diff --git a/docs/ISSUES.md b/docs/ISSUES.md
index 01cffdbe..585a0bf9 100644
--- a/docs/ISSUES.md
+++ b/docs/ISSUES.md
@@ -156,22 +156,30 @@ first, don't guess the format string.
 
 ## #266 — Local player faster than a comparable retail character
 
-**Status:** OPEN — needs a controlled comparison capture
+**Status:** CLOSED 2026-07-30 — root cause: ACE-inherited `>= 800` misread
+of retail's exact-equality run-rate sentinel
 **Severity:** HIGH (matrix live gate 2026-07-30; core speed parity)
-**Component:** movement / stat chain (Campaign P P1) / outbound speed
+**Component:** movement / `MovementSystem.GetRunRate`
 
-**Symptom (user report):** side-by-side, the acdream character runs
-visibly faster than a character on retail. Confounds to rule out first:
-(a) unequal run skills/vitae between the two characters; (b) whether the
-comparison retail char had buffs. Diagnosis plan: log both chars' run
-skill + vitae + computed runRate; capture our GetRunRate inputs
-(effective skill after EnchantSkill, burden) at the moment of comparison;
-verify ACE's echoed ForwardSpeed matches what we apply locally
-(ApplyServerRunRate) and what retail applies for the same skill. Suspect
-list: effective-skill vitae application on the LOCAL run path,
-run-rate-cap difference, or an uneven comparison.
+**Root cause:** retail `MovementSystem::GetRunRate` (0x006b0950) returns
+18/4 = 4.5 ONLY when runSkill == 800 EXACTLY (byte-decoded `fcom [800f];
+test ah, 0x44; jp` — the C2/C3 parity equality idiom; <, >, and unordered
+all take the general formula). ACE misread the same x87 mush as
+`>= 800` ("max run speed?") and our P1 port inherited it via the
+ACE cross-reference. Every maxed character therefore ran a flat 4.5
+(retail-true ~3.70) — ~21% too fast and completely vitae-independent,
+because both the vitae-reduced and unreduced skill sat above 800. The
+controlled comparison (33%-vitae +Acdream vs 5%-vitae +Je, both maxed)
+showed acdream faster while retail runs them within ~0.4% — exactly the
+formula's prediction. The vitae/enchantment chain itself was verified
+intact end-to-end via [stat-chain] live capture (vitae 0.67 installed →
+eff run 10200 → applied to controller).
 
----
+**Fix:** `==` restores the general formula for all non-800 skills;
+golden tests pin 799/800/801 straddle + the maxed-skill vitae
+differential; `docs/research/2026-07-30-stat-coupled-movement-pseudocode.md`
+§6 corrected with the full byte decode and an explicit "do not re-import
+ACE's >= reading" warning.
 
 ## #265 — Steep-slope response set: uphill-jump bounce, roof slides lost, edge wedge (TS-4 removal fallout — REVERTED)
 
diff --git a/docs/research/2026-07-30-stat-coupled-movement-pseudocode.md b/docs/research/2026-07-30-stat-coupled-movement-pseudocode.md
index 77b9cb65..1e0496c0 100644
--- a/docs/research/2026-07-30-stat-coupled-movement-pseudocode.md
+++ b/docs/research/2026-07-30-stat-coupled-movement-pseudocode.md
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ AP-127):
 
 `GetRunRate` (0x006b0950) and the `arg3!=0` (PK) branch of `JumpStaminaCost`
 (0x006b0a40) have their GENERAL-CASE arithmetic entirely dropped by BN (only
-the `EncumbranceSystem::LoadMod`/`800`-skill-cap calls and the `arg3==0`
+the `EncumbranceSystem::LoadMod`/`800`-skill-compare calls and the `arg3==0`
 ceil expression survive uncollapsed — the same information-loss class as the
 x87 mush, just total rather than partial). **ACE is the cross-reference
 tiebreaker for those two spots** (`references/ACE/Source/ACE.Server/Physics/
@@ -213,13 +213,26 @@ citation style (`PlayerWeenie.cs`'s pre-P1 doc comments already said
 "decompiled + ACE MovementSystem" for these two formulas — nothing new here,
 just now with a named-decomp address alongside):
 
