Science can say what it likes, but my body tells me that tarmac is better than concrete.

This Slowtwitch post from some years back - https://www.slowtwitch.com/...r_Asphalt__4793.html

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Trust me I’m a doctor!
Well, I have a PhD :-)

Yeah I don't know. This was Cairns 70.3, first time I raced there, 60 races down and first one I've got sore from the surface. I run in very light racing flats and would normally get a little sore the day after or the last few kms, but this was quite different.

Think about the particles in asphalt vs that in concrete. Asphalt will give you a nicer cushion. But to be honest I run on the concrete because I hate those people that run opposite in bike lanes and I'm not gonna be them.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Maybe SalmonSteve can jump in on this. I understand his better half has run the Harbour to Hill the past couple of years. The run is out and back on a concrete path. I have heard she has suffered a little as a result. That's only what I've heard. I cannot vouch for the veracity of the comments.

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Trust me I’m a doctor!
Well, I have a PhD :-)

I think the difference is all in their heads.

At least for me, I'm unable to deform any part of concrete or asphalt that I run on. Even if I could it would be insignificant compared to the cushioning of any of my shoes.

It might sound an old fart, but, bless you!

I am sick and tired of screaming at runners to get out of the bike lane at the risk they push me into moving traffic from the bike lane.

Probably going to resort to a spray from the water bottle just like for chasing dogs.

From my vehicle dynamics class back in the day, tarmac is something like 20% softer than concrete. So this makes sense.

I remember back around 2000 when Runner's world magazine rated all the various surfaces 1-10 with 1 being the best and 10 being the worst or maybe I have that backwards, but basically concrete rated the worst and asphalt was a 5. Pine straw I believe was rated the best. lol. I have yet to find a pine straw course tho.

Does comparing a 150-200 lb person to a 2500-3500 lb vehicle traveling on different surfaces makes sense too?

Nobody here is going to deform asphalt any more than concrete.

Why did they put down mats for the portion of 2008 Olympic marathon that took place on granite but not the portion that took place on asphalt?

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Oui, mais pas de femme toute de suite (yes, but I am not ready for a woman straight away) -Stephen Roche's reply when asked whether he was okay after collapsing at the finish in the La Plagne stage of the 1987 Tour

Because they are misinformed, slippery? I don't know why they did that 10 years ago.

My cross country coach would do a demonstration at the beginning of each season with a golf ball dropping it from eye level on different surfaces. On concrete it would bounce up to about chest height. On asphalt about belly button high. On packed dirt knee high. On grass only a couple of inches. Not sure why that sticks with me to this day but the visual was powerful to 15 year old me.

For me, with the exception of footing/camber issues, if there is a softer surface available I run on it. Even if my shoes are doing a 100X the cushioning work i'll take the ground surface helping any way it can. Take every advantage. At a thousand steps a mile it adds up.

Put that golf ball inside a shoe and drop it on some asphalt and concrete and let me know the difference in the height it bounces back up.

Yes, it won't deform, but it's still absorbing more energy that then doesn't get transmitted back to your bones/joints/etc. Asphalt is actually a pretty good absorber of energy--it's been used for sound and vibration deadening in automotive and other applications. Might not matter much with one footfall..but when you're pounding the pavement for umpteen miles...it does.

You're talking to someone that works in automotive component testing, we don't use road asphalt anywhere for sound and vibration deadening.

The asphalt you are describing isn't anything like what's on the road.

Nobody here has provided anything other than anecdotal evidence that shows any difference between the energy returned/absorbed from asphalt and concrete.

By taking such a hard line on this I hoped that somebody would have and proved me wrong, there's still a chance and I'm listening.

I should have said “tar and asphalt like mixtures were used...”

Have never read anything about what is harder or softer

40 years of running has taught me I am more sore when I run on the white concrete compared to the blacktop

Don’t really care if it is psychological or not

And that's a good enough reason for anyone to choose which surface they want to run on.

When I lived in Philly, I ran almost exclusively on sidewalks, some were even brick or cobbles

Living in South Jersey, I run almost exclusively on the road [mostly asphalt, with some concrete]

I've never noticed a difference, and I've never had a significant injury on either

So, I'm no help at all

Sorry

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

20 percent softer is 20 percent softer whether you're 3500 lbs or 150 lbs. So yeah, it does make sense unless there's a non linear relationship between deformation and weight.

The point is that this 20 percent is insignificant to the cushioning you get from your shoes.

You don't feel that 20 percent while wearing shoes.

There is no deformation of asphalt while running on it, you're just not heavy enough for the contact area of your shoes.

Yeah don't know. All I know is that plenty of peeps were warning me about running on the concrete saying I was mad for wearing racing flats... I'm like looking at them like they're on meth or something, but lo and behold they were right! I never race on concrete, 90% are on roads or bike paths (not sure what they're made of, probably similar to bitumen).

You haven't seen the roads around here then... And yes, that is no exaggeration. We are 6 months in to new roads in our neighborhood and they are already rutted and falling apart.

For a site that chases the tiniest of gains on the bike, why would the small changes of road surface not mean a lot? From personal experience, concrete will beat my joints and muscles up much fast than asphalt. I often take concrete because it tends to be flat compared too a domed road, but I pay the price.

Concrete completely wrecks me. I did IMAZ a few years back, 95% concrete run, my legs felt like hamburger. I'm sure training on concrete would help.

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Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.