rubiconazoid

Traveling along at 15mph, it often occurs to me that 15mph + is what a runner has to travel in order to do a sub 4 minute mile. That's incredibly fast.

When I was in college I landed in a spring semester freshmen PE class that required running a mile and a half at the end of the class to determine a sizeable portion of my grade. Because students were evaluated first before placing them in the fitness appropriate level class, doing well, I ended up in the highest level class for that PE class. It pretty much barely placed me in the class with many of the scholarship athletes at my school (ACC school). There were several guys in this class who would have been freshmen on the track team. They almost ran twice as fast as me. When on the quarter mile track they would lap me after I had done 1 and a half laps.

Think about it the next time you're out - that there are individuals who run that fast for a mile. over 15 mph

Chuck Naill

Thank you for breaking it down in MPG. I knew that the world class sprinters were close to 30 MPG. I think Bolt runs 27 MPH.

wphamilton

Yep that used to bug the heck out of me when I started cycling, especially since I had a hard time keeping that speed for a mile even on a bike! There were guys out there, somewhere, who could outrun my bike at pretty much any distance. It never actually happened though so I relaxed about it ... and when I eventually got faster on the bike.

BobbyG

The average human walks at 3mph (5kmh) So a 15mph running pace is 3x that. I don't know how that relates to cycling, since my guess is most cyclists' average pace is not a basic "walk" but more of a jog. But Wikipedia says:

"For cyclists in Copenhagen, the average cycling speed is 15.5 km/h (9.6 mph). On a racing bicycle, a reasonably fit rider can ride at 40 km/h (25 mph) on flat ground for short periods."

I don't know how that correlates to walking/running, but I find it interesting.

Machka 

I know.

I've had runners pass me when I've been cycling up a climb a few years ago, and more recently, I had to really put my foot down to stay ahead of a couple of them, also on a climb.

skidder

I regularly ran sub- 4:30 miles back in high school and freshman/sophomore years in college, and was well aware how fast those sub-4:00 milers were going compared to me. What really amazes me is that world-class marathoners are running sub-5:00 miles for 26.2 miles (roughly a 2:11 marathon) - that's really amazing!!

Ironfish653

I run in the winter and early spring, mostly in the 10K, sometimes with a 10-mile or 1/2 marathon, if i'm feeling good; So I compare run splits to bike splits a lot.
I run in a winter CC series, and our race director usually rides ahead of the runners with a GoPro on the back of his bike. One of our courses was laid out in a 'dogbone' with a two way transit down a gravel road in the middle.
I was on the 'out leg' approaching the 2-mile mark, when the race leader came the other way. Ahead of Jerry on the bike. Based on where he passed me, he was about a mile and a half ahead of me.

I was huffing and puffing to hold an 8:00/mile, and this guy din't even look like he was working hard. Heck, he barely looked like he was touching the ground.

rubiksoval

There are/were some individuals who run about that speed for 5k, too (14.5-14.8 mph).

one4smoke

Actually, wouldn't that be 5x more?

BobbyG

I thought I was on Facebook so I was using alternate facts and fake math...sorry. (note to self: make appointment with gerentologist)

Shimagnolo

Climbing Mt Evans, in the >12,000' MSL zone, I learned to not even bother trying to keep up with the runners.
I think riding a bike just slows you down up there.

rubiconazoid

That is amazing!!

I can certainly relate to some runners passing cyclists as they climb, shoot, I could probably run faster than I can bike on some climbs. Pitiful....

SylvainG

I think you mixed up metric and imperials in there...

reppans

It's interesting that after a certain grade hill, a bicycle's extra weight begins to offset its mechanical advantage over a runner. Have a look at the Race To The Top Over Vermont where both runners and bicyclists compete on the same 4.3mile/11%avg grade course to top of a mountain. The runners win.

Explosive

I'm in my mid 20's with bad knees and flat feet, not especially light by design either these days lol. I cannot fathom running a 4 minute mile pace.

CroMo Mike 

Well, I'm 68 years old and ride my road bike on a regular basis for exercise. I frequently come upon joggers of various ages, but always younger than me, on the flats or going up hill, and I never have any problem riding right past them. Not bragging; I know they are in better shape than I am, but none are 4-minute milers. I attribute it to the bike's mechanical advantage.

Explosive

Definitely, i catch and pass runners while on my mtb with ease. If someone was running along with me i'd assume it was the terminator haha

Garfield Cat

The miler, Marty Liquori who ran for Villanova had flat feet.

Garfield Cat

Not only do runners keep up the pace with a sub 4 minute pace, but they also need to be in racing mindset. The 1,500 meters (or mile) is about strategy. Final lap is crazy fast.

That last lap could be 54 seconds for a quarter mile. That would be 16.67 MPH.

El Guerrouj holds the fastest mile at 3 minutes, 43.13 seconds. That average is 16.14 MPH.

El Guerrouj also holds the fastest 1,500 meters which is .93206 of a mile. 3 minutes, 26 seconds = 16.28 MPH

mcours2006

I understand that world class runners are fast. Sure. World class cyclists are fast too.

gilpi

I don't feel too bad... many casual riders can easily average 15 plus mph on flats, only the elite runners can do 15.

Doctor Morbius

Let's face it, elite athletes have genetic advantages over the average person. It doesn't matter how much the average Joe/Jane trains how how many PEDs they take, the gifted athlete still has the competitive edge. Regular people, such as myself, have no business comparing ourselves to what they can do/accomplish. It's the same with IQ. The person with a 120 IQ is going to be more successful in life than a person with an IQ of 80. It's just how it is.

Doctor Morbius

I used to be able to run 15 MPH, but only for 1/4 of a mile, then I was toast.

canklecat

I reconciled myself long ago to the fact that a bicycle only enables me to walk more efficiently on wheels. I'm not doing the wheeled equivalent to running.

During Friday night's ride around the neighborhood a couple of dogs ran toward me while their human feeder mumbled the usual ineffectual stuff.

I'd just finished an all out effort up a slight grade for interval training and was supposed to be resting for the next few minutes. But I was curious to see how fast I could sprint even after near-exhaustion. So I droped the hamer.

It felt pretty fast. But checking the app later, I averaged 23 mph over 0.4 miles, peaking at 26 mph.

That's barely up there with average human footrace sprinting territory.

I'd be better off droping the hamer on the dogs' heads rather than trying to outrun them. Fortunately these well fed mutts lost interest quickly.

Garfield Cat

For the runners out there, I mean track runners who have trained using interval workouts to make their bodies maintain higher velocities over their distances, how did that help when doing similar intervals for cycling?