Those of you who have never seen the inside of a research lab while data is being collected from a high-speed treadmill run might find the following as fascinating as I did:

http://www.bearpowered.com/images/rice_lab_1.wmv

I took a video of the action on my digital camera. You can tell by the almost cartoonish action of the subject's legs that it would require high speed videography to clearly see the actual movements.

The belt was traveling in excess of twenty miles per hour when the subject placed himself on the apparatus; no easy task for the faint of heart... 

When watching a performance like the video, it never ceases to amaze how any coach can claim that they are able to detect flaws in a runners form while watching a live race. Even more amazing are television announcers who are able to see the difference in stride rate between two individuals sprinting in excess of twenty five miles per hour (especially since their swing times would differ less than 0.04 seconds!).

Yeah, right.

On the left side of the picture Dr. Weyand is watching to make sure that the runner doesn't have any problem and that he takes the required number of steps without drifting backwards on the belt. In addition to Weyand's observation, there's a high-speed video camera as well as data collection apparatus (neither is visible from this angle).

The noise generated from the subject contacting the treadmill (driven of course by the effects of gravity) was incredibly loud! Force plate measurements during treadmill runs on this particular subject have exceeded three and a half times his bodyweight. No wonder the noise level is so high!

In case you are wondering, these high-speed treadmills are designed specifically for research purpose, cost in the neighborhood of two hundred fifty thousand dollars and the belt can move up to forty miles per hour. In other words, these are not the treadmills found at the local fitness gym!

Barry Ross