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I believe everyone physically able to should try running 13.1 mph on a treadmill just to get an understanding of just how fast these athletes run for two hours.

I believe everyone physically able to should try running 13.1 mph on a treadmill just to get an understanding of just how fast these athletes run for two hours. It is incredible.

jandrese 9y ago
13.1 mph is a decent pace on a bike! That's the sort of pace you set for a commute to split minimizing your commute time with arriving at work not completely exhausted and sweaty.
- brianwawok 9y ago
  Are you including stopsigns in that, or actual steady state? I think up to 15 or 18 mph is pretty easy pace for anyone who even road bikes once a week.
  - jandrese 9y ago
    Depends how hilly the terrain is.
choward 9y ago
Pretty sure I'd fly off.
- gebeeson 9y ago
  Just for fun I cranked my treadmill up to 12mph which is the max. Not while I was on it because I know I'd fly off. Every time I 'run' I think about fast running for a long distance. Then I usually stop my workout and go sit on the couch and think of some things. Sub 2hr marathon is Stupid Fast.
privacypoller 9y ago
I used to sometimes run a mile in the middle of my treadmill run @ 10 mpg. I'm a bigger guy and regularly the machine would shut down because the belt would start to slip or overheat at that pace. I don't think it would even do 13+ mph
- anderspitman 9y ago
  > 10 mpg Your mileage seems a little low ;)
  - keepper 9y ago
    ...of sweat. :)
x0x0 9y ago
For clarity, that's a 4:34 mile / 2:50 km. ie hauling ass. The vast vast majority of cross country runners in high school can't maintain that pace for 3.1 miles / 5 km. How a human maintains it for 26.2 I have no idea. Another perspective: the world record 1 mile time, which is essentially a 4 lap sprint, is 3:43.13. So these athletes run at 81% world record mile pace for 26 miles.
stygiansonic 9y ago
Indeed! I consider myself a serious amateur runner, having broken 3 hours in the marathon a few times. At that pace, I wouldn’t be able to run even a single kilometer even in my peak shape. Could probably manage a lap around the track.
bo1024 9y ago
Most treadmills don't go that fast! Another try is going to a track and running 100m in 17s.
Steve44 9y ago
I used to cycle quite a lot around the West London parks and an used to seeing plenty of joggers. A few years ago, around the time of the London Olympics, I saw this woman running. I've never seen anyone run so fast and she just kept going. I crossed her path later on and she was still going. I presume she was a top level marathon runner, it was shockingly fast.
alasdair_ 9y ago
>I believe everyone physically able to should try running 13.1 mph on a treadmill just to get an understanding of just how fast these athletes run for two hours. It is incredible. A whole bunch of treadmills don't go past 8MPH and even that seems pretty fast to me to run at for an extended period of time.
- mikestew 9y ago
  I can run 10mph for 13 miles, and I’m in my fifties. That’s not to brag, but to point out that an 8 mph speed limit on a treadmill is ridiculously low. Sure, it probably fits the 80% use case, but that’s only about 8 minutes/mile. Not a very useful treadmill, IMO. But I’ve been on a treadmill less than a half dozen times in my life, so what do the treadmill makers care what I think. :-)
  - eitally 9y ago
    It's perfectly useful, because the vast majority of people using treadmills are moving closer to 4mph than 8mph.
  - hsitz 9y ago
    You're in your fifties and you're running a sub 1:19 HM? Color me dubious on that one. Possible, but not likely. Although you're right that it would be a piss-poor treadmill if it were built to max out at 8 minutes/mile pace or slower. I suspect none are, but I think the fellow reporting it was at heavy weight, so perhaps that affected things.
    - Jenya_ 9y ago
      statistics shows there are indeed some runners in this age group which run 10k close to 6 minutes per mile and even faster: http://www.pace-calculator.com/10k-pace-comparison.php http://www.pace-calculator.com/10k-pace-comparison.php
    - mikestew 9y ago
      You caught me. 1:23, close enough for illustrative purposes. Besides, the age group record is 1:09, 1:19 isn’t that fast.
darrenf 9y ago
I was running Bushy parkrun[0] one Saturday in 2012 when Mo Farah was on a training run, in the opposite direction to the masses. It was like Road Runner went past, incredible pace. I was also there when Andy Baddeley got the parkrun record, 13:48. It just seems so ... ludicrous and impossible. [0] http://www.parkrun.org.uk/bushy/ http://www.parkrun.org.uk/bushy/
jeffwass 9y ago
Indeed, it's absolutely mind blowing. Top marathon runners average faster than five minute miles. That's sickeningly fast. Back in high school my fastest single 1600m (a mile is 1609m, but one lap on a track is 400m) time was around a 5:15, and my fastest 800m was 2:27. These elite marathon runners basically took my fastest 800m pace and repeated it 50 times. Insane.
- robotresearcher 9y ago
  For comparison in the other direction the world record 800m is David Rudisha 1:40.91 (2012). That's also ridiculous.
- runamok 9y ago
  A bit faster actually. Just under 4:35 pace!
runamok 9y ago
Most treadmills max out at 10 mph or so. Maybe 12. I have run a 2:44 marathon and at my best I would have been able to keep up with them for about .5 miles (based on my 800 meter time of 2:10). Very few people can hit that pace without damaging something unless they have seriously trained. Agree on the incredible part. I have seen elites race in person at the 2008 Olympic trials and it is unreal how smooth and fast they are.