-- `GetRunRate(load, skill, scaling) = skill>=800 ? 18/4 : ((LoadMod(load) * (skill/(skill+200)*11) + 4) / scaling) / 4` —
-  matches acdream's pre-existing `PlayerWeenie.GetRunRate` exactly (which
-  hardcoded `scaling=1`); the true retail signature carries a 3rd
-  `scaling` arg (confirmed by the decomp's own function signature), and
-  every known call site (`InqMaxRunRate`, `InqRunRate`) passes `1f` — so
-  porting the full signature is free (no behavior change), just closer to
-  the retail surface for future callers.
+- `GetRunRate(load, skill, scaling) = skill==800 ? 18/4 : ((LoadMod(load) * (skill/(skill+200)*11) + 4) / scaling) / 4` —
+  **§12c correction (#266, 2026-07-30): the 800 branch is EXACT EQUALITY,
+  not `>=`.** Raw byte decode of 0x006b0950 (PDB-paired binary):
+  `fild skill; fcom [0x00803b94 = 800f]; fnstsw ax; test ah, 0x44; jp
+  0x6b097f` — the C2/C3 parity idiom in which `jp` (general path) fires
+  for `<`, `>`, AND unordered; the `fld [18f]; fdiv [4f]; ret` fall-through
+  executes only when C3=1/C2=0, i.e. skill == 800 exactly. The general
+  path decodes instruction-by-instruction to
+  `(LoadMod(load) * (skill/(skill+200)*11) + 4) / scaling / 4`
+  (constants 200f @0x00803b8c, 11f @0x00803b88, 4f @0x007c6174, /scaling
+  from `[esp+0xc]`, final /4f @0x00803b80). **ACE's `>= 800` "max run
+  speed?" reading is a misread of the same mush and must not be used as a
+  tiebreaker here** — it flat-lined every maxed character at 4.5 (retail
+  general formula gives ~3.70) and erased the vitae speed differential
+  (#266: 33%-vitae +Acdream visibly outran 5%-vitae +Je in acdream while
+  retail runs them within ~0.4%). `InqMaxRunRate`'s skill=9999 probe gets
+  the general formula (~3.6961), not 4.5. The true retail signature
+  carries a 3rd `scaling` arg (confirmed by the decomp's own function
+  signature), and every known call site (`InqMaxRunRate`, `InqRunRate`)
+  passes `1f`.
 - `GetJumpHeight(load, skill, extent, scaling)` — BN's extent-clamp
   micro-branch (pc 006b09b0-006b09ca) is the SAME x87-mush pattern as §3;
   ACE's `Math.Clamp(extent, 0, 1)` is the tiebreaker (matches the EXISTING
diff --git a/src/AcDream.Core/Physics/MovementSystem.cs b/src/AcDream.Core/Physics/MovementSystem.cs
index 6cf7e020..0b378cb3 100644
--- a/src/AcDream.Core/Physics/MovementSystem.cs
+++ b/src/AcDream.Core/Physics/MovementSystem.cs
@@ -25,13 +25,28 @@ namespace AcDream.Core.Physics;
 public static class MovementSystem
 {
     /// <summary>
-    /// <c>MovementSystem::GetRunRate</c> 0x006b0950. Retail-verified 800-skill
-    /// cap (<c>InqMaxRunRate</c> passes skill=9999 to reach this cap); general
-    /// case ACE-cross-referenced (BN dropped the arithmetic, see class doc).
+    /// <c>MovementSystem::GetRunRate</c> 0x006b0950. The 800 branch is an
+    /// EXACT-EQUALITY sentinel, not a cap: raw byte decode of the PDB-paired
+    /// binary (#266, 2026-07-30) shows <c>fild skill; fcom [800f]; fnstsw;
+    /// test ah, 0x44; jp general</c> — the C2/C3 parity idiom that falls
+    /// through to <c>18/4</c> ONLY when skill == 800 (&lt;, &gt;, and
+    /// unordered all take the general path). <c>InqMaxRunRate</c> (0x00591b20)
+    /// passes skill=9999 and therefore gets the general formula's ~3.6961,
+    /// NOT 4.5. The general-path arithmetic is byte-verified
+    /// instruction-by-instruction: <c>(loadMod * (skill/(skill+200) * 11) +
+    /// 4) / scaling / 4</c>.
     /// </summary>
+    /// <remarks>
+    /// ACE's <c>MovementSystem.GetRunRate</c> reads this branch as
+    /// <c>&gt;= 800</c> ("max run speed?") — that is ACE's misread of the
+    /// same x87 mush, NOT a tiebreaker. Porting <c>&gt;=</c> made every
+    /// maxed character run a flat 4.5 (vs retail's ~3.70) and erased the
+    /// vitae speed differential entirely (#266). Do not "fix" this back
+    /// from ACE.
+    /// </remarks>
     public static float GetRunRate(float burden, int runSkill, float scaling = 1f)
     {
-        if (runSkill >= 800)
+        if (runSkill == 800)
             return 18f / 4f;
 
