Running is the act by which animals, including human beings, move by the power of the feet. Speeds may vary and range from jogging to a sprint. A lot of individuals compete in track events that place participants in a contest to test speed in a sprint or endurance in a marathon. The running mechanics are the same, but additional factors are very different in a marathon versus a sprint. Sprints commonly are tested in track events including 100 m, 200 m or 400 m races. World-class athletes may finish these events in ten seconds, twenty seconds or forty-five seconds, respectively. A marathon is a race that's 26.2 miles long with world-class athletes completing the race in just over 2 hours. Scientific research has demonstrated that sprinters and marathoners have predominantly different muscle fiber types. Sprinters will have fast-twitch muscle fibers that create greater force and bear a faster contraction or response time. Marathoners have slow-twitch muscle fibers that create force slowly and remain contracted longer.
