Is the rearfoot pattern the most frequently foot strike pattern among recreational shod distance runners?

OBJECTIVE: To determine the distribution of the foot strike patterns among recreational shod runners and to compare the personal and training characteristics between runners with different foot strike patterns.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.

SETTING: Areas of running practice in São Paulo, Brazil.

PARTICIPANTS: 514 recreational shod runners older than 18 years and free of injury.

OUTCOMES MEASURES: Foot strike patterns were evaluated with a high-speed camera (250 Hz) and photocells to assess the running speed of participants. Personal and training characteristics were collected through a questionnaire.

RESULTS: The inter-rater reliability of the visual foot strike pattern classification method was 96.7% and intra-rater reliability was 98.9%. 95.1% (n = 489) of the participants were rearfoot strikers, 4.1% (n = 21) were midfoot strikers, and four runners (0.8%) were forefoot strikers. There were no significant differences between strike patterns for personal and training characteristics.

CONCLUSION: This is the first study to demonstrate that almost all recreational shod runners were rearfoot strikers. The visual method of evaluation seems to be a reliable and feasible option to classify foot strike pattern.