The brakeman pushes at the rear, runs around 50 metres and contributes most against inertia. What study and rules say, and why you practise with a coach.
The brakeman, the person at the end of the bob, pushes from behind at fixed handles and runs the longest distance. The honest answer to "Is that the most thankless job?": it is the most strength-sapping. The first study to describe the two-man bob start concluded: the brakeman makes the greatest contribution to overcoming the inertia of the sled. He runs around 50 metres and runs until the speed becomes too high to keep up [3].
In the study 15 two-man teams from the 2004 world championship, four start runs each, were analysed. All brakemen used the board attached to the track as support for both feet at the start [3]. The brakemen began the movement and gave the sled the first impulse; the pilots made only a small contribution [3]. Note: this is a video result from top teams, not an instruction. How you cope in this role as a beginner is decided at the push track, not on paper, and there the coach shows you step by step what suits you.
The rules say something too: the brakeman's handles are immovable and are 670 to 870 millimetres above the standing surface of the runner carriers [1]. The brakeman also has the brake: it is operated with two separately actuated handles, which in the four-man bob lie either side of the brakeman [1].
The brakeman pushes first and brakes last.
Entry criteria (practice standard):
The brakeman pushes behind the sled at fixed handles until the speed becomes too high for him, and then jumps in from behind [3]. His task is to get the sled rolling. He gives the first impulse and runs longest [3].
Milestone: You explain why the brakeman stands at the start of the chain.
All brakemen in the study put both feet on the board attached to the track at the start [3]. How exactly you place your foot there, how you push off and what your first step looks like you learn with the coach in the start house, not from a text.
Milestone: You know the start position and the first step from coach instruction.
Here too: start acceleration in the bob is hip-dominant, measurements of 15 elite athletes showed [4]. Your strength training relies on hip extensors, trunk and posterior chain, planned with a coach.
Milestone: You have a strength training plan with a hip focus.
The brakeman runs longest, but not alone. The crew starts together, and the pilot usually loads after 20 to 30 metres [3]. Because overspeed arises in the start section when top speed and gradient meet, the load on the back of the thigh and the posterior chain rises [2]. So sense of timing matters: the brakeman stays at the handle as long as he runs along, and waits for the moment of loading.
Milestone: You recognise the signal for loading from practice runs with a coach.
Braking is a task of its own: the brakeman operates the brake handles only after the finish line, as the specialist literature describes, he is responsible for braking the sled in the outrun once the finish line is crossed [2]. For how the brake is to be operated in detail, see the guide on braking in the outrun.
Milestone: You know the task of the brake and its timing.
Turn the start into a timetable: when you look at video of training starts you watch for the moment the pilot loads and for your grip. Whoever has seen the timing once feels it later. That is practice from training, not a study finding. Also discuss with the coach how you release your hands from the handle after loading and immediately find a secure hold again: that too is a moment to practise before it counts.
Because he makes the greatest contribution at the start to overcoming the inertia of the sled, and he runs until the speed is too high [3].
Around 50 metres in the two-man study [3]; the pilot runs 20 to 30 metres [3].
A support attached to the track, which all brakemen in the study used as a foothold for both feet [3].
Only after the finish line, in the outrun [2].
Sprint and strength foundations are a prerequisite. You clarify that at a try-out with a coach.
Loading the Side Push Athletes in the Four-Man Bob: Slotted In, Not Thrown In