Downhill Trail Running Technique Analysis (Varner down dipsea stairs)

Read more of my thoughts here: http://ascendrunning.com/blog-2/2016/... http://ascendrunning.com/   / ascendrunning     / ascendrunning   The leader of the Quad Dipsea trail race 2015, before he goes on to set the course record. His downhill form on the stairs, compared to some of the runners trailing him. The current record holder for the Quad Dipsea, compared to some of those running behind him. First thing I noticed was how much springier he seemed than the other runners. Here is the lead runner again, for comparison Comparing one step... It turns out most of them had pretty similar ground contact times, so that actually wasn't the difference I saw. But it seems as though the leader's muscles (visible in the calf and quad) contract and relax quicker, and his ankle bends less than the others, and seems to spring back quicker. Whereas with the others we see a longer quad contraction and the ankle continues to bend throughout the lowering. So it seems he is absorbing the shock quicker, getting more elastic return in the ankles, and using less eccentric muscle movement. I think showing it in reverse illustrates this a bit more. Notice the quick springy muscle movements to absorb and transfer the movement. A lot of the other guys seem to be using the quads to lower themselves down after impact. Whereas in reverse, the leader appears as if he's springing up so high that he doesn't need to use as much quad muscle. You can also see this in the angle of the leg at maximum load. I did the best I could to estimate the point of maximum force/tension in the leg, before it relaxes. They all had a noticeably larger angle at this point, and it was also a lot easier to estimate the leader because of his quick muscle contractions. So in conclusion, I think we can observe the following: 1: Quicker and more forceful muscle contractions to absorb impact 2: Less eccentric movement lowering/breaking using the quads 3: More tendon/achilles elasticity in play, to not only absorb impact, but spring back from it 4: All of which leads to a better transfer of the landing energy into forward motion.