Running Technique by Sarah MacCarthy

Although I ran cross-country for two years in high school, I have never considered myself a “runner”.


I feel as though my legs do not move as quickly as everyone else when we run the 3000 meter test or 5 kilometer running race. When Wendy and I were climbing this summer, she told me about her family friend Tom Miller. She told me that Tom was a professor at the University of Utah, has studied running for many years and every Tuesday morning he ran at a location around Salt Lake to help people with their running technique.

So last Tuesday morning was the day that Wendy, Rose and I went to run with Tom. Rose and I rode our bikes to the Avenues to meet Wendy. From there we went down the hill, to City Creek Canyon to meet the rest of the group. As we pulled up we knew that there were runners of all ages and they all looked fit. As we gathered Tom sent everyone on their way but asked the three of us to stay around so he could give us some ideas to think about. In the one hour run I learned so much but I am going to share what I think helped me the most.

Running uphill:
• Does not have to be hard all the time, especially when you are trying to go easy
• Arms: keep your forearms parallel with the ground and move them quickly in a planar fashion
• You do not have to have a big arm swing, the farther you move your arms the longer your stride, keep it short
• Keep it light, try to run so lightly that the person in front of you cannot hear you coming
• Stick out your chest to get gravity on your side, fall forward onto your foot (just like classic skiing)

Running downhill:
• Is fun and fast
• Gravity is doing the work here, just move your feet quickly
• Get the forward lean going again
• Run with loose ankles
• Run in what Tom called the “trash”, the loose rocks because if you are off your feet quick enough it does not matter where or how you land
• You want to be in the air longer than you are on the ground

Every time I have ran in the last week I have thought about my running technique. These tips can only make me a better runner, which is exciting. Our goal is that if I learn to be quicker off my feet in running that I could carry that over to having a quicker kick when I am classic skiing. The clinic was helpful and I learned a lot about running technique. Tom often referenced many famous runners and told us to look at how they run. Below are some pictures of those runners.

Frank Shorter, Olympic Gold Medalist 1972 Olympic Marathon

Tarahumara Indians from Northern Mexico are renowned for their long distance running ability and technique.