Tenforde et al. 2019, Cadence, leg length and load rate

Study of 82 recreational rearfoot-strike runners in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. Leg length had a moderate negative association with cadence (r = 0.449; standardised β = −0.443), explaining only about 20% of the between-runner variation in cadence — so anatomy accounts for a minority of why runners differ in step rate, and cadence is largely individual.