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Teaching Proper Running Form By Joe Newton with Joe Henderson

Cross country is elegantly simple in style. Get from Point A to Point Z as fast as possible. No prizes are awarded for looking good. If they were, Emil Zatopek never would have won anything. Zatopek wore a seriously pained expression and used a high-shouldered, thrashing arm action. Yet no one but him has ever won the 5,000, 10,000, and marathon in the same Olympics.

A runner's basic form is imprinted at birth and in the years before reaching your team. That said, however, the form isn't as indelible as a fingerprint. Certain energy-wasting form flaws can be ironed out. And certain specialized types of running form, such as going up and down hills or launching into a finishing kick, can and should be taught. This chapter tells you what can be changed and what should be left alone.

Teaching Ideal Form

Good running form for cross country is good form, period. It applies to all types of distance running-over the country, on the track, or on the road. Much of my advice comes from the great University of Oregon coach, Bill Bowerman. His term was, "Run tall."

Run upright, in other words, with the hips thrust slightly forward. Don't lean forward or backward, but keep the body over the feet. This keeps the runner balanced, which is especially important on the varied and sometimes rough terrain of cross country. When the torso is over the feet, overstriding isn't possible. Bowerman advised keeping the head balanced on the shoulders. Look straight ahead, not down at the feet or up at the sky.

We also emphasize arm action. Draw an imaginary line down the middle of the chest. Don't let the hands swing across this line, or an inefficient twisting motion in the body will result. The arm action forward and backward should be an arc in which the elbow doesn't pass in front of the hip on the upswing, and the hand doesn't go behind the hip on the backswing. The hands are held lightly cupped, neither tightly clenched nor open, with the thumb resting on the forefinger.

In summary, these are the basics of running form that we teach:

Head position. Look straight ahead at the course, not up or down. This will keep the chin down and neck relaxed. When fatigue sets in, many runners throw their head back. Not only does it cause tension and alter the body angle, but it also makes it much harder to breathe just when more oxygen is needed.

Body angle. Run tall. Keep the body balanced over the legs, as if an imaginary plumb line could be dropped from the head right down to the feet. While running uphill, lean forward into the hill, but lean with the whole body and not just bending from the waist. Running downhill, keep the body angle perpendicular to the ground; this requires leaning forward again with the entire body.
Arm action. Carry the arms in a low-medium position, never high on the chest. This means the arms will be almost at right angles. Use a natural swing forward and backward, with the hand not going above shoulder level on the forward swing or behind the seam of the shorts on the backswing. Never let the hands pass the center line of the chest. Swing the arms from the shoulder (think of a pin driven through the shoulders from which all swing originates). The shoulders should not move, at least noticeably, from a right angle to the ground. Sway of the shoulders will cut speed.

Elbows. Keep them three to five inches away from the sides of the body. Above all else make sure the elbows stay unlocked, ranging from about a 90-degree angle as the arm moves forward to a 135-degree angle as it comes backward. Locked elbows result in shoulder sway.
Hands. Keep the hands relaxed and the wrists loose. Cup the hands and touch the thumb to the forefinger.
Knee action. Let the leg come forward with as little effort as possible, which means low knee lift. The leg acts as a pendulum, and its weight carries it forward.
Footplant. Land on the lower part of the ball of the foot, drop the heel, and push off the ball of the foot. Do not let the heel "slap" or hit first, and do not turn your feet out. Tell them to listen to themselves when they run; they should hear nothing.
Stride length. Don't overstride; this is a cardinal sin of running. Avoid reaching for the next stride. If you concentrate on "running tall" with a low forward knee lift, overstriding should not be a problem. A rule of thumb: the longer the distance, the shorter the stride.

Breathing. Keep three important points in mind: (a) breathe deeply, (b) breathe regularly, and (c) inhale and exhale through the nose and mouth together.

Relaxation. Avoid unnecessary use of energy through tension and stress originating in the face, particularly in the lower jaw. Let the lower jaw be so relaxed that it will actually give the appearance of flopping around. This will also give runners the appearance of smiling, which will work wonders when they pass an opponent at a crucial point in the race. Another sign of tension appears in the hands and then the arms. Keep the hands relaxed. If the arms tire, drop and shake them occasionally to promote circulation.

Excerpted from Coaching Cross Country Successfully, 1998, by Joe Newton with Joe Henderson.