Run With Your Mind

Is the brain more important than muscle when it comes to athletic performance? A unique new study into naked running has thrown up some interesting results...

- Jane Murphy

Whether you’re training for your first Parkrunor 10th marathon, chances are you rely on technology to help motivate and guide you through your run. A wealth of apps now enable you to see at a glance how far, fast and where you’ve run, how many calories you’ve burned and how other fitness markers, such as your heart rate, are faring. And many of us also swear by our motivational running playlist. Indeed, Brunel University research has shown that listening to up-tempo music during a run can improve performance by up to 15 per cent.

But have you ever wondered what would happen if you did away with all external stimuli – including music and technology – and simply ran ‘naked’ without distractions? This was the question that inspired the recent ASICS Blackout Track Experiment. Ten seasoned runners (from the fastest marathon runner in Great Britain to fitness influencer Emily Abbate) each ran two 5km courses around the same 150m track, but in very different conditions. First, they completed the ‘lights on’ course – with music playing, crowds cheering and constant feedback about distance covered and lap times. Five hours later, they ran the same course but in ‘blackout’ conditions – with dim lighting, ‘white noise’ muffling any sounds, no motivation or encouragement and no feedback from technology.

‘Stripping a run of technology and other distractions encourages the mind to work harder on how you feel’

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