At long last I have made it in to the middle third (instead of the bottom third) in my weekly NYRRC (new york city road runners... you know they do the big marathon) races. But, I swear to god, my short legs are holding me back. ( People often comment "for some one with such truck-like times you *look* like you are running real fast. )

For fun, they should divide racers times by 1/(inseam) and see who's short and workin' it.

NEW SCORE = your time / (1 * AVG inseam/ your inseam)
-- futurebird, Mar 18 2002

no, because a runner will need to use more energy to move a 150kg body for 10miles than a 60kg body for the same distance, however it's not the number of joules she's comparing, it's the cardiac exercise. For two people with the same weight will use a very similar amount of energy to shift their mass across the same distance - take that as your basic measurement. But the runner with the shorter legs will have to take more steps and so the additional effort (but not necessarily energy, if her technique is good) is what she's trying to quantify, and if not quantify, at least normalise around that additional expense of effort.
I would just have a question; when you say average do you mean the crude average or the middle of the distribution of inseam lengths? Would love to see this statistic if possible; but I suspect that nervous runners might not appreciate old man race marshals measuring their inseam at the start of the race. And sooo much opportunity for cheating (mate, would you go and pick up my race number? you have shorter legs than me and I want to improve my inseam-normalised time...)
-- sappho, Mar 18 2002


Then we would have to make adjustments to all sports. In basketball, hoop height changes depending on who is shooting, similar in volleyball, tennis etc..
-- dag, Mar 18 2002


There would need to be a complete allowance for foot size as well, flexibility etc. Shorter legs=more steps per minute. That's life (unfair).
-- rbl, Mar 18 2002


Basketball; tall hoops, but then tall guys, so what's the point.
-- angel, Mar 19 2002


Long legs. Yes indeed.
-- waugsqueke, Mar 19 2002


futurebird AKA the worlds fastest halfbaker, you are grading yourself on a steep curve - that is some formidable competition in NYC and you should be proud of yourself for having made such progress in their ranks already. Sings "Inchworm"
-- thumbwax, Mar 22 2002


Stilts. Or, Inspector Gadget legs.
-- RayfordSteele, Mar 22 2002


Throw lung capacity in there too.
-- mrthingy, Mar 23 2002



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