I used to believe what the three of you are all quoting above. It is common perception to believe that we are doing all the work on our own. This is the traditional, well known, common sense, instinctive and thoroughly conventional understandign. However, since studying further, I have come to realize that it is not just us that’s doing all the work. I can assure you, that althought the astronuats hopped and jumped quite high on the moon, despite their very heavy suits, they could not do a fast horizonatal leg speed of the support leg in any running motion. It is not that the moon is all ‘dusty and slippery’. You could run faster in a well raked sand pit than you could on the moon. Bob Hayes 1964 gravel track in lane one, pissed on by half an hour of rain, would not provide much more friction than moon surface, except that the running track was on earth where the gravity is six times that of the moon. I can assure you, that without the gravity, there would be very little horizontal speed in running. It is not just a case of not being ‘pulled back to the ground quick enough’ on the moon, as suggested by some one above. On the contrary, when the astronuats walked on the moon, with atleast one foot on the ground at any time, they walked very slowly, and could not generate hardly any horizonatal limb velocity. When they tried to run, it was practically impossible. Are you still telling me that gravity does not, in some way, greatly assist in sprinting speed. If you are, then I’m afraid it is you, that is failing to grasp the influance of gravity.
My understanding of physics is not lacking. I used to think the way you’re thinking about it, but I don’t think that way about it anymore.