Tom Cruise’s Running Form Is Famous. But Is It Good?

When Tom Cruise runs in movies, his arms slice rapidly through the air, elbows locked at a sharp right angle, fingers spread wide. His knees are high, posture rod-straight—unless he’s dodging a bullet or explosive, which he does often. Most of all, he moves fast. 

“It’s always just a complete all-out sprint,” said Ned Trim, the head coach of the Mile High Run Club in New York City. “He’s never running at an efficient, economical pace.” 

Cruise’s running form is an on-screen trademark that rivals Jack Nicholson’s maniacal laugh and John Travolta’s killer dance moves. 

Of the many movies Cruise, 61, has acted in, the run is most closely associated with the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, in which he’s played field agent Ethan Hunt since 1996. Some fans joked on social media that the run was the main reason they planned to see its seventh installment, “Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One,” which was released on July 12. 

Cruise’s technique is certainly dramatic and distinctive. But is he actually good at running? 

Bobby McGee, an Olympic running coach in Boulder, Colo., and creator of the RunForm training program, said Cruise’s ability to keep his chest down and head forward is characteristic of an elite runner. His 100-meter time has been calculated at around 11.5 seconds, McGee said, “which is a world-class high-school-girl kind of time.” 

“He’s got a high cadence,” McGee added, referring to the number of steps Cruise takes per minute, “which makes him much more believable than, say, a Hemsworth, who has a longer sort of stride.” 

Lee Saxby, a running coach and biomechanist in the U.K., said that despite his age, Cruise could be a “poster boy” for sprinting mechanics. “Sprinters tend to peak in their late 20s,” said Saxby. “It’s exceptional what he’s doing.” 

At the “Dead Reckoning” premiere, Cruise told “Entertainment Tonight” he didn’t know why fans are so excited to see him run. “But I’m honored that you are!” he said. “I was born running. I came out with a sprint. My mom was trying to hold onto me, and she just couldn’t get a hold.” Through a representative, Cruise declined to comment. 

A couple of running coaches offered constructive feedback for the actor, who remains committed to doing his own stunts even as he approaches senior citizenship. 

“He tends to really tense up when he’s running,” said Trim, the Mile High Run Club coach. “You look at top-level sprinters, and it’s all about staying relaxed. The more relaxed your body is, the more you’re not getting in the way of the function of your muscles.” 

Trim said that when Cruise runs, “you see every vein popping, stuff like that—which I think totally adds to the drama,” but could be hurting his time. 

Ben Rosario, the executive director of the Hoka Northern Arizona Elite professional running team, said Cruise might also consider loosening up his hands, which are “always very rigid.”

“If you watch most runners, their hands are very relaxed,” said Rosario. “One of the things we teach young runners is to act like they’re carrying a potato chip between their thumb and their forefinger and they can’t let it break. You’re just barely touching your thumb to your forefinger.” 

Olympic running coach McGee likened Cruise’s flat palms to those of nine-time Olympic gold medal winner Carl Lewis. He said that Cruise is probably an even better runner now than he was in the earlier “Mission: Impossible” movies. The actor’s compact frame helps, McGee said.

“Normally a taller runner has to work much harder to get their core strong enough to control their length, because the distance between the bottom of their rib cage and the top of their pelvis is great,” he said. “Tom is smaller. It makes him look so much more effective because he’s got the shorter levers and so on.” 

“He does a good job with what he has,” McGee said. “He’s really an athlete.”

Write to Lane Florsheim at [email protected]