For many sports, height can have a major impact on your potential success.
For example, the average height of NBA basketball players certainly exceeds the average height for men outside of the professional basketball arena.
Volleyball players also tend to be quite tall whereas professional jockeys for horse racing are usually shorter people with a low body mass or body weight.
But, does height affect running speed? Are taller people faster or better at long distance running because they have longer legs? Are shorter people faster marathon runners? Does leg length affect stride rate?
In this guide, we will discuss the impact that height has on running speed and performance for marathon runners, other long-distance runners, and sprinters.
We will also discuss whether taller people are faster than shorter people or if taller runners have an advantage over shorter runners because of their longer legs, ultimately uncovering, “Does height affect running speed?”
We will cover:
Let’s get started!
Do Tall People Run Faster Than Short People?
As a Certified Running Coach, I work with runners of all fitness levels, ages, body sizes, gender orientations, and ethnicities.
Certain demographics of runners do tend to lend themselves to better running performance.
For example, males tend to be faster than females due to a higher percentage of lean body mass and lower body percentage of fat, among other physiological differences.
Similarly, younger runners tend to be faster than seniors. 1Fair, R. C., & Kaplan, E. H. (2017). Estimating Aging Effects in Running Events. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3022196
Research has demonstrated that aging decreases running performance, including VO2 max and running economy.2Celie, F., Faes, M., Hopman, M., Stalenhoef, A. F. H., & Rikkert, M. G. M. O. (2010). Running on age in a 15-km road run: minor influence of age on performance. European Review of Aging and Physical Activity, 7(1), 43–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11556-010-0059-4
The age-related running performance declines3Siparsky, P. N., Kirkendall, D. T., & Garrett, W. E. (2013). Muscle Changes in Aging. Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach, 6(1), 36–40. https://doi.org/10.1177/1941738113502296 are largely due to sarcopenia, which is a decrease in muscle mass and general lifestyle changes that typically result in decreased physical activity with aging.4Goodpaster, B. H., Park, S. W., Harris, T. B., Kritchevsky, S. B., Nevitt, M., Schwartz, A. V., Simonsick, E. M., Tylavsky, F. A., Visser, M., & Newman, A. B. (2006). The Loss of Skeletal Muscle Strength, Mass, and Quality in Older Adults: The Health, Aging and Body Composition Study. The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 61(10), 1059–1064. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/61.10.1059
However, many recreational runners I coach assume that taller runners are inherently faster than shorter runners because of the greater leg length.
Do Tall People Run Faster, Or Are Short People Faster Runners?
Indeed, stride length is somewhat associated with your leg length.
For example, the Olympic champion, world record holder, and the fastest runner ever, Usain Bolt, is certainly a tall runner, measuring 6 feet and 5 inches (1.96 meters), while elite marathon runner Meb Keflezighi is a full foot shorter.
However, there are also Olympic and elite runners who might be considered “tall people” and Olympic and elite runners who can be considered “short people” based on the average height for each sex.
Taller runners tend to have naturally longer legs, so the ideal stride length tends to be longer, and they will use a somewhat lower cadence while still having the same running speed as a shorter runner who will take more steps per minute with a slightly shorter stride length for each of these steps.
While it is true that most taller runners have longer legs than shorter runners (though we all have different relative limb lengths vs. torso length for our height), height is not a major determinant of running speed or the potential running ability of sprinters, marathon runners, or long distance runners in general.
Running speed, or how much ground you cover per minute, is a product of your stride length multiplied by your cadence or stride frequency.
Both runners should aim to land on the midfoot, but because taller runners have longer legs, they can use a comparatively lower cadence than a short runner while still not overstriding.
However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that taller runners will be inherently faster than shorter runners, but the running technique used in terms of stride length and stride rate will vary based on leg length.
According to research, both stride length and stride frequency increase as running speed increases.5van Oeveren, B. T., de Ruiter, C. J., Beek, P. J., & van Dieën, J. H. (2017). Optimal stride frequencies in running at different speeds. PLOS ONE, 12(10), e0184273. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184273
However, evidence suggests6Baggaley, M., Vernillo, G., Martinez, A., Horvais, N., Giandolini, M., Millet, G. Y., & Edwards, W. B. (2019). Step length and grade effects on energy absorption and impact attenuation in running. European Journal of Sport Science, 20(6), 756–766. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2019.1664639 that increasing stride length can increase the risk of injury because it increases impact forces and ground contact time while increasing cadence by 5-10% can reduce the risk of injury and use less energy.7Heiderscheit, B. C., Chumanov, E. S., Michalski, M. P., Wille, C. M., & Ryan, M. B. (2011). Effects of step rate manipulation on joint mechanics during running. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 43(2), 296–302. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181ebedf4
Does Height Affect Running Speed?
