Sprinter Vs. Marathoner

Long after running ceased to be a necessity for sheer survival, human beings have enjoyed testing the limits of their foot speed. This can mean maximum speed over a very short distance, or sustained running over long distances. The physiological requirements for success in the sprints differ vastly from those needed to reach top performance in the 26.2-mile marathon.

  1. Limits of Human Performance

    • As of late 2013, the world records for men and women in the 100-meter dash -- the shortest sprint in outdoor track and field -- were 9.58 and 10.49 seconds respectively, while those for the marathon were 2:03:23 and 2:15:25 respectively. From these numbers, it's evident that women lag behind men by about 10 percent across the range of common race distances. In contrast, the median times for the nearly half-million finishers of U.S. marathons in 2012 were 4:17:43 for men and 4:42:58 for women -- more than twice as slow as the world's best runners.

    Physical Characteristics of a Sprinter

    • A glance at the field in any elite-level sprint race reveals that sprinters are archetypal athletes -- lean, muscular and all but oozing an aura of raw power. More important than appearances, however, is the composition of sprinters' muscles. Muscle fibers can be divided into fast-twitch and slow-twitch types. According to Competitor Online, most people are born with about equal numbers of each, but world-class sprinters typically have 65 to 85 percent fast-twitch fibers, which rely on anaerobic metabolism and are therefore speed-oriented. You can't drastically alter the ratio of fast- to slow-twitch fibers with which you're born, so sprinters -- and distance runners -- are closer to being born, rather than made.

    Physical Characteristics of a Marathoner

    • Marathon runners come in all shapes and sizes, but the best performers are invariably very lean and usually light for their height. They tend to carry little extra muscle, since they don't need the type of power that sprinters require. World-class marathoners usually have 65 to 85 percent slow-twitch muscle fibers, which rely on aerobic metabolism and are, therefore, endurance-oriented. For the same reason that a world record-holder in the 100 meters will never be a threat at long distances, the world's top marathoners could most likely never excel at distances even as long as a mile.

    Training for Sprints Vs. Long Distances

    • As you might expect, training for runners is event-specific. Sprinters emphasize the strengths needed in events lasting well under a minute, while distance runners focus on building the endurance required to maintain a quick pace for more than two hours. Sprinters train by performing sprint drills, lifting weights, doing plyometric exercises, and with active and passive stretching. In contrast, distance runners concern themselves with covering as much ground per day as they safely can at moderate to fast paces, with only a tiny fraction of training dedicated to all-out or almost all-out speed work.