Sunday, November 13, 2011

Elite marathoners run very fast.....

Jim Hansen posted this on his blog (which is always worth reading)  earlier and I thought I'd put it up as well.  It is really stunning just how fast an Olympic level marathoner runs.

Jim says:

This is in a subway station in New York City. People are trying to keep up with Ryan Hall for 60 feet. This is his pace for a full marathon. Even Ryan had a hard time keeping up in street clothes. I think it is a neat way to make people aware of how fast the elites do run.

4 comments:

Payam said...

Obviously if you are starting from standstill you aren't going to keep up with someone starting at 12.4mph..

Sam Knox said...

The eventual winner of the New York Marathon ran miles 22 and 23 in 9 minutes flat.

Steven Sashen said...

I train with some of the top marathoners in the world (I've been on the track with Ryan twice). That these guys keep up a sub-5 minute pace for 2 hours is impressive.

On the other hand, if you want to see something crazy, stand next to an equally world-class sprinter when they're at top speed.

I'm 49 and my top speed is 23mph... not bad... but I was in Berlin for Usain Bolt's world record. To see someone run by you at almost 30mph (I was at the 70m mark, 3 rows off the track), practically short-circuits your brain. You can't believe what you're seeing.

Aileen said...

I'm only too well aware I can't even sprint as fast as these guys run for the whole distance.