Want To Run Faster? Try Focusing Your Eyes Straight Ahead

To boost your running performance, try this simple tip: Keep your eyes on the finish line.

Research shows that narrowing your focus while running, especially as you get closer to the end, can help you run faster and push harder.

A 2025 review of six prior studies published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin examined nearly 1,600 runners and found that this “attentional narrowing” is a powerful mental strategy.

The studies included surveys of elite and casual runners, as well as experiments in which runners were asked to focus either narrowly or broadly during their runs.

“The findings offer a low-cost and simple way to improve running performance — merely by adjusting how we direct our attention,” study author Shana Cole, associate professor of psychology at Rutgers University-New Brunswick in New Jersey, said in a news release.

Runners who narrowed their attention, meaning they looked straight ahead rather than observing their surroundings, tended to run faster and showed signs of greater physical effort.

“Looking at one spot ahead of you — rather than around you — can help you keep going,” said lead author Emily Balcetis, an associate professor of psychology at New York University.

In the experiments, some runners were asked to focus narrowly throughout their run, while others were told to narrow their attention only near the end. All of the runners ran either 400 meters or one mile.

In all cases, those who narrowed their attention ran at a faster pace than those who didn’t. Their heart rates were also higher than their usual, suggesting greater physical effort.

The researchers found that elite runners and faster athletes reported using this strategy more than casual runners.

“The studies show that narrowing attention isn’t just correlated with performance,” said co-author Corey Guenther, a psychology professor at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. “It actively enhances it.”

So next time you run, it might help to pick a spot ahead — then keep your eyes on it until you reach it.

More information

UNC Health Talk has more on healthy running.

SOURCE: Rutgers University-New Brunswick, news release, June 26, 2025