Ground reaction force (GRF) can provide useful information such as vertical stiffness (K_vert) to practitioners working with runners and sprinters, but high equipment costs are hindering applied research. Low-cost portable force platforms may be a useful alternative to traditional biomechanical equipment. Moderately trained runners (n = 9) completed overground running trials at various speeds (2.15-5.78 m/s), K_vert was determined, and a linear regression was used to characterize the relationship between K_vert and running speed. The results showed moderate to high correlation (r2 = 0.54 to 0.87). At 3.9 m/s (14 km/h), the widest regression model confidence interval was 4.4%, which shows this procedure likely provides adequate reliability. Future research should continue to investigate the use of low-cost portable force platforms for measuring running GRF.
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