Ever tried running backwards? Meet Aaron Yoder, one of the world's fastest backward runners who can complete a reverse mile in five and a half minutes. He shares insights into the mechanics that enable such speed and velocity, why looking over your shoulder actually slows you down, and demonstrates just how fast he can run.Director: Charlie JordanDirector of Photography: Craig CampbellEditor: Richard TrammellExpert: Aaron YoderCreative Producer: Wendi JonassenLine Producer: Joseph BuscemiAssociate Producer: Brandon WhiteProduction Manager: D. Eric MartinezProduction Coordinator: Fernando DavilaCamera Operator: Dave LightnerSound Mixer: Larry BrewerProduction Assistant: Rick RaglowPost Production Supervisor: Alexa DeutschPost Production Coordinator: Ian BryantSupervising Editor: Doug LarsenAssistant Editor: Andy Morell
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TechTranscript
00:00 Ever tried running backwards?
00:02 What about running a mile backwards in five and a half minutes?
00:06 This man has.
00:08 That five minutes and thirty seconds backwards mile.
00:10 A lot of times people think maybe I ran the film in reverse.
00:14 I'm like no, I'm actually like literally running backwards.
00:17 Meet Aaron Yoder, one of the world's fastest backwards runners,
00:21 with that mile being about twice as fast as the average forwards runner.
00:25 And that's just one in a long list of backwards running accolades.
00:29 I had held three Guinness World Records, seven world titles,
00:34 ten American titles, and certainly more records to come.
00:38 Backwards running is certainly a niche sport,
00:43 just because it's so weird to think about.
00:46 Is it actually a thing?
00:48 I mean when I was in Germany doing my first world championships,
00:51 there's about a hundred athletes and probably a hundred spectators out there watching.
00:56 But even if the sport is obscure, Aaron loves going out to run
00:59 and always strives to grow as an athlete.
01:02 We're currently at Coronado Heights, right outside of Linsborg, Kansas.
01:06 And this is a great place that I use for doing my long runs.
01:10 I would say on a given day I run two to three miles backwards.
01:15 I try not to look behind because just like forward running,
01:19 if you are turning around and looking behind you, then that slows you down.
01:22 I simply make sure that the road is clear, then I just go after it.
01:27 I really have to trust myself and kind of run by faith.
01:30 You have to have a lot of belief that you're good. God's got you.
01:34 As far as the mechanics of backwards running, I'm lifting my feet up.
01:40 Another thing that I use as a cue is kicking a soccer ball.
01:43 So I'll bring that leg out in front, and then I'm lifting my foot up,
01:47 and I'm placing it back on the ground, making sure my foot is directly underneath my hips.
01:52 I'm trying to make sure as I make ground contact that my toe is up,
01:56 so I get a nice springboard.
01:58 There's a temptation to doing kind of a back pedal,
02:01 where you're bent over and you're kind of reaching back.
02:03 But when you're staying nice and tall, your balance is going to be enhanced.
02:07 Very similar to forward running, you don't want to be reaching back behind,
02:11 but simply lifting and pushing, maintaining good posture.
02:14 Don't want my head up in the sky or be looking straight down.
02:17 I'm basically just gazing about 20 meters in front, so I keep good neutral spine position.
02:23 Trying to keep my upper body nice and loose, driving my elbow backwards,
02:27 keeping my hands to the side, and really just staying nice and tall.
02:30 When I'm training for a distance run, I'm not lifting my feet up as much,
02:35 so I'm not activating the hip flexor and the quadricep quite as much as I would
02:40 if I was running at the track.
02:42 We're here at Bethany College track.
02:44 This is where I coach. This is where I train.
02:47 This is where all the magic happens.
02:49 Some of the big things that change with backwards running is the start.
02:53 Forward sprinters would start in a four-point stance.
02:57 Their lead leg and their strong leg is out in front,
03:00 and then they would be up in this position.
03:02 With backwards running, you can't really use blocks,
03:05 so I start in a two-point position, and whichever is your stronger leg,
03:10 for me it's my right, is in the back.
03:12 I make sure I'm up on the forefoot, the heels are up,
03:16 and then when I start, I try to swing my torso backwards.
03:19 That's what's in my mind when I'm trying to go as fast as humanly possible.
03:23 With that in mind, we decided to see just how fast Aaron can run.
03:27 I felt that.
03:31 Does it look fast?
03:35 It looks fast.
03:36 I need coaching, you know.
03:37 It looked fast.
03:38 I'm chasing the dragon.
03:40 Now I'm starting to run tense because I'm trying too hard.
03:43 Pushing himself to the limit, Aaron hit 12 miles per hour at a sprint,
03:48 which is a five-minute mile pace.
03:50 But as fast as Aaron now is, his retro running pursuits began with a setback.
03:55 When I was halfway through college, I banged my knee up,
03:58 had torn my meniscus, so I went in for surgery.
04:01 I started having some real issues, like just a lot of pain,
04:04 slowing down in my training, so I went back to running.
04:07 I went back to the doctor and said, "You got pretty bad arthritis.
