There is no audio. High speed videos usually don't have audio, at least not at this frame rate, and I didn't do any analysis voiceover. So this is just an opportunity to feast your eyes and see what you can discover. :-)

@@balancedrunner Thanks Jae! It is a feast for the eyes.

Thanks! Yes, I agree. I've been analyzing his form since 2014 and there is a shift for sure. Though it's still better than most other runners. Another possible factor is the supershoes, which I have heard some rumors he's had trouble with, though I don't know if it's true.

Well, they are racing each other.

Yes, Bekele runs like that. And Munyao runs differently. That's what the analysis is about. Also, if you look at past footage of Bekele, he doesn't twist so much to the left and so little to the right. This is probably involved in his back pain.

@@balancedrunner he does please check out his 2019 berlin marathon clip.

@@balancedrunner please go check out his Berlin 2019 marathon and the bupa great north half marathon when he was out kicking farah

I have. www.balancedrunner.com/berlin-marathon-2019-bekele-legese-bekere-dibaba/. www.balancedrunner.com/running-form-comparison-between-bekele-gebrselassie-and-farah-in-the-2013-great-north-run/. Also London 2018, Berlin 2017, Berlin 2016, and Paris 2014. You'll find those here: www.balancedrunner.com/?s=bekele

@balancedrunner then did you come to the conclusion that he twisted more to the left last Sunday than in all his previous runs?

I agree that it's probably his psoas that's the issue. More core muscle strength, however, would be the wrong choice. As long as the psoas functions well through the full range of motion, the core works well. Bekele does not have a weak core.

I've been analyzing running from of everyone from beginner to Olympian for over 20 years. That includes lots of club runners. I know what differences running form variations make. But I never argue that it's the only factor. Great form that's a good fit for the race and conditions on the day is a huge asset, and one any runner would want. But it's only one factor, and a runner with that can still be beaten by someone who's fitter, has a better kick, fueled better, has a better mental game or race strategy, etc. Hence Paula Radcliffe, Sammy Wanjiru, and others.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Nope. These runners always have this basic form--very different from each other.

Perhaps, then, we could just skip the race and award medals to the youngest and tallest runners.

But seriously, the height question is not at all straightforward so I'm surprised you're so confident it's a reason. Here's a pretty good overview: www.runnersworld.com/training/a20855200/is-height-really-a-disadvantage-in-marathons/

@@balancedrunner “We could just skip…..” Did I say that? Age and height will help, and definitely a factor. Tell me it isn’t. Don’t be a crybaby.

Yes you can. Thank you so much for asking.

Happy to hear that!

Agree. In this video I'm just analyzing one factor. I can't address the questions of training, fitness, nutrition, psychology, strategy... But I can address form, and from 20+ years of working with runners I know what differences in form make differences in performance.

Well, the funny thing is that we can see these two runners run differently from each other at mile 21, so it's tough to make the argument that there's nothing technical going on. Your technique doesn't just exist when you're thinking about it, it also exists the rest of the time. Mile 21 is a great place to analyze form, because the runners no longer have the energy to correct for or cover up how they really run. It all shows clearly.

Hope you saw my answer above.

Yes, thank you!

Many thanks!

I agree about Bekele's track background as context for his high back kick. And I also agree about the rocker potentially having an impact on the back. I have heard since the race that Bekele has been juggling many commitments outside of running in recent years, and one of the reasons he ran better in this race (and less injured) was that he really focused on training to prepare for London. If his other commitments include a lot of sitting (as business generally does), then that is also playing a role in his back.

Oops, I made a similar comment before noticing your question.

With movement patterns, any part could be the cause. However for this type of situation, the origin is most often the iliopsoas, and can also include other hip flexors and even the quads. When the hip flexors aren't allowed to lengthen enough, they tip the pelvis forward excessively (note that there should be some forward or anterior tilt, otherwise the runner can't lean forwards). And then pulling the head back and lifting the chest are reactions to this. So I would say check that first. I've got so many relevant resources for this issue I can't fit it all into KZbin comments, but look on my channel for videos on hip extension, and you'll find more resources in the descriptions for those.

Hope my answer here helps you too, @mopoffool

It is amazing, and I think there are a lot of factors. There's more about the issue in this blog post: www.balancedrunner.com/how-to-stop-overstriding-is-the-answer-in-your-ankles/.

@@balancedrunner Thank you, Jae: I thoroughly enjoyed the blog and the attending slow-motion videos - in profile, no less!

And he has won a lot with his style

It’s absurd

To clarify, I'm not criticizing this about Bekele's form. It's not bad. And it's certainly better than what Munyao is doing. Here's more about the issue of the swing leg: www.balancedrunner.com/how-to-stop-overstriding-is-the-answer-in-your-ankles/

Not at all, Malcolm! First, low back pain while running isn't minor, and after I posted this video I read a piece on Letsrun.com (or somewhere...) in which he actually says he was struggling with lower back pain and that's why he couldn't hold his speed. That's actually enough by itself--he would have run faster without it. Anybody would. Then there's the arms. Just bringing them to midline and a bit higher than he has them makes a surprisingly large difference in speed. And then there's always simply the math involved. Minor technical tweaks x 26.2 miles = a meaningful difference in finishing time. He was 14 seconds behind Munyao, which is just over half a second per mile. Minor tweaks are all it would take to win.

Thank you for being the voice of reason!!! A age difference of 14 years will trump and arm carry, gait difference or any other thing Jane wants to discuss!! This is simply pushing her agenda and ignoring the elephant. It’s like saying “my car had a flat tire”. But it was also out of gas!!

This channel is basically bs take it with a grain of salt. Running technique is rather individual and honed and adapted to over thousands of kilometers. it's hard to say for sure if any of the stuff she points out makes any difference at all in performance for the runners in questions.

@@stayontrack preach!!!

@@balancedrunner why are you ignoring the pink elephant? He’s 14 years older. That trumps any difference in stride!!

He does look amazing, I agree. The low back tightness isn't a mandatory part of aging--with your low back and hip flexors bothering you, it sounds like you're not letting your pelvis move appropriately and are depending too much on your legs for running!

I agree completely,@@balancedrunner. I have seen a significant connection over the years between how my lower back feels and how flexible hips are, to how well and fast I can run. This started when I was a 17-year-old track runner and has continued through 51 years and 51,000 miles of competitive middle-distance running, on the track, roads and cross country. Runners in the 70s and 80s used to poo-poo the importance of running form, until they saw how beautifully the East Africans ran. (Then they put it down purely to genes and altitude.) But Seb Coe was said to have worked on his form (via the Alexander Technique) and as we know, Seb and his father left nothing to chance. I have enough experience to see the effect that your principles and insights have on my running and how well I can move compared with my peers, thanks in no small part to your direct work and guidance over the past decade. One of my masters teammates (who was a 1:51 800m and 3:43 1500m runner in his twenties) remarked recently how smoothly I'm moving these days, and I can assure you that was definitely not the case in my teens and twenties.

My pleasure!

I saw 14 years older.

Glad you liked the video, and thanks for the shoe info! As you know, I really hate supershoes and can't stand to do research about them... and with Esa's form I doubt he really needed them. I focused in on that double pulse in the feet because I am concerned about the effect some of these shoes have on the achilles, and this type of thing would be one mechanism. I wish I had time to do an analysis of the women as well but I'm going to have to turn my attention to London instead. But with Obiri's armswing, just remember it isn't that she swings her arms big, it's that she lets her whole upper body capture ground reaction force and release it, and that's a lot easier than just swinging the arms alone (and it's why her head moves so much). Chebet has some of this in common with her.

Interesting! Thanks for sharing that.

Although running is a natural gait for us a lot of people don't actually know how move/run nowadays, just take a look around you, e.g., at a race. A lot of runners are injured every year, a lot of people don't really understand how a running stride works, where the power comes from and so on. I led a beginner group of runners for a couple of year in the past and I heard a lot of missconceptions and preconceived ideas about how they thought running should look like and work. A couple of years after stopping leading this group some participants still thank me for making their running feel easier, more fluent, more harmonius. Sure, most people run better if they run more but there's certainly no disadvantage of learning more about running form and movement.

Thank you, Matthew!

Sorry to disappoint you this time around, but I won't be able to do a women's analysis for Boston.This men's analysis took me somewhere around 25 hours, and the London marathon is this Sunday, so I don't have enough turnaround time to do a second Boston video before I look at London. However you can find my analyses of Hellen Obiri and Sharon Lokedi, who came in first and second, in the Elite Running Form Analysis playlist. I analyzed each of them after they won NYC last year and the year before (respectively). They ran basically the same in Boston, so those analyses are still relevant.