How much does height affect your time in track events such as 400m 800m 1600m and 3200m and a 5k?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Question

ive been wondering this for a while because I have allways been the short guy in 6th grade i was 4'6'' and my best mile was a 5:52 i think...however now 5 year later im 5'6'' I can run a 4:50 mile.In the last 5 years I never had a big groth spurt ive grown about 2.4 inches every year, so my question is if i keep growing 2 inches every year how strongly will it effect my track results.... im really trying to figure this out because one of teachers said that stride length is so important and that if I keep growing I should get allot better. so here are my times

200m like 24.5-26 my coach timed me during sprint drills

400m 54.9 did it twice

800m 2:06.5 my main race (I really want to improve to 2 flat)

1600m 4:50

3200m- 11:00

5k- 17:40 ill never do that race again

so I have two more years in highschool and again im just looking for some advice and imput or just some guesses to what I can improve to.

thank you in advance and sorry for long question

Answer 1

Some of the fastest runners I know are about your height. Prefrontainte wasn't that tall, (5'8") and he at one time help almost all the long distance national records. Gerry Lindgren was TINY (He couldn't even open his high school door in the beginning) and he was amazing as well (one of the best high school runners ever 4:01 mile) . I know a seventh grader that ran a 1600 under 5 minutes and is 4' 5"  

-Yes if you are taller you have a longer stride, but you also have to carry more weight... Being taller is better for sprints but it doesn't really matter if you are a long distance runner. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

If you are trying to become a good sprinter I would suggest that you lift weights. If you are trying to become a long distance runner avoid heavy weights. But if you really want to lift small amount but many reps. The key to being a good 800 meters runner and up is RUN  ALOT!! GOOD LUCK !!!

Answer 2

height doesn't have very much effect. Consider that in addition to growing in height over the past 5 years your body as a whole has grown in strength not to mention that is 5 years of training and so your growth probably has had minimal effects on your performance.

All of the fast Kenyans are like 5'6" and under and Craig Mottram from Australia is like 6'3" and they run about the same speed. It has more to do with training, technique and form than height. These things can affect stride length in more pronounced ways than just having longer legs.

Answer 3

I don't think height is so much of a concern. I would say conditioning is more important.

Answer 4

Height doesn't effect times.I was a  16yr old girl  4ft 11 and in the top 10 in the uk for the 100m.Just keep training hard as they say practise makes perfect.Get with a good coach it makes all the difference.