It means that guy is much much fitter than you. the issue is not whether a short guy can beat a tall guy, it's about the extra work a short guy has to do to cover the same distance in the same time as the tall guy. at the end of the run say 5 km, the shorter guy would be tired out more than the tall guy cause his little legs were moving twice or so the speed as the taller guy. Whatever size you are, if you do say 100 punches in a minute then next tried to do 150 punches in a minute(after a decent break), which one would tire you more???
Am I too short to beat out the tall runners?
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Having long legs for one's overall height is extremely useful. The mathematics
[simple trigonometry] shows that the base line [stride] will be longer if the two other sides of the triangle [legs] are longer EVEN WITH THE SAME degree at the top angle [the crotch.] IE: less PUSH is required to travel the same distance. Having long legs for one's height [around 50%] means that more of the weight of the person is USEFUL. Sebastian Coe, Steve Cram, Ed Moses, Steve Ovett, Kenyans, John Gladwin, Jim Ryun, Mottram, Liz McColgan, Wendy Sly, Zola Budd, Rudisha, Rono, Aouita, Frank Shorter, John Walker, Steve Scott, Landy, and many, many others were blessed with long, slim limbs, although none were giants. Of course there are exceptions but the mathematics shows that the same angle expressed at the top of the 'triangle' WILL yield a longer base IF the other two lines are longer!
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That was to do with sprinters and was looking at people such as Michael Johnson and Marlies Goehr, both of whom had shortish legs, as you describe, but made up for it by having incredibly quick cadences, even for sprinters.
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Brian wrote:
"I think that shorter runners have an inherent advantage in running efficiency for one primary reason�.body mass. The greater body mass that taller runners generally have results in more weight and heat production than their shorter compatriots."
If you are tall, you know how obvious this is in hot weather, soft terrain and on hilly courses. Short folks have an advantage in running, all else being equal, not tall ones. I am like a freakin' skeleton at 6'4" and 155 - all veins and sinew - veins visible everywhere. 155 would be quite heavy for an elite distance runner and elite distance runners are far shorter than the average population (and heing gets smaller with distance). Tall people just have to lug around alot of bones, no matter how lean they are. Same reason why tall people can't do "body weight" exercises in proportion to their strength.
I envy you. I'm 6'5 180
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