Jon Mott set his marathon PR—a 2:17:20—on the famously flat and speedy course of the Berlin Marathon in 2022. Then, a few months later, he traveled to Boston for 26.2, feeling equally confident in his training, but was punished by the repeated hills and fell well short of his goal. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier and run coach at Runnersfix.
On flat, rhythmic courses, he could open up his stride and cruise, letting his powerful gait carry him through the finish line with little interruption. But on hilly courses, he noticed runners, who could more easily shorten their stride and adjust their turnover, often seemed better equipped to handle the change of pace that comes with an undulating course. Mott now uses this observation as a coaching lens with the runners he trains.
He sees some athletes as more stride-oriented—like himself—and others as more cadence-oriented. These designations aren’t fixed labels or an automatic explanation for every race result, but they offer a clue into a runner’s strengths and weaknesses. Generally, stride runners excel on flat courses but need more hill-specific preparation, while cadence runners tend to handle hills well but need more practice on flat terrain.
Here’s how to identify the pattern in your own running, why knowing your tendency could help you run your next race faster, and how to use this finding to prepare more intentionally for your next race. In Mott’s framework, stride runners succeed at fast paces by lengthening their stride while keeping their cadence relatively steady across all speeds. Cadence runners get faster mainly by taking more steps per minute, with a less pronounced change in stride length.
Mott first came across this distinction a few years ago while looking for a new racing shoe and comparing the 2024 edition of Asics’s Metaspeed Edge and Sky models. Drawing on data from its sports-science institute, Asics separated runners who primarily lengthen their stride as they speed up from those who primarily increase their step rate, Runner’s World previously reported. The company also found that stride runners tended to land closer to the midfoot or forefoot, while cadence runners more often had smoother turnover and favored more of a heel strike.
This helped Mott confirm the patterns he had noticed in his own races, and then he expanded that idea into his clients’ plans, using it to help figure out their strengths and where they might need more practice. Cadence runners, in Mott’s view, flourish on courses with frequent changes in terrain. Because they rely more on step frequency to get faster, Mott believes they can more readily adjust their turnover.
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