How fast can humans run?

How fast can you run? The problem with this question is that it is quite vague. Are we talking about maximum speed, or the amount of time it takes you to complete a marathon? Or the time it takes you to run a kilometer?

You can also ask similar questions when talking about the fastest achievement a person can achieve while running. We humans are not good at sprinting. Dogs and cats are the fastest animals living in the house - greyhounds can reach speeds of nearly 70 km / h, and even domestic cats can reach 48 km / h if they run at full speed.

But who must be useless? We are formidable rivals when it comes to running at greater distances. Let's find out in more detail.

The fastest sprinter in history is Usain Bolt.

Maximum speed when sprinting

The fastest sprinter in history is Usain Bolt. At the 2009 World Championship in Berlin, he reached a speed of 44.7 km / h between 60 and 80 miles of the 100 meter track. If the entire 100-meter section of the road is calculated, the average speed of the Bolt is 37,41km / h. He completed the distance in 9.58 seconds and set a new world record.

That's fast, but not so fast - cats can let Bolt breathe in smoke. So do tigers, leopards, bears, and countless other animals.

Durable running, why?

What humans do better than animals is to maintain a constant velocity over long distances. Our maximum velocity is quite low, but we can maintain that velocity for a decent amount of time.

Hicham El Guerrouj currently holds the world record for endurance run. His 1 mile run time is 3 minutes and 43.13 seconds. This means he maintained an average speed of 16.12 miles per hour (equivalent to 25.94km / h) during the run. What does it mean? Guerrouj ran at 70% of Usain Bolt's world record speed over a distance of 16 times.

Truly very impressive!

Running marathons is even more impressive

The longer the run, the more impressive the human achievement.

Last year, Eliud Kipchoge completed a marathon (26,219 miles, or 42.2km) in 1 hour and 59 minutes and 40 seconds. Because of the circumstances of the run, Kipchoge's record does not break any world record, but it is still the fastest achievement a human has ever achieved on such a long distance run.

Incredibly fast, right?

Eliud Kipchoge.

Kipchoge ran 1 mile in less than 4 minutes and 34 seconds. During nearly 2 hours continuously. This means he maintains an average speed of 13.16 miles per hour (equivalent to 21.18 km / h). Compared to the performance of El Guerrouj, Kipchoge ran at more than 80% of El Guerrouj's speed but over a distance 26 times longer.

Compared to Kipchoge, Bolt's achievement also looked bland. The average speed of Kipchoge is about 56% of Bolt's record speed, over a long distance . 420 times.

Undeniable: We humans develop in the direction of endurance, not in the direction of onset.

The longer the road, the more . crazy

Marathon is the longest running distance we often use in the competition. Even so, there are still some "super marathons" with longer distances, showing us how fast people can run when they're forced to run.

American runner Zach Bitter holds the world record for running 100 miles with a record of 11 hours, 19 minutes, and 13 seconds. On average, he runs 1 mile in 6 minutes 48 seconds. That means Bitter has run almost continuously for half a day at a speed of nearly 9 miles per hour (equivalent to 14.48 km / h).

Yiannis Kouros, the Greek "running god", holds the world record for running 1,000 miles. He ran that distance for 10 days, 10 hours, 30 minutes, and 36 seconds. The average speed of Kouros is nearly 4 miles per hour (equivalent to 6.4 km / h), including rest time, eating, and sleeping.

Even when running such long distances, humans can still maintain a respectable speed. The fastest performance on the 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail is 41 days, 7 hours, and 39 minutes, held by Karel Sabbe (Belgian). That means his average speed is still over 2 miles per hour (equivalent to 3.2 km / h) during more than 1 month, on rough terrain. The average person takes about 6 months to complete a similar journey.

Put on your shoes and run!

As mentioned above, people do not develop in the direction of being able to sprint super fast, but favoring the ability to run long distances with steady rhythm for hours. Perhaps that is the reason why prehistoric people were "bull" hunters who specialized in luring prey and had to give in.

Regardless of the reason, and how you define "fast", then hopefully after reading the article, you have somewhat imagined how fast people can run, whether it is 100 meters or 100 miles.