Eluid Kipchoge is a long-distance runner from Kenya and, undeniably, one of the greatest marathoners of all time.
He is probably best known for being the fastest marathon runner in history and the first runner to ever break the two-hour barrier in the marathon, running time of 1:59:40.2 at the Ineos 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, Austria, in 2019.
Although this jaw-dropping performance doesn’t qualify as an official marathon world record because it wasn’t an open competition, Kipchoge is also the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion and was the world record holder from 2018 to 2023.
While Kenyan marathon runner Kipchoge is indeed the fastest marathon runner in history, he’s also one of the most beautiful.
With an exemplary running stride and flawless form, watching Kipchoge run is like watching the most graceful dancer execute every single step with perfection and ease.
The best part? Kipchoge manages to smile through most of his races, even when putting the pedal to the metal in the BMW Berlin Marathon, Tokyo Marathon, Boston, or any of the World Marathon Majors.
So, while runners can certainly look to Kipchoge for inspiration and awe, there’s also much to be gained by studying his running form and seeking to emulate it with our own running technique.
After all, you might as well learn from the best of the best. So, in this guide, we will look at the running form and training takeaways we can all learn from Eliud Kipchoge.
7 Running Form Takeaways from Eliud Kipchoge
Ready to learn and be inspired? Here are seven running form takeaways we can all learn from Eliud Kipchoge:
#1: Landing On the Midfoot
Many runners are heel strikers, meaning they land on the rear foot or heel with each step.
Heel striking puts excessive stress on your feet because it doesn’t position your foot in a way that can allow the arch to naturally compress and absorb the shock of impact.
As a result, heel striking allows more stress to travel up to the shins, knees, hips, and back, increasing the risk of injury.
In fact, most surveys and estimates in research literature1DAOUD, A. I., GEISSLER, G. J., WANG, F., SARETSKY, J., DAOUD, Y. A., & LIEBERMAN, D. E. (2012). Foot Strike and Injury Rates in Endurance Runners. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 44(7), 1325–1334. https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0b013e3182465115 note that about 30-75% of runners experience an injury over the course of a year of training, with evidence demonstrating that injuries are especially high in rearfoot strikers.
Landing on your heel also inhibits your forward momentum by essentially applying braking energy to your stride. In turn, this reduces your running economy and speed.
Runners are told to land on the midfoot, allowing the arch to compress gently and then bounce back, absorbing the impact load.
It also positions the center of mass of your body right above your foot rather than behind. This encourages forward momentum and reduces torque on your hips and knees.
Kipchoge lands lightly on the balls of his feet while still remaining firm in his limbs to maximize the elastic return of energy from the ground.
In other words, he’s wasting no energy and keeping his velocity in the forward direction.
#2: Efficient Stride Length
Although Kipchoge has a graceful stride, it’s not overly long and loping. It’s a perfect balance of being long enough to cover ground quickly and maintain a fast pace without being too long.
Overstriding occurs when you extend your leg too far ahead of your body. This positions your center of mass behind the knee, which, again, can lead to heel striking and increases the risk of injury.
If you recall back to your days in physics class, the torque going through a joint is a product of the force multiplied by the moment arm, or the distance that force is applied from the joint.
If your body weight is well behind the ankle and knee when you land, the weight of your body plus gravity is being applied from a greater distance than if your center of mass was directly over your knees and feet.
Therefore, the torque on your joints is higher, which places you at an increased risk of injury.2Baggaley, 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
Moreover, when you overstride, the body must decelerate more before moving on to the next stride. This reduces your running economy because you’re losing forward momentum.
When you watch Kipchoge run, he lands with his shin vertical under his knee so that his foot is not as far in front of his center of mass as it would be if his knee were fully extended with his shin reaching forward instead of straight down.
#3: Fast Cadence
Kipchoge runs with light, quick steps as if his feet are gently kissing the ground.
He runs with a cadence of well over 180 steps per minute. Although your cadence may not be quite as fast (because you are probably running slower!), try to run with short, fast strides.
Aim for a cadence of 170-180 steps per minute. This will also help prevent overstriding. Research suggests that increasing your cadence by about 5-10% above your current stride frequency can reduce the risk of musculoskeletal stress and resultant injuries.3Heiderscheit, 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
Running with a faster cadence reduces the impact and loading on your hip and knee joints, decreases the braking force when your feet contact the ground, and reduces vertical ossification (bouncing motion).
#4: Slight Forward Lean
Kipchoge runs with a very slight forward lean of the torso from the hips, which optimizes forward movement.
#5: Minimal Vertical Oscillation
If you watch Kipchoge run, you’ll notice that there’s very little extraneous bouncing or vertical oscillation. He keeps his joints and limbs “stiff” though still relaxed.
Limb stiffness maximizes energy return from the ground to improve his running economy.
When you land, try not to sink into your hip and knee. Keep your body firm and concentrate on moving forward, not up and down.
#6: Economical Arm Swing
A lot of runners waste energy with excessive upper body motion, swinging their arms across the body rather than front and back. Any lateral movement detracts from forward momentum and makes you a less efficient runner.
It’s also common not to use your arms enough. Driving with your arms is important because they provide a counter-rotation for the legs and pelvis.
Kipchoge runs with the ideal balance of gentle upper-body rotation and an economical but powerful arm swing.
His arms drive his legs forward and release potential energy stored in the hips and trunk from stride to stride. They come to the midline of his body but not beyond and on the other side.
#7: Relaxed Face and Hands
Kipchoge runs with a relaxed face, hands, and shoulders, which keeps the energy cost low.
Holding tension in your body wastes energy and can cause fatigue.
Running Like Kipchoge
This video of the final kilometer of the INEOS 1:59 Challenge shows some of Eliud Kipchoge’s running form in beautiful poetry-in-motion.
It’s impossible not to be impressed with how graceful and relaxed he looks as the pacemakers pull away, and he becomes the first person to run a sub-two-hour marathon. As he often says, no human is limited.
Would you like to learn about how Kipchoge trains for his marathons? Read his tips here.
Love all the advice I find here… I did a h/m in Lancaster PA in September… One of the best I’ve run. Around 1500-2000 runners, running across Amish farmland. So beautiful, the finishing medal is a horse shoe, an Amish blacksmith makes it into the medal with the engraving, hung on a strip of leather. They also put on a huge picnic, free of charge, to all runners, families, after the race…. My Favorite.