They're two of the greatest distance runners of all time
and both examples of elite running technique.
That I've broken down here on this channel before.
But what if we look at the stride mechanics of Eliud Kipchoge
and Kenenisa Bekele side by side to analyze the subtle
but powerful difference between these two incredible athletes.
Let's take a closer look.
Starting top-down, one of the first things about Eliud Kipchoge that always strikes
me is how steady and smooth his head carriage is.
There's very little excessive vertical movement to his stride,
meaning that it doesn't waste any energy bouncing up and down with each stride.
In comparison, Kenenisa Bekele
runs with a little more head movement with each stride.
Again, there isn't the sort of bouncing movement
that we might see with a lot of amateur runners.
But his head does tend to bump from side to side, left and right with each stride.
Of course, this head bob
isn't as pronounced as we've seen with runners like Paula Radcliffe
in the past and isn't a sign of increased effort like hers was.
Bekele's head Bob is more subtle, there even when he's fairly fresh in a race,
and is a part of a bigger pattern
where he drops his shoulders from side to side as he runs.
His head moves as it does to counter the movements of his torso.
This kind of side to side movement is typical of more powerful runners,
and it's something we see a ton of with sprinters.
In comparison, Kipchoge's biomechanics seem to rely
less on power and more on efficiency.
As we keep looking at the differences between these two incredible runners,
that's the theme that we're going to see a lot of comparing Kipchoge and Bekele,
is effectively like comparing power versus efficiency as athletic traits.
Ideally, as runners, we'd have a combination of both.
But as you can see from these guys, whichever trait you lean towards,
it won't hold you back as a distance runner.
I've mentioned Bekele's tendency to move his torso from side to side
with each stride as he runs.
Let's compare that with Kipchoge.
You can see in this side to side comparison, that
there's less lateral movement in Kipchoge's torso.
The easiest way to look at this is to watch the level of each one's shoulders.
Bekele tends to drop the same side shoulder, with each stride he makes,
meaning that when he lands on his right, he drops his right shoulder.
When he lands on his left, he drops his left shoulder; which in some runners
is indicative of poor lateral control and a lack of hip stability.
But in his case, I'd argue it's more a trait of him moving his center
of mass over the top of the loaded hip to then be able to push off more forcefully.
Remember, he's a powerful athlete for a distance runner, and I would argue
that although it's not super efficient, it is definitely effective.
Kipchoge, in comparison, is a picture of control and efficiency.
He shows very little excess of motion in any plane of movement.
You can also see this in the arm carriage of these two exceptional runners.
As I've mentioned in previous running technique videos, an important function
of your running arm action is to create balance, stability
and to dampen the effect of any excessive rotation and/or side to side motion
that might otherwise affect your forward progress.
If we look at Kenenisa Bekele and Eliud Kipchoge side by side, once again,
the difference in arm carriage is quite obvious.
Bekele's arm angle at the elbow is much more open,
leading to a slightly lower carriage of the hands, effectively making the arms
longer levers swinging from his shoulders, comparatively Kipchoge
keeps his arms in a shorter lever position with a more closed angle at the elbows,
keeping his hands closer to his chest throughout his running gate cycle.
Bekele's arm action is a little less smooth and Kipchoge's,
with Bekele arguably needing to use his arms to balance out
the lateral movement that I mentioned earlier in the video.
Obviously, I'm not saying that Kipchoge is running
with proper form and Bekele is getting it all wrong.
These guys are both incredible athletes, and this comparison just goes to show that
even at the highest levels of our sport, runners all run so differently.
I can't help but wonder
what an athlete with the combined power and speed of Kenenisa Bekele,
and the efficiency of Eliud Kipchoge would be able to achieve.
Perhaps one day we'll find out.