Can tall or short people run better in Cross-Country?

Question

I am a girl Cross-Country high school runner. I am pretty short, only 5"1'. I was always told that tall people are able to run faster and more effieciently becuase of their long legs, and thus, longer strides. In fact, the best runners on our team are all over 5"7'!! Can I still be a good runner despite my height, or am I at a disadvantage because I am short? Do long legs really help you run faster? And what do you think is the ideal height for a (girl) cross-country runner? And for my basic question, who has an easier time running, short ot tall people? Sorry, I know these are a lot of questions, but thanks for helping!

Answer 1

height doesn't really matter..

with running, it depends on how hard you push yourself.

many times, I've seen the short guy beat out the guy that's tall.. and vice versa..it all depends on you..

Answer 2

you can be a relatively short person and still have long legs compared to your torso. you can also be taller and have shorter legs with a longer torso. yes, essentially people who have longer legs may have a bit of an advantage but they also may not have a very good stride simply because they are not running with proper form. there is so much more to running than your height or body size. if you insist that you are at a disadvantage because of your height, you are mentally disabling yourself. lots of things make up a distance runner: their mental attitude, confidence level, training, base, muscular strength, commitment level...etc etc. height is not an excuse to be faster or slower. i also run cross country and most of the girls on our varsity team average a height of about 5"4'. yes, you can be a good runner if you are shorter. as for an ideal height for a girl cross country runner? there is no such thing. good luck with your season.

Answer 3

having long doesnt make you FAST but it just helps u cover more ground per stride but if u work hard u can can be good

Answer 4

It is all about the efficiency of the stride, which is pretty independant of height.

However, people with disproportiantely long legs can achieve a better efficiency.

Don't worry about it, at the high school level, training is the key.  Just do your miles and success will follow.

Answer 5

If you're tall and your strides are longer, aren't you forced to expend more energy to stride longer?

Don't worry about height, just look at Leo Manzano, he's five foot five and beat Bernard Lagat, an Olympic medalist, in the 1500 meters at nationals last year.

Answer 6

hieght doesnt really matter...what does matter is your work ethic...work hard, dont give up, and you'll beat any tall slacker you can find

Answer 7

i'm also 5 foot 1 in. and i also do cross country. i'm in the top of the top 7 girls in varsity for my team. in my personal opinion, i don't think height matters in cross country. in fact, there's 1 tall runner (Christine Babcock ) who's nationally ranked, but then there's also many more like Alma Escobar (California) was short, but she ran really well, as well as Ashley Brasovan (Florida) and Jordan Hasay (California) are one of the top girls in cross country. sure, tall people can have longer strides, but short people can move their feet quickly, too. you just need to work harder than anyone else to become better and .. prove to your teammates and others that short people CAN run well! (: good luck!

Answer 8

Hi!

i am proudly 4' 9 and ive been doing cross country for 3 years, and i am number 2 rank on my team. it doesnt matter how tall you are, it matters on your determination, and mental strength!!

have fun, and dont worry about your height!!! =]

Answer 9

Long legs will increase the distance of your stride and that's about it. Honestly, I see more successful short female runners than I do taller female runners. Your height doesn't matter much in distance. But in sprinting it will give an advantage because of the length of stride of course. I'd say it's just as easy running short as it is tall, except for sprinting.

Answer 10

height doesnt matter

Answer 11

height doesn't matter in regards to running; just recently in an NCAA men's track meet, the winner from University of Texas won the 1500m and was also the shortest; he was in the lead for the whole race; I think he may qualify for the olympics.

I'm a pretty short guy too and I blow past people whenever I run; I'm only 5'4 and run about 6:20 mile; and I'm definitely not a cross country runner either.

Answer 12

This really isn't necessarily true. On my cross country team, the second shortest girl on the team is the fastest! I'm 5'5" and I'm second, and the tallest girl on our team is the slowest! I mean, we either have it backwards of height really has nothing to do with it. And I'm pretty sure it's the latter. Work hard and you could do amazing. Really, being taller might help some people, but being 5'1" should be no detriment to your running.

Answer 13

Being tallor short doesn't make better distance runners. One of my friends, he'll be in 10th grade this upcomming year, he's not over 5 feet, but his 2 mile time for track is 10 minutes and 19 seconds. I also know really good distance runners that are taller. There really is no ideal height for running. It all depends on how train. For everyday you don't train there's someone out there who is training. When you face that person on a course, he'll win. My friend trains his butt off year round...60-90 miles every week on average. He's 14 almost 15.