I was thinking about this the other day. I've always ran running races in knee length spandex shorts. I realized that I don't recall what other people were wearing. I hate the way board shorts or classic "runners shorts" flap around. Am I out of touch?
Looking forward to some of the responses to your question...

Brad

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3SIXTY5cycling.com

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3773666


Maximum possible improvement of 6% due to clothing choices. A reduction of 2% yields you a whopping 6 seconds over a marathon. You have to remember that air resistance is not linear, so at the speeds a runner is traveling (about 12mph for elites) the aerodynamic drag is negligible. Where as cycling aerodynamic drag takes over as the primary variable of resistance around 18mph, a speed nearly all of us are capable of reaching.


Efforts at aerodynamics might pay off for some runners, but the negatives (likely significant heat issues and restrictive clothing) are not outweighed by the results. For cycling some effort at aerodynamics is beneficial to nearly everyone.

At first I opened the thread because I thought it was funny, but thinking about it, an elite runner at about 12 mph has legs that move forward at about 24mph. It's possible that shin & shoe aero gains could be add up to something meaningful when competing at world class levels.

^^^^This.

The savings are so minimal that no one is willing to lose any comfort/thermal over it. Some sprinters have taken to lycra (even some lycra hoodies), but they are going >20mph (and no thermal issues in a 10sec. race)...and even then the savings wasn't meaningful in races.

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That's why I shave my head! ;)

When I ran cross country and track they would say that you conserve 8% of your energy by running behind someone and letting them lead. On a windy day, that % would increase.

Jack Daniels did a running study on shoes, weight and saving time. http://runsmartproject.com/...-affect-performance/

About .83 seconds for a mile, per ounce less weight. So let's say you choose running shoes that are 3oz less per shoe. Total that's 6oz X .83 X 26.2. (Marathon) = 130 seconds. That's 2:10 faster!

Now shaving 3oz off per shoe is a lot because usually that means you're sacrificing comfort going lighter. Thankfully the Skechers GoRun4 shoes are extremely lightweight without sacrificing comfort. My shoes weigh 8.6oz at a size 10.5. I think a size 9 they are 6.8 oz. This show helped me run a 2:47 in comfort with no blisters at Ironman Cozumel.

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http://www.MattRussellTri.com -Pro Triathlete -Tri Coach

Also keep in mind that the assumption is "still air". Which is more or less valid on a track in a stadium. But go outdoors for the marathon and you could be running 12 mph into a 15 mph wind. Suddenly the clothing is moving at 27 mph relative to the wind. Add to that the swing of the leg and parts of the leg are moving much faster into the wind. So I bet it matters "more" than some runners realize.

But the guys that really baffle me are the ski cross, moguls, snowboarders, snowboard cross. The moment someone shows up in skin tight lyrca and starts winning all these guys will clue in. They are racing speed events in parachutes!!!

At IMAZ, in '07 the wind was ugly. On the run, I found myself drafting on the longish uphill on the north side of the 'lake' and on the 2 mile stretch which was slightly downhill, on the south side. I'd never done THAT before. I could feel when I was in the 'wind shadow.'

(Too bad, it's not allowed on the bike. At times, on the last lap, when the wind shifted as I turned toward town, I was going 12mph on the return to town, which is slightly downhill. That was frustrating. That last lap was WAY slower than the first two.)

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_________________
Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.

Dev, you know that their clothing is restricted by the rules of the sport.

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Interesting link. Wind tunnel testing is notoriously fickle. Without knowing their protocols and clothing choices (from... 1986) it's hard to know just how robust their findings are. 2% wind resistance reduction isn't much, 6% is considerably more.


Nike for example claims Cd reductions of 40% for covered limbs. There's very little other published research out there.
http://www.biomechanica.com/...s/Brownlie-Swift.pdf


If anyone wants get some updated answers to this one, Sweden might be the best place to do it.
http://www.rodby.com/...l-treadmill-running/

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'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'

I believe that a number of snow sports actually have rules against form-fitting clothing.

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'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'

That is some interesting studies, it makes me wonder if there's a cross over point where heat penalties cancel out aerodynamic benefits (maybe around 5km?). I think the skier and skater examples might not be correlative given the differences in speed and body positioning (especially the speed skaters). I would be pretty interested to see something from the people who developed the sprinter suits. I remember those were huge for about one Olympics and never saw them again.

I wondered if there was a UCI/FINA-like situation in which they were banned or restricted in some way. That doesn't seem to be the case. This is the entirety of the IAAF's rules on clothing.


IAAF competition rules.


So long as you're not showing your nipples, you're okay.

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'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'

I don't know about heat loss and movement restriction, but running into a headwind can definitely slow you down. I tucked in behind a guy on the last couple miles of a triathlon because we were both running about the same speed into a strong headwind. It felt like about 30% easier behind him than next to. With just 100 yards to go, I pulled around him and took the win. I could feel a huge difference between being behind him vs. pulling around to the side and front. Afterwards, he said he was giving it his all but was just worn out.

TL;DR - Running in no to low wind? Probably doesn't matter. Running into strong headwind? Aero does matter. What to do about it? Still out for debate. (But draft if available.)

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It isn't a gentleman's agreement, it is actual rules. I'm not even a skier and I knew that. We've had that debate on here before.

From the FIS rules (SBX section) - http://www.fis-ski.com/...13_clean_English.pdf

2705.6 Competition Clothing. SBX competition suits must be two piece – pants and separate top. Form fitting speed or downhill suites are not permitted. Non protruding body protection and padding is recommended. Protective equipment i.e. back protection must be worn on the body. No straps, fastening devices or other methods can be used to tighten the suit material closer to the body.


Same rule for any of the parallel (head to head) races. The slalom is a similar rule, but shin guards are allowed (rule 2107)

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If it's like BMX, there are pinch test for those suits. You're not allowed to wear anything tight. It ruins the look of the sports, apparently.

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AndyF
bike geek

I'm always surprised that some people seem to think that scientific data comes with some sort of expiration date.

People have been building wind tunnels and testing things in them for about 100 y, with much of the research being driven by the military-industrial complex. It's therefore a rather mature field...which probably explains why LGCE Pugh got similar results as the study linked above in the 1970s.

A 15 mph wind at ground level would be a pretty strong wind, i.e., about a 5 on the 12 point Beaufort scale.

This is also basically the same ruling for Downhill mountain biking. In 2007 the riders started wearing tight fitting skinsuits and the UCI decided to stem the aerodynamic floodgate by forcing everyone to wear baggy clothing the next year. Kind of a stupid rule and probably clothing manufacturer influenced.

John Tomac was wearing a skinsuit for DH back in the early 90's

I actually like rules that keep the competition about the athletes, to the extent that is possible in a sport that requires equipment.

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I would think that in the 100m/200m this would make a difference, given that Usain Bolt hits an average speed of about 37kmh in the 100m, and gets up to nearly 44kmh.

And he still beats the US guys in skinsuits: