Speed and distance indicate how athletes run according to the NY Times

Different athletic events require different types of training.   This is especially true with long-distance vs. sprinting type events like the 100 or 400-meter races.

Years ago I read an interesting article about what Usain Bolt’s mile would look like, or could he even run a mile.  Yet, according to the NY Times, Bolt clocked in at 23 miles per hour, about twice what our fastest long-distance runners can do.

The Olympics which just finishes showed excellent examples of this.   Event 1500 meter runners require different types of strategies and styles to win and we watched excellent examples of this.

The NY Times just published an article on the difference between speed and distance.   Check it out below

How Speed and Distance Dictate How Olympians Run

By Larry Buchanan, Emily Rhyne, Noah Throop, Joe Ward, and Jeremy WhiteJuly 30, 2021

The fastest Olympic sprint was Usain Bolt’s 100 meters at the London Games, averaging more than 23 miles per hour for 9.63 seconds. Marathoners, who run for two hours, top out around half of Bolt’s speed.

The 100 meters and the marathon are at either end of the Olympic spectrum of running races. The sprints (100, 200 and 400 meters) are strictly about power and mechanics. The endurance races (1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 meters and the marathon) are all about the supply and demand of energy. The 800-meter race, while just two laps around the track, sits between them, the painful middle ground between a pure sprint and pure endurance.

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