Does haircut effect running much?

Question

i have long hair for a guy and a few people on my cross country team say i should get a haircut so i could get a better time. i also do track (400m). just wondering about how much faster my time would be.

Answer 1

It doesn't make a huge amount of difference to running but it is better if you have your hair short so then it doesn't get into your eyes and annoy you  

Answer 2

Yes it does. The hair will not distract you

Answer 3

since you said you have longer hair, it'll make a difference, when you get a haircut you'll feel lighter on your head and when you run you dont have to pull your head back and cause yourself the race

Answer 4

It's a huge difference. It creates drag and adds time (even if it's very little it's still significant). With long hair you are going to have to run harder to try and shave off seconds that you wouldn't have if your hair was not an issue. I would know from 7 years of xc and 6 years of track. I ran a sub 4:30 mile and a 16 minute 5k

Answer 5

No not necessary, it makes you feel lighter, but it doesn't have a big impact on your running, you will still be fast if you were fast before or slow if you were slow before, it's about practice, how hard you train, how much you want to reach your goal and stuff, not about the weight of your hair, and the weight of you hair is probably really light anyways. I usually tie my hair up, but some people who are really fast still have their hair down, and they win races as well, it's crazy, but one's hair doesn't really have a big impact on how one races.

Answer 6

Not really. It might slow you down a fraction of a second but not that much more.

Answer 7

It depends how long it is. If it's to long than gets in your face.

Answer 8

Nah, doesn't matter. If you run the 100 or 200, then it'll add just a little time, but not enough to make a difference. In XC, there's no point. The best runner on my team had really long hair.