Hi John,
I remember discussing this elsewhere in this forum when I was working out my own runner locations. Since the angle of the runner to the mast is going to be wider than the angle of the forestay to the mast, the runner will always be under less strain. Also, the lowers that land where the forestay attaches will bleed off some strain as well. What it boiled down to was landing it where you could most easily reach it from the cockpit without getting tangled up in everything. Brion strongly recommends reeving a one-piece runner through a turning block to the nearest handy winch, which means having a really strong turning-block attachment point (and correspondingly strong block) and a good lead to the winch. If you go with a tackle, check out those double-grooved rings Colligo makes now. No moving parts, and perfect for low-movement tackles. Wish I'd seen them before buying Antal's Low-friction rings.
I'm sure others will weigh in soon with better advice and corrections.
Ben
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