayton).  While you do find a lot of miniature runners like Sammy Wanjiru (5'2) on the world class scene, there is also a fair share of guys of average height (5'9-5'11) that run world-class times.

Renato Canova, a famous Italian distance coach, once observed that two people could look exactly the same and one will be talented and the other will not. It is not in the looks. Distance running talent is rather subtle and easy to miss. 70% of it is inside, and 70% of what is inside is really deeply inside. It does not come out until you trained for 5 years.

Interestingly enough, just like Paul and Michelle I was cut from basketball too. I would not expect a talented distance runner to be a talented basketball player. One reason is height. While normal height is OK for a distance runner, and even slightly taller than normal is workable, basketball height is not. You will see 6'2-6'3 guys running world class times, but I've never heard of a 7'0 guy running even as slow as 2:50 marathon. The other reason is explosive power. A talented distance runner could and should run a respectable 200 that would give him a spot on the high school sprint team, but he has a hard time accelerating to run a good 20 meter dash, and he would also have a hard time with a vertical leap due to the explosive nature of the task.  But I do expect a talented distance runner to play basketball at a better than embarrassing level. Good coordination translates into high Quality X.

[April G]

I am of the opinion that you simply cannot judge a book by its cover, especially in regards to running.  In my short-lived and unimpressive high school running career, our fastest female was also the tallest and heaviest.  She was 5'9" and certainly not skinny--a size 10 or 12 if I recall correctly because I want prom dress shopping with her.  She won most cross-country races(2 miles in the low 11's) and  was in top ten at state.   The same has always applied at races too.  I am always intimidated by the sleek skinny gazelles with muscular legs and 6 pack abs but mostly I see not-so-skinny middle-aged women obliterate the competition.  I think most of the "talent" in running lies somewhere other than body build. It has more to do with how you are able to use the body you were given and it has a lot to do with mental tenacity.  I think it's great when an atypical runner breaks the mold.  Chris Solinsky the giant--amazing!  Conversely, Anna Willard is a short and boxy gal but a powerful force on the track.  It can't be the body build--it has to be something else.

[Bob]

Based on what I've read, it all comes down to bodyweight and heart volume.  I believe the weight of the bones themselves would only vary about 2 lbs. between the tall and short.  Ignoring other variables and assuming the proper training, really the person with the large heart and least weight will do the best.  Dr. Van Aaken said ideally the marathoner should be 20% or more below "normal" wt.  That comes out to about 150 lbs for the 6' athlete.  One of his star athletes, Harald Norpoth, was 6'2" tall and weighed only 130 lbs.  He thought that someone at the age of 25, with the build of Norpoth, and ability to train at least 26 miles per day (without injuries) would run a 1:55.  See it's that easy. 

[dave rockness]

Rod Dixon (Olympic athlete, NY Marathon Winner) worked with some of our students this past year.  I'm not sure of his exact measurements, but I'm 6 ft. 180 lbs and I felt small next to him.  Many of the track stars in my central FL high school were big (some even made it to the NFL), but most of our more athletic stuck with sprinting.  I'm sure with proper training, many of them could have been exceptional distance runners as well (spent more time lifting weights and sprinting, yet were always the fastest at every distance growing up).