04:11 I would recommend you never run again."
04:14 I remember that day I was at Coronado Heights,
04:16 just really trying to figure out how I can just get away from everything.
04:19 I remember on that particular day, it was almost as if God was saying,
04:22 "Just turn it around."
04:23 And so I went and ran four miles backwards with no pain.
04:27 The new dream became, "I'm going to train for six weeks and see where it takes me."
04:32 I remember thinking, "This is just a good type of exercise for me."
04:36 And I started looking, and it's like, "There's world championships.
04:39 There's world records."
04:40 I'm like, "Am I actually going to step up and make an attempt?"
04:43 Then on the first attempt, I broke the record.
04:45 [Aaron screams]
04:47 Maybe not a lot of people understand, like,
04:49 why would you want to put yourself through that pain?
04:51 Somebody who's going through a challenge in life, a student or an athlete,
04:55 they could maybe look at my perspective.
04:58 I know I'm at my best when I've put myself through some sort of challenge each day.
05:03 I think people should try running backwards because it's just a different overall perspective.
05:08 In American culture, we're goal-oriented and we're forward-driven,
05:12 so it allows you to think about how far I've come rather than how far I need to continue to go.
05:17 This is my office.
05:23 As a coach here and teacher at Bethany,
05:26 I have a lot of things that I'm really proud of in terms of what we've done as a team.
05:31 I have pictures of some teams that have qualified for nationals.
05:34 I definitely love backwards running, love being a world record holder,
05:38 but to me, what's more important is being able to teach and coach.
05:42 This time in their life is very important,
05:45 and I'm grateful to have the opportunity to hopefully inspire,
05:48 but certainly I get a lot of inspiration from working with everyone that I do.
05:53 And with his enthusiasm for coaching, Aaron volunteered to teach me to run backwards as fast as he can.
05:59 Ready to run backwards, Wendy?
06:01 That'll be my first time.
06:03 Okay, Wendy, you're on. Let's see what you got just from scratch.
06:06 Can I look behind me or should I keep looking straight?
06:08 You can maybe-- I would try to stay looking this way.
06:11 All right. You got some really good things that you're doing with posture,
06:17 but you started with the same leg and same arm out in front.
06:20 You know, we're not Mario characters running around like this.
06:23 Doing, doing. We run with a cross connection.
06:26 Your right leg's out in front, so then your left hand needs to be here.
06:29 So then when you start going, your arms are switching,
06:32 and then just start going backwards a little bit.
06:35 There we go. Hey, you can do it. You can do it.
06:38 So let's try it again.
06:40 There we go. There we go. There we go. That's pretty good. That's pretty good.
06:43 That's pretty good. There we go. Good. Good.
06:45 I'm bending this knee in the front because I'm still going to push off a little bit here.
06:49 You don't want to be already straight. That way you get a little bit of push off both legs.
06:53 Cool.
06:56 Look at that. Look at that. Just keep on doing it. Just keep on doing it.
07:00 I got it. I got it. I got it. Ah!
07:03 Yeah, I can do this. See? I look behind me.
07:06 Yeah, that's all right. There's a sandbag.
07:10 It's like there's a--
07:12 Well, I think I'm a professional. Let's race.
07:16 Let's go.
07:18 On your mark, get set, go.
07:21 [panting]
07:25 Boy, that's close. So close. That's close. That is so close.
07:28 That might need to go to the cameras. We need a photo finish here.
07:31 That might be hundreds of a second. I was right behind you.
07:34 So you beat me by a little bit. A couple feet, maybe.
07:38 A game of inches, a game of yards. That's right.
07:40 What if I run forward against you backwards? I like that. Yeah.
07:43 On your mark, get set, go.
07:47 [panting]
07:50 [laughter]
07:52 I'm really trying.
07:54 That one was actually a photo finish.
07:56 But if I actually lean backwards, I don't know if I want to do that.
07:59 There's no catching yourself. All right.
08:01 You're clearly a very fast backwards runner
08:03 because you are kind of at speed with my fastest forward running.
08:06 I think you did a great job and definitely presented a good challenge.
08:10 Maybe next time I'll be able to get you with the forward running.
08:13 Thank you so much, coach.
08:15 As much as he wins, winning is never the end goal for Aaron,
08:18 who has dedicated himself to backwards running as a true self-fulfilling passion.
08:23 I love running backwards.
08:24 Someone had mentioned at one point, well, you're just such a natural athlete,
08:28 you wouldn't even be good at backwards running if it wasn't for that.
08:30 The thing is, I'm not a natural backwards runner because it's not natural.
08:34 We're not designed to do that, but it does feel natural to me.
08:38 I certainly see backwards running growing.
08:40 If it becomes an Olympic sport, then maybe the NCAA picks up something like that
08:44 and then you have schools that can give people opportunities
08:47 that maybe they're not a good forward runner, but they're a great backwards runner.
08:50 Who would be the coach for that? It would be me.
08:53 (upbeat music)
08:55 [BLANK_AUDIO]