Can a short person (5 ft) run a full marathon?

Question

I will try for half a marathon first, but I would love to be able to run a full one.

Answer 1

One of the female Best Marathoners in the world is a 4' something Japanese lady

Answer 2

The shortest person on my track team was around six inches shorter than me, and never failed to leave me in the dust.

Every single race.

Height is not a factor if you know what you are doing.

Infact, Haile Gebreselassie, who holds the world record for the fastest marathon and about 20 other world records in long distance racing, is only 5'3.

You could be the next great thing!

Answer 3

Of course you can do a marathon. Shorter people actually have an advantage because their stride is more efficeint. My XC coach is 5'2 and ran a marathon in 3:04 which is pretty good for a 23 year old woman. Also, Tirunesh Dibaba holds the 5k world record for women and is only 5 feet tall.

Answer 4

Height has nothing to do with running.

You can run as far as you train.

Answer 5

oh h**l yea. First off there's me, tiny as anything and up there for top feamale runners on my team. Then I have a twnety year old or so, friend, that is a runningaholic and she's amazing, she's probably about 4'10 or 4'11, real small but really fantastic. She does many marathons no problem and places i'm sure. Believe me babe, height has nothing to do with it. We may have short legs but we're at no disadvantage! The only place that being matters in running is when it's the oppenent coming short at the finish line!