         float loadMod = EncumbranceSystem.LoadMod(burden);
diff --git a/src/AcDream.Core/Physics/PlayerWeenie.cs b/src/AcDream.Core/Physics/PlayerWeenie.cs
index 8a895a49..6740a8ef 100644
--- a/src/AcDream.Core/Physics/PlayerWeenie.cs
+++ b/src/AcDream.Core/Physics/PlayerWeenie.cs
@@ -200,7 +200,8 @@ public sealed class PlayerWeenie : IWeenieObject
 
     /// <summary>
     /// RunRate = (burdenMod * (runSkill / (runSkill + 200)) * 11 + 4) / 4.
-    /// Capped at 4.5 when runSkill >= 800. Thin forwarder to
+    /// Returns 4.5 only for the retail skill == 800 sentinel (byte-decoded
+    /// exact-equality branch, #266 — NOT a cap). Thin forwarder to
     /// <see cref="MovementSystem.GetRunRate"/> — kept for source
     /// compatibility with existing golden-value tests.
     /// </summary>
diff --git a/tests/AcDream.Core.Tests/Physics/MovementSystemTests.cs b/tests/AcDream.Core.Tests/Physics/MovementSystemTests.cs
index cd9e6773..9b339a30 100644
--- a/tests/AcDream.Core.Tests/Physics/MovementSystemTests.cs
+++ b/tests/AcDream.Core.Tests/Physics/MovementSystemTests.cs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+using System;
 using AcDream.Core.Physics;
 using Xunit;
 
@@ -11,10 +12,29 @@ namespace AcDream.Core.Tests.Physics;
 public class MovementSystemTests
 {
     [Fact]
-    public void GetRunRate_Skill800Cap_Returns4Point5()
+    public void GetRunRate_Skill800Sentinel_IsExactEqualityOnly()
     {
+        // Retail 0x006b0950 byte decode (#266): fcom [800f]; test ah, 0x44;
+        // jp — the 18/4 return executes ONLY when skill == 800 exactly.
+        // 799 and 801 take the general formula on either side of it.
         Assert.Equal(4.5f, MovementSystem.GetRunRate(0f, 800), precision: 5);
-        Assert.Equal(4.5f, MovementSystem.GetRunRate(0f, 999999), precision: 5);
+        Assert.Equal(3.1994f, MovementSystem.GetRunRate(0f, 799), precision: 3);
+        Assert.Equal(3.2005f, MovementSystem.GetRunRate(0f, 801), precision: 3);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void GetRunRate_MaxedSkills_UseGeneralFormula_VitaeDifferentiates()
+    {
+        // #266 regression: +Acdream at 33% vitae (eff 10200) vs +Je at 5%
+        // vitae (eff 14463) — retail runs them within ~0.4% of each other
+        // (~3.70 vs ~3.71), NOT at a flat 4.5. The old ">= 800 cap"
+        // misread made both saturate identically and erased vitae entirely.
+        // Tolerance asserts (not precision:) — 3.7125 straddles a 3-decimal
+        // rounding boundary, the same xunit footgun as the AP-7 case.
+        Assert.True(MathF.Abs(MovementSystem.GetRunRate(0f, 10200) - 3.6971f) < 1e-3f);
+        Assert.True(MathF.Abs(MovementSystem.GetRunRate(0f, 14463) - 3.7125f) < 1e-3f);
+        // InqMaxRunRate's skill=9999 probe: general formula, not 4.5.
+        Assert.True(MathF.Abs(MovementSystem.GetRunRate(0f, 9999) - 3.6961f) < 1e-3f);
     }
 
     [Fact]