Ellie was a seeded runner, meaning she got to start of in an early wave. The advantage is that she was able to get off the line quickly. Although it’s clear from the variance we see in both her Footstrike Type and her Contact Time that she was weaving her way through the crowd in the first 5K of the race.

Contrast this with Consistent Carl, who had to wind his way through the masses for the first few miles before he found his groove. We can see clearly in his Pace and Stride that he gets comfortable after the first 5K. Ultimately the busy start caused him to miss his 3:30 target by just 7 minutes.

Next Up…The Bridge