Should weight be a huge factor in Distance Running?
You ask the question as if we have a say in it.
You might as well ask "if I don't believe in gravity, is it ok for me to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge?"
In a sport where the goal of the exercise is to shift one's bodyweight from one point to another faster than everyone else, yeah, weight is important.
Try running with a 20kg sack strapped to your back, then try it with 5kgs. Tell me which one is easier.
Solinsky was able to achieve those results because he had a huge cardiovascular engine and excellent running economy (minus the weight of course). If he had've weighed less and retained the same engine and RE, he would've been even faster.
This is letsrun. There are always doping allegations. Does not matter if they are based in reality or not. People who don't run fast are jealous of those who do and this is one way to feel like you are pwning them. It's stupid.
He was in the wrong sport with his size and aerobic abilities he should've been a XC skier or triathlete and probably would have been able to stay competitive for at least another decade. 120+ mile weeks on that sort of frame isn't the best recipe for long term health as an athlete.
I was going to post this same thing; he would have been a monster nordic skier had he grown up with the sport. He's basically built like the best world class Scandinavian skiers, along with a huge engine.
He was tall and muscular, so that's why he weighed that much. We were just discussing Grant Fisher in another thread and they're actually built similar from a height to weight ratio. It's just not as noticible with Fisher because he's short.
That's ridiculous. Fisher is only 3 inches shorter but Solinsky weighted 30+ pounds heavier.
Get the inside story on Solinsky's historic run and learn how his victory led to a decade-long feud between coaches Alberto Salazar and Jerry Schumacher.
He was in the wrong sport with his size and aerobic abilities he should've been a XC skier or triathlete and probably would have been able to stay competitive for at least another decade. 120+ mile weeks on that sort of frame isn't the best recipe for long term health as an athlete.
I was going to post this same thing; he would have been a monster nordic skier had he grown up with the sport. He's basically built like the best world class Scandinavian skiers, along with a huge engine.
Absolutely, guys like this (Klecker?) want to compete in sports that favor 'absolute power' over 'relative (to weight) power'. (e.g. Rowing, kayak, canoe)
I'm of the belief that the great majority of elites dope. On the other hand, most of those that have successfully doped in long distance running seem to use a formulation that makes them stick thin with low body mass, not excess muscle mass.
Of course weight matters. That doesn't mean you should try to lose weight but huge people can't run fast for 10k.
You are 99% correct. There are anomalies. Some rare instances where a guy over 170 lbs, runs a sub 16 5k. But, these are not common, or often. There's a reason why the typical winner of Boston is less than 140 lbs.
He was in the wrong sport with his size and aerobic abilities he should've been a XC skier or triathlete and probably would have been able to stay competitive for at least another decade. 120+ mile weeks on that sort of frame isn't the best recipe for long term health as an athlete.
I wonder if he had access to XC skiing as a youth? Wisconsin is one area of the country where that sport is popular.