[Biomechanical characteristics of endurance running]

Over the years, running as a means of locomotion has raised the scientific curiosity of man (Amar, 1920). The advent of modern techniques of investigation such as high speed cinematography and force plates makes the analysis of the data more efficient. The last decade has been particularly fruitful in that respect. The purpose of this study was to measure the biomechanical variations associated with an increase in running speed. The most significant factors related to the increase of running speed were also studied. Twenty subjects of both sexes were selected for the study. They were required to run at seven different velocities, ranging between 12.1 and 19.3 km/h. Cinematographic and force platform data were collected as the subjects were running at prescribed speed, around a 200 m track. This study has shown that three variables related to the running cycle accounted for 90% of the variance in running velocity. A factorial analysis revealed also that two factors made up exclusively of temporal variables accounted for more than 60% of the variance; a third factor, saturated with the dynamic variables accounted for over 25% of the variance.