Do long legs really help you all that much with running?

Question

My friend and I are debating it. I'm six three and hes like five eight. We run together, a lot, and he says he has it THAT much harder cause hes so much shorter than me. I say it gives me an advantage, but the way he tells it hes like dying and Its a cake walk (hah, love puns) for me. How much of an advantage is it?

Answer 1

with our long legs ,we have a longer stride than our short friends- therefore, we have to take less steps than they do to travel the same distance. don't people who are walking next to you always tell you to slow down? lol

shorter legs usually have faster speed than us but for the long run, we will always win

Answer 2

In my cross country running days, there was a runner who was very tall, i wish i could remember how much. either way, he was extremely tall and it stood out, not only because he towered over us, but because he would constantly be 50%-60% ahead of everyone in our progress. Not sure how many years he continued to run tho. But yes, it makes a large difference. Unless, maybe, it's really windy because short people get less resistance :P

Answer 3

Long legs DO help with running - when you're shorter, you have to move your legs that much faster to keep up with a person with longer legs.


The longer your legs are, the more distance you can cover compared to someone with shorter legs - it's simple math.

Answer 4

Stride length adds up over a long haul, not so much for sprints

Answer 5

No it depends on how u use them, my man has short muscley legs and he is a very fast runner.

Answer 6

your strides would be longer so he would have to take 1 1/2 or 2 strides to just keep up with you.....im 5'3 and i find it hard to keep up with my taller friends......

Answer 7

I wouldnt know cause i have little short legs (i'm 5'2).

Answer 8

yeah it is an adavantage dno how much though