A guy from my cycling group posed this question a while back and it got me thinking…
Which animal could run the fastest marathon? A cheetah would be fast at the start, but couldn’t hold the pace. The gazelle? Some kind of wolf? Horse? Hyena?
Anyway, I think this would be a cool project if there are any zoology majors on the forum. Generate a computer simulated list of the top times:
Horse: 1hr2min
Wolf: 1hr10min
Camel: 1hr45min
Human: 2hr3min
Elephant: 3hr
Bunny: 5hr
Turtle: 18hr
Snail: 2day6hr
And so forth…
I’d be curious to hear some opinions on this and particularly to hear any real evidence on behalf of certain animals.
Not quite a marathon but close:
Here’s your winner…
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Not even close: the pronghorn (which isn’t an antelope, by the way).
I don’t think anything in your list could beat the hyena…or some type of canine.
And I don’t think horses are as fast over a marathon as you put there…did you guess or did you get that number somewhere?
tortoise
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I think I saw some Discovery Channel thing that said, given enough time, a human can run down any land animal because we have the best cooling system. Everything else will eventually overheat. That has always made me feel kind of awesome.
But the pronghorn would be too far back after the bike. Here’s your winner.
I think I saw some Discovery Channel thing that said, given enough time, a human can run down any land animal because we have the best cooling system. Everything else will eventually overheat. That has always made me feel kind of awesome.
I saw that too.
I’d really like to do a mary with my dog, Pepper. Actually he’s a better swimmer than me so if I can get him in a good TT position maybe someone in the house can finally qualify for kona!
wolf. game over.
just look at what the animal does “for a living”. wolves can and do regularly range 30 to 50 miles a day hunting. they are tireless.
unless of course you are a sick bastard in a helicopter with a rifle and run the thing til its exhausted so you can shoot it, its tireless. /end-palin-rant
I think I saw some Discovery Channel thing that said, given enough time, a human can run down any land animal because we have the best cooling system. Everything else will eventually overheat. That has always made me feel kind of awesome.
I saw that too…and had to think that in nature, with out extra-body, or extra-nature support that can not be true. I bet that if you take the water bottles off the human, and external stops other than natural sources of water (same the animals would get) that even the most in shape human would have a hell of a time catching the likes of a horse, camel, snow dog (in the snow) and many others.
Officially, the fastest would be a human.
All the rest would be racing as bandits.
I think I saw some Discovery Channel thing that said, given enough time, a human can run down any land animal because we have the best cooling system. Everything else will eventually overheat. That has always made me feel kind of awesome.
someone better let this guy know about that one. I think he spend about 12 years trying. So, the obvious question is ‘just how long is enough time’…
this guys numbers are entirely theoretical and entirely wrong.
those animals can’t run marathons that fast.
I think I saw some Discovery Channel thing that said, given enough time, a human can run down any land animal because we have the best cooling system. Everything else will eventually overheat. That has always made me feel kind of awesome.
I saw that too…and had to think that in nature, with out extra-body, or extra-nature support that can not be true. I bet that if you take the water bottles off the human, and external stops other than natural sources of water (same the animals would get) that even the most in shape human would have a hell of a time catching the likes of a horse, camel, snow dog (in the snow) and many others.
People have been running down deer in the US; a guy did it for an article in Sports Illustrated (the deer was so exhausted at the end that the author just walked up to it and petted it) and didn’t carry his own water (how much can you carry for a 24+ hour run?). Horses need huge amounts of water and can’t run for as long periods of time as can humans (“Hidalgo” notwithstanding). Can’t say about camels.
wolf. game over.
just look at what the animal does “for a living”. wolves can and do regularly range 30 to 50 miles a day hunting. they are tireless.
unless of course you are a sick bastard in a helicopter with a rifle and run the thing til its exhausted so you can shoot it, its tireless. /end-palin-rant
My gut agrees. I saw a show where a wolf casually ran in pursuit of a deer for an entire day until the deer simply collapsed. If the wolf were actually going for time rather than a free lunch, I bet he’d be pretty quick.
http://74.125.155.132/...mp;ct=clnk&gl=us
this guys numbers are entirely theoretical and entirely wrong.
those animals can’t run marathons that fast.
his numbers on the pronghorn at least are pretty accurate. Their cruising speed is about 30mph and in terms of thermoregulation, they aren’t like your average critter. Yeah, it’s still theoretical since only humans are silly enough to run 26.2 miles just for sport. The proof is in the pudding, though. Should I spoil the book for you??
I will pay for the trip…I have an open invite for you to join us at Tracys fathers ranch…it is only about 5mi x 3mi…I want to see you catch a mustang. Nice and central in Guide Rock Ne. I bet we can get a HUGE pool from the ST gamblers on this one…
Zoology major here. It would depend entirely on the temperature and terrain. In cooler temperatures or snow, a fit sled dog (and a few other trotting breeds) would beat a human hands down. In a desert, the camel would win easily. You are talking about 26 miles, not a sprint distance so a LOT of the animals listed wouldn’t make it at all. A wolf would probably not be as fast as the fit sled dog. They are also temperature dependent and do not cover distance very quickly.
Another thing to consider is there access to water during this marathon? A human would have a tough time running 26 miles without liquid. A camel no problem, a fit sled dog could do it if it were cool out. In cool weather they are going to lose less body fluids.
A fit endurance horse would have a good chance of beating a human running trails, not pavement. It would take more than 1hr. Horses are also very adept at cooling. They sweat like crazy, but would need some water stops for peak performance.
Now, if you were to compare an animal in it’s idea conditions to a human in it’s idea conditions, the the answer would be interesting. It would be hard to find someone to fund such a project. Curiosity is a hard thing to sell.