Hey guys its JP Gloria and today we're going to look at Eliud Kipchoge as he
broke the official world record for the marathon in a time of 2 hours 1 minute
and 39 seconds. I already made a running analysis on
Eliud as he participated in the Breaking2 project as he ran the fastest
unofficial time in a time of 2 hours and 25 seconds. This was considered
unofficial due to a variety of factors... Big ones being constant rotation of
pacemakers and the very limited amount of participants... as well as a number of
more advantages. However, it will be interesting to see if there are any
differences in the way he runs in each of these races. Let's start a little
differently and look at his time splits. These are both incredible splits however
he actually goes even faster on the second half of the marathon compared to
the first half in Berlin. This is unlike the Breaking2 project where Kipchoge
ended up going slower the second half of the marathon. I mean, yeah, trying to keep
up a faster pace to try to break the sub 2 hour barrier is an incredibly difficult
feat, but I think if Kipchoge really shows more of his incredible mental discipline
in the Berlin Marathon... not only does he run faster on the second half of the
marathon, but he also runs most of this part of the race on his own. Now, let's
take a look at his stamina. I talked about this as a strong point for Kipchoge
during the Breaking2 project. He basically maintained great form throughout
the race with just little break down of form toward the end of the race as noted
by the slight increase in tendency to shift and rotate toward one side of the
body. In the Berlin Marathon, this strength seems to have been further
improved, which is absolutely incredible. Looking at him in Berlin, you can compare
both these clips. Even though they are an hour apart and the latter being toward
the very end of the race, he really maintains form incredibly well in this
race. Now, let's take a look and see if there are any notable differences in the
way he runs both of these races. This may be impacted by the different paces noted
in each of them. It's great that these clips are run at a similar time of the
marathon; however in Berlin, Kipchoge was running around a 4:35 min per mile
pace. In the Breaking2, he was running a 4:30 min per mile pace.
Another general difference is the stride frequency in stride length, which I was
able to make an approximation off of the data and footage. During this clip of the
Berlin Marathon, he ran with a stride frequency of 186
steps per minute and a stride length of 1.88 meters. In the Breaking2,
he presented with a slightly faster stride frequency of 192 steps per
minute and just a barely smaller stride of 1.86 meters.
The main difference it seems like when comparing these variables is the stride
frequency. Now, these difference can come from a huge variety of factors, such as
the wind resistance and even the pathing during a specific part of the race... but
it will be interesting to do a quick breakdown of his running form during
these races see if his form has changed at all in a one year time span. Let's
look at specific parts of the running cycle. During these two races, I'm not
going to go crazy in detail by each part of the form since I've talked about this
in a previous video. First let's take a look at the landing. No differences here
as he presents with forefoot landing in both of these clips. What maybe more
interesting is where the landing is in relation to the body center of mass. Now,
I know this might come off as a contradiction from my oldest analysis I
had on Kipchoge in regards to foot landing, during the Breaking2, as in that video.. it
seemed like his foot was landing right under his hips. The footage I had there
was a little choppy and I paused that frame a bit too late. This time I froze
it in a better place for a more accurate assessment. In both of these clips, he
presents with the landing just slightly in front of the body center of mass. This
makes sense for a long-distance runner as doing this allows for improved
ability to utilize elastic properties of the muscles for increased efficiency. Now,
let's look at the amount of vertical movement noted as he pushes off the
ground. Drawing a line through the pelvis in both these clips, we can compare how
much bounce he has during these races. In both, he has slight vertical displacement,
but less during the Berlin Marathon. Decreasing excessive vertical force
decreases stress on the joints and decreases risk of injury. However, some of
the differences in vertical displacement may be attributed different viewpoints,
like that ground incline and angle of the camera... as well as the likelihood of
Eliud Kipchoge generating more force through the ground during the Breaking2
as he was at a slightly faster pace during this race. Now, let's look at how
much he tilts his body forward. Here, you can see, he has a slight forward tilt of his
body. Initially, it may seem like there is more of it during the Breaking2, however,
this may be slightly exaggerated due to the incline of the ground. Since it seems
like its an incline of about one degree... If you recalculate it, it's about
the same amount of forward tilt in both of these clips. Usually forward tilt
slightly increases at quicker speed, so compared to last year's Breaking2,
Kipchoge seems to demonstrate a very slight increase in forward tilt at
a similar pace. This allows for slightly improve momentum forward and maximizes
use of the hip muscles for improved force generation. Now looking at his
body in a front view, pay attention to the movement of both arms and legs. You
can see how symmetrical it is; however, as I mentioned in the beginning of the video,
he seems to be able to maintain this symmetry for a longer duration in the
Berlin Marathon. Up to the arms, you can see that there is basically no
difference in arm movement, he keeps his arms up high and close to his body. Most
movement occurs from the shoulders and less from the elbows. Similar to the arms,
really nothing notable that is different about head movement when comparing both
clips. He basically keeps it in a neutral position throughout the entire race.
Overall, there is very little difference between the way Kipchoge ran in the
Berlin Marathon compared to how he ran in the Breaking2 project one year
beforehand. Maybe the only notable difference would really be the improved
consistency and ability to maintain form with little breakdown.. even at the end of
the race. Even though we weren't able to really find much differences in the form
itself, I think this is a really good thing because this basically confirms
that this style of running really works for him. And that's it for this video! I
hope you guys enjoyed it. If you did, please like the video and subscribe for
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know what you guys would like to see more from me! And as always... THANK YOU FOR
WATCHING!!! :)