I believe everyone physically able to should try running 13.1 mph on a treadmill just to get an understanding of just how fast these athletes run for two hours. It is incredible.

jandrese 9y ago

13.1 mph is a decent pace on a bike! That's the sort of pace you set for a commute to split minimizing your commute time with arriving at work not completely exhausted and sweaty.

brianwawok 9y ago
Are you including stopsigns in that, or actual steady state? I think up to 15 or 18 mph is pretty easy pace for anyone who even road bikes once a week.
- jandrese 9y ago
  Depends how hilly the terrain is.

choward 9y ago

Pretty sure I'd fly off.

gebeeson 9y ago
Just for fun I cranked my treadmill up to 12mph which is the max. Not while I was on it because I know I'd fly off. Every time I 'run' I think about fast running for a long distance. Then I usually stop my workout and go sit on the couch and think of some things. Sub 2hr marathon is Stupid Fast.

privacypoller 9y ago

I used to sometimes run a mile in the middle of my treadmill run @ 10 mpg. I'm a bigger guy and regularly the machine would shut down because the belt would start to slip or overheat at that pace. I don't think it would even do 13+ mph

anderspitman 9y ago
> 10 mpg Your mileage seems a little low ;)
- keepper 9y ago
  ...of sweat. :)

x0x0 9y ago

For clarity, that's a 4:34 mile / 2:50 km. ie hauling ass. The vast vast majority of cross country runners in high school can't maintain that pace for 3.1 miles / 5 km. How a human maintains it for 26.2 I have no idea. Another perspective: the world record 1 mile time, which is essentially a 4 lap sprint, is 3:43.13. So these athletes run at 81% world record mile pace for 26 miles.

stygiansonic 9y ago

Indeed! I consider myself a serious amateur runner, having broken 3 hours in the marathon a few times. At that pace, I wouldn’t be able to run even a single kilometer even in my peak shape. Could probably manage a lap around the track.

bo1024 9y ago

Most treadmills don't go that fast! Another try is going to a track and running 100m in 17s.

Steve44 9y ago

I used to cycle quite a lot around the West London parks and an used to seeing plenty of joggers. A few years ago, around the time of the London Olympics, I saw this woman running. I've never seen anyone run so fast and she just kept going. I crossed her path later on and she was still going. I presume she was a top level marathon runner, it was shockingly fast.

alasdair_ 9y ago

>I believe everyone physically able to should try running 13.1 mph on a treadmill just to get an understanding of just how fast these athletes run for two hours. It is incredible. A whole bunch of treadmills don't go past 8MPH and even that seems pretty fast to me to run at for an extended period of time.

mikestew 9y ago
I can run 10mph for 13 miles, and I’m in my fifties. That’s not to brag, but to point out that an 8 mph speed limit on a treadmill is ridiculously low. Sure, it probably fits the 80% use case, but that’s only about 8 minutes/mile. Not a very useful treadmill, IMO. But I’ve been on a treadmill less than a half dozen times in my life, so what do the treadmill makers care what I think. :-)
- eitally 9y ago
  It's perfectly useful, because the vast majority of people using treadmills are moving closer to 4mph than 8mph.
- hsitz 9y ago
  You're in your fifties and you're running a sub 1:19 HM? Color me dubious on that one. Possible, but not likely. Although you're right that it would be a piss-poor treadmill if it were built to max out at 8 minutes/mile pace or slower. I suspect none are, but I think the fellow reporting it was at heavy weight, so perhaps that affected things.
  - Jenya_ 9y ago
    statistics shows there are indeed some runners in this age group which run 10k close to 6 minutes per mile and even faster: http://www.pace-calculator.com/10k-pace-comparison.php http://www.pace-calculator.com/10k-pace-comparison.php
  - mikestew 9y ago
    You caught me. 1:23, close enough for illustrative purposes. Besides, the age group record is 1:09, 1:19 isn’t that fast.

darrenf 9y ago

I was running Bushy parkrun[0] one Saturday in 2012 when Mo Farah was on a training run, in the opposite direction to the masses. It was like Road Runner went past, incredible pace. I was also there when Andy Baddeley got the parkrun record, 13:48. It just seems so ... ludicrous and impossible. [0] http://www.parkrun.org.uk/bushy/ http://www.parkrun.org.uk/bushy/

jeffwass 9y ago

Indeed, it's absolutely mind blowing. Top marathon runners average faster than five minute miles. That's sickeningly fast. Back in high school my fastest single 1600m (a mile is 1609m, but one lap on a track is 400m) time was around a 5:15, and my fastest 800m was 2:27. These elite marathon runners basically took my fastest 800m pace and repeated it 50 times. Insane.

robotresearcher 9y ago
For comparison in the other direction the world record 800m is David Rudisha 1:40.91 (2012). That's also ridiculous.
runamok 9y ago
A bit faster actually. Just under 4:35 pace!

runamok 9y ago

Most treadmills max out at 10 mph or so. Maybe 12. I have run a 2:44 marathon and at my best I would have been able to keep up with them for about .5 miles (based on my 800 meter time of 2:10). Very few people can hit that pace without damaging something unless they have seriously trained. Agree on the incredible part. I have seen elites race in person at the 2008 Olympic trials and it is unreal how smooth and fast they are.