Latest Apple Watch advert

[HeavyFoot]

It seems to promise everything bar next week’s lotto numbers! One feature is measuring stride length. You can check this post-run on a Garmin, and I can see little point in this during a run. However, the runner in the ad clocks a stride of 1•12m. This seems extraordinary to me. What stride lengths do you others do?

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10]

I have read that runners can be classified as either Stride or Cadence runners.

I'm a Stride runner though I am trying to become more of a Cadence one. My natural inclination is that if I go faster I do so by lengthening my stride whilst my cadence remains the same.

I don't run particularly fast because I'm several stone overweight. However, my average stride length for my 5K PB was 1.14 metres, and running fast intervals my average stride is significantly longer. (According to my Garmin 245).

Today I ran 10K in 59:06 (I aim for around 6 min / km), and my cadence was 169 which is a bit low, but much better than it used to be, and my stride length was 1.0 metre - significantly shorter than it used to be, when my average cadence was around 156.

[HeavyFoot Graduate10 in reply to ForbiddenPlanet]

This is all the stuff of dreams to me. My “sprint” stride length is 1m, usual length just 82cm (76 up steep hills, 86 downhill).

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10 in reply to HeavyFoot]

You may be normal and me a weirdo (at least in this respect)! Hopefully some more replies will shed light.

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate]

All I can say is wow, my stride length goes from .73 to .78 on a run,I am 5ft 3ins,. My cadence is 145, to 225 spm my average pace is usually around 9mpk, and I can't go fast for long but max pace is usually around 5mpk but only for short sprints, none of that matters to me if I'm enjoying myself

[Cmoi Graduate10 in reply to SueAppleRun]

Nail on head SueAppleRun , who cares about stats when you're having fun!

[Birdlady64 Graduate10]

No idea what my stride length is, I've never thought about it but pretty sure it's absolutely nowhere near that.A quick search reveals that Eliud kipchoge has a stride length of 1.91 meters and a cadence of 190 steps/minute.

So seems pretty unlikely to me. Unless the runner in the advert is an elite sprinter perhaps...

[Leotigris Graduate10]

I'm sure that leg length must also make a difference to stride length. At the risk of stating the obvious, someone with long legs will easily have a longer stride than someone with much shorter legs.

[Chinkoflight]

What a great question HeavyFoot and some great answers too. I am short and my legs are shorter, I have to turn up short length trousers!!! 😂 My walking stride is around .9m on a rapid warm up walk, but my running stride is .7m. I've had the same thoughts too and have tried to increase stride to achieve greater speed but cadence drops. If I try to increase cadence, generally stride drops!! 😂. For now, 8 months in to this running journey I have found my comfort zone, good enough. Cardio is raised, I sweat, breathing is managed etc. I guess this is where strength training and stretching/flex regime on running off days might see some changes in my metrics, but I feel less inclined to press weights or lay out on a mat!

I use a ticwatch and OS Wear (Google brand) for my data which seems quite accurate. Your summary thoughts when all the replies are in will be interesting to read.

[Cmoi Graduate10]

I'm 62 years old and five-foot nothing, and my Garmin tells me that my average "foulée" is around 78-80cm, cadence mostly between 167 and 205.

However, these figures are skewed because I don't always bother with my Garmin, particularly on hilly, muddy, forest trails. Running there is what makes me happy, so I've no interest in trying to "improve" stride and cadence etc.

[nowster Graduate10]

It's totally dependent on what you're doing and on your height/leg length. My "pootling about" gait has a much shorter stride length than my sprinting one.

I'm almost 6ft tall. My natural cadence is about 175spm nowadays and the stride length varies from around 95cm when jogging to 150cm when sprinting.