Remember, running speed, or how much ground you cover in a minute, is a product of your stride rate (spm) x stride length.
Essentially, two runners can cover a mile (or the same distance) in the same amount of time, whether taking longer strides with fewer strides per minute or shorter strides with a fast stride rate.
Rather than height being a significant factor in determining your running speed, studies suggest that how much force you push into the ground, or your running power, is a greater indicator of running speed.8Weyand, P. G., Sternlight, D. B., Bellizzi, M. J., & Wright, S. (2000). Faster top running speeds are achieved with greater ground forces not more rapid leg movements. Journal of Applied Physiology, 89(5), 1991–1999. https://doi.org/10.1152/jappl.2000.89.5.1991
The better your running power, the more forcefully you can push off into the ground to propel your body forward for the next stride.9Allen, M. (n.d.). New study connects running motion to ground force, provides patterns for any runner. SMU Research. https://blog.smu.edu/research/2017/01/30/new-study-connects-running-motion-to-ground-force-provides-patterns-for-any-runner/
This has little to do with your height or leg length but with your relative strength and ability to produce that force quickly and explosively.
Power is force multiplied by speed, so the faster you can generate a lot of force, the more powerful your running stride will be.
This is where plyometric exercises such as box jumps, bounding, and burpees can help you become a faster runner.
You can also improve running power with high-intensity interval training, hill sprints, and general strength training to build muscular strength.
Research indicates that the type of running workouts you do can help change the relative makeup of your muscle fibers.10Plotkin, D. L., Roberts, M. D., Haun, C. T., & Schoenfeld, B. J. (2021). Muscle Fiber Type Transitions with Exercise Training: Shifting Perspectives. Sports, 9(9), 127. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports9090127
Long slow distance runs will increase your proportion of slow-twitch (endurance or type I) muscle fibers whereas adding high-intensity training and strength training can increase the percentage of fast-twitch (type IIa and type IIb) muscle fibers.
The more fast-twitch muscle fibers you have, the more explosive and powerful your running stride will be.
However, fast-twitch muscle fibers fatigue more quickly and cannot produce energy aerobically and as efficiently as type I muscle fibers.
This is because type II fibers lack sufficient mitochondria, which are the organelles responsible for producing ATP aerobically.
Therefore, marathon runners typically display a higher proportion of type I muscle fibers, whereas sprinters have a higher percentage of fast-twitch muscle fibers.
For marathon runners and long-distance runners, improving VO2 max and lactate threshold will also help you run faster and longer, particularly running longer distances at a faster pace before fatiguing.
Sprinters can improve their maximal sprint speed by doing resisted sprint training with parachutes, sled poles, resistance band sprints, and tethered sprinting in deep water.
Working on your acceleration by improving your foot speed and the amount of power you can use to drive into the track as you explode at the beginning of the spring start will also improve your sprinting performance times.
Running strides, accelerations, jumping rope, downhill sprints, and doing agility drills that work on fast footwork can improve your ability to accelerate and can help you increase your step rate.
In order to maximize your stride length and running cadence, it is important to work on your running form and biomechanics.
You should always run upright, keeping your torso erect or hinged forward ever so slightly from the hips, particularly if you are running uphill.
Use a powerful arm swing to drive your legs forward. The faster you pump your arms, the faster your stride rate will be as the arms propel the legs forward while running.
Another factor contributing to your stride length is your mobility and flexibility, particularly in your hips.
Runners with tight hip flexors, glutes, and hamstrings often run with a short, choppy stride rather than an open one with ideal biomechanics.
Even muscle tightness in the lower back extensors can decrease the fluidity and step length, particularly for long-distance runners.
Consistently using a foam roller and doing dynamic warm-up exercises can help you increase your mobility and flexibility, which can potentially improve your stride length.
Therefore, even shorter runners can maximize their stride length by improving the range of motion in their hips, knees, and ankles and the muscles and the flexibility and extensibility in the glutes, hamstrings, calves, quads, hip flexors, and erector spinae group in the lower back.
For a complete list of dynamic exercises to help you warm up before your next workout, check out this next guide:
