Tigst Assefa Berlin 2023 World Record Running Form Analysis

Comparing Tigst Assefa's running form in Berlin in 2022 and 2023 allows us to identify the effects of her new shoes and their likely role in her new world record. For more in-depth explanation, read the accompanying blog post at www.balancedrunner.com/assefa...
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[@randyevermore9323]

The description of this video doesn't seem to include the blog-post link you mentioned.

[@balancedrunner]

Sorry about that, @randyevermore9323! I created the video before finishing the post, and then forgot to come back and put the post url in. It's there now, or you can find it here: www.balancedrunner.com/assefa-berlin-marathon-2023-world-record-running-form/

[@balancedrunner]

Can you see what I'm talking about in the footage? And what else do you see?

[@randyevermore9323]

I also noticed that Assefa's posture is upright with a slightly arched back. In my experience, maintaining that posture tightens up the entire posterior chain, from the glutes to the insertions of the achilles tendons. That posture in itself keeps the pelvis directly beneath the shoulders and causes the feet to strike the ground in a backward-glancing motion (whether it's forefoot, midfoot, or heel first doesn't matter). It's what Michael Yessis called "pawback," and it's entirely passive, i.e., it doesn't require any deliberate concentric muscular contraction of the hamstrings or glutes. Dr. Yessis said one should think of it as tightening the lower-back muscles and pushing the pelvis forward rather than the shoulders. Haile and Sammy Wanjiru were both exemplars of this. The YT video of Haile's first 5,000m WR (12:44) shows this pretty clearly (kzbin.info/www/bejne/an2xkoedhdODnKs), as does the video of Sammy winning a half-marathon several months before his Beijing Olympic marathon gold performance (kzbin.info?search_query=granollers+2008).

[@balancedrunner]

Thanks for your comment! Pawback is a idea that sounds good, but 100% of my clients who've switched from that way of running to a natural foward lean have improved their performance while decreasing their effort. But that's in regular shoes. When supershoes trigger this kind of posture, there's not much the runner can do to alter it.

[@Zak-pn7ir]

I just discovered you channel,and was very impressed with how you broke down Kiptum's foam of running. Can speak on "It's the shoe" if you may. And would Assefa slowed if she had not pacers,and would Bridgit run faster with pacers...did she have pacer?