I just finished watching Kona, and I noticed a couple of things I’d like to hear about from those with more experience than myself. (And I’ll say right now that I in no way mean any disrespect to either of these two, so save your typing fingers if you’re looking for a fight.)
First, there were a bunch of comments on IMLive about Faris’s “loping stride”. It’s pretty obvious when watching the video what they mean, because he’s definitely swinging back and forth more than the other runners at the pointy end. What I thought interesting, though, was that there was one really good overhead shot that looked like he was heel-striking; it was pretty clear that his heel was coming out past his knee. Was he really over-striding, or was I reading too much into it?
The second thing is that when they showed Sarah Reinertsen running, she was quite clearly pushing her hips very far forward on every stride, and it looked like a very uncomfortable form. Is there anyone here with experience in this type of thing, and is that normal with that type of disability? I’m definitely not slagging on her, because I almost certainly couldn’t beat her time, it just piqued my curiosity after watching the TV broadcast.
interesting question. I saw the Runner’s World mag with her on the cover, nothing unusual about her running form, obvioulsy, seeing her run, her “good” leg sort of swings around. looks painful for 26.2 miles.
Reinertson’s legs are serious assymmetrical (the “stump” thigh is substantially longer than her “normal” thigh) which probably accounts for some of her style.
I don’t know for that type of disablility how her form is but I recall during the IMH feed they said that she held (world?) records in the half-marathon as well as marathon for the PC womens.
Seemed to me that Sarah has to “throw” her leg forward on the recovery.
“They” say that in addition to the amputation, her hip musculature is not quite right either. So if her hip flexors aren’t able to do the job, then she has to make up for it with other muscles.
That’s what it looked like to me.
Al fas as Faris, when i watched the internet feed I thought the same thing. I figured he’d break down soon enough on the run and Peter Reid’s tight running stride would catch him.
I too find Al-Sultan’s stride interesting. My guess is that since he is so quad dominant, he has the strength to overcome the impact and energy loss associated with overstriding. I used to run with an overstride, although not as loping as he, and my quads were huge as a result of all that impact. It wasn’t until I adjusted my stride to a shorter and faster cadence (more economical) that my quads became much smaller. I think he can get away with it because of his youth and strength. Don’t mistake his championship as a license to do what he does though, he is still “only” a 2:55 IM Marathoner. There are a few guys in the IM world that are solid 2:40-2:45 runners and you won’t see many unusual strides here. 10 minutes in the IM marathon is huge as it takes much more energy and mental strength to gain (as compared to an open marathon) My guess is that if he wants to run faster, he must adopt a more economical stride slowly over the years.