Most coaches recognise that biokinetic capabilities are important in the `power` events of athletics: the sprints, hurdles, jumps and throws. There is a common misconception, however, that their role in the middle and long distance events is unimportant or insignificant While these events do require an emphasis on metabolic capacity over time, they also involve repeated brief, explosive 'spikes' in power output each time the foot contacts the ground. Although they make an important contribution to performance - the author calls them a 'fourth energy system'- the elastic response processes at work in the middle and long distance running stride tend to be ignored by coaches and in coach education curricula. Drawing on recent research this article discusses in detail the physical structures and mechanisms operating in the stride, why endurance runners need to improve certain fundamental movements, what might limit these movements and how to manage limitations. The author proposes that, along with a re-evaluation of the stretch-shortening cycle, related terminology, including biokinetic, aponeurosis, stiffness and the 'windlass mechanism' and the concept and function of the lower kinetic chain muscle-tendon-aponeurosis units (MTAUs) be introduced to coach education materials.
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