On The Run with John Stifler: Running form is unique to all

I think my running looks better than it did a year ago. I’m still getting slower, but apparently my form is improving.

Twice last summer when I was plugging along on rural roads, drivers stopped and asked, “Are you all right?” I assured them I was doing fine, but one observed, “You look as though you’re struggling.” My longtime friend Lucia, organizer of the Bernd Heinrich Raven Run in Maine, put it more candidly: “You looked awful.” Seeing a photo of myself in the final yards of that race, back curved, shoulders bent forward, head down, I agreed.

Compare a photo of me in the 1978 Ocean State Marathon in Newport, R.I. Head up, back straight, eyes looking ahead. OK, I was decades younger and way faster, but while speed no longer matters, self-respect still does.

To improve my running form, Dan Smith, coach for the Sugarloaf Mountain Athletic Club track workouts, suggested some exercises on gym equipment that strengthen back and shoulders, and he reminded me to point my chin forward, not down, when running. Both adjustments have helped. I’m more conscious of my posture, and I feel better physically.

What interests me (and probably you) more, however, is the larger subject of running form in general. Besides keeping upright, do you land on the balls of your feet, or on your heels? How do you hold your arms? How long is the most efficient stride?

Those questions invite endless, usually inconclusive debate. Amherst College’s legendary track and cross-country coach Al Lumley described running as letting yourself fall forward and catching yourself over and over. During the running boom of the 1980s, one of the running magazines published an article about the “pose” position in running. The idea was that you can run faster if you focus on how nearly upright you are at the point where your torso passes over your planted foot. You can find how-to videos on the subject, study them long enough, and you may improve – or you may go nuts trying to analyze how you’re moving.

Jim Ryun, the first person to run a sub-4-minute mile in high school, sometimes ran with his head flopping to one side, seemingly a waste of movement. On three different occasions he broke the world record for the mile. In college, I watched Amby Burfoot win a two-mile track race. He had the shortest stride of anyone in the field, shuffling along, barely lifting his knees. With that stride, he won the Boston Marathon.

When I once asked Amby about his form, he said, “Yeah. Well, I have almost no calf muscles” – thus hardly any spring in his legs. He ran the way he could.

Want to see a runner with truly beautiful form? Look at videos of Sebastian Coe of Great Britain or Haile Gebreselassie of Ethiopia or Ruth Chepng'etich of Kenya. However, another runner’s stride isn’t necessarily something you can successfully copy. Chepng'etich lands on the middle of her foot; her countrywoman Brigid Kosgei, also an elite marathoner with beautiful form, lands heel first. You’re better off observing yourself than trying to imitate others.

Kenny Moore, a long-distance standout at the University of Oregon who finished fourth in the 1972 Olympic marathon and has written extensively about running, participated in an exercise scientist’s test of elite runners’ form, oxygen uptake and muscle configurations. His Oregon teammate Steve Prefontaine, was also a subject in these tests. The researchers observed that Pre’s right foot crossed to his left side as it landed, something they found amazing, although, as Moore wrote later, “Prefontaine’s competitors found it less so.” Pre was a track racer. Half of a track distance race involves left-turning curves. “Prefontaine ran curves more smoothly and closer to the curb than any of us.”

When I was racing 400 meters in a local meet, a more experienced runner called out to me to reach forward with my hands and arms. Sure enough, when I followed his advice, I ran faster. When Bill Rodgers was ready to surge ahead of his rivals in a marathon, he would drop his hands and swing them back. You do what works for you. Figure it out by experimenting.

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Speaking of beautiful things, Sunday’s Lake Wyola Road Race in Shutesbury – 4.8 miles of hills and woods – starts at 8:30 a.m. for walkers and 10 a.m. for runners. A 1.6-mile youth fun run starts at 10:10 a.m. Race-day registration opens at 8:30 a.m. at the Association Hall on Shore Drive. The age-group prize categories include 70-and-over.

John Stifler has taught writing and economics at UMass and has written extensively for running magazines and newspapers. He can be reached at [email protected]