New Yorker: How Fast Would Usain Bolt Run The Mile? - Yours truly bets his house it would be over 5+

NBA's Jrue Holiday ran 5:03. He's all fast-twitch & can't even come close to a :45 400m. Yet Bolt for sure can't break 5:00.

Easy: more EPO/Thyroid, less 'roids/IGF/HGH. Sub-5 in a week.

Burrito Boy Wet Parking wrote:

rojo wrote:

The New Yorker asks that question and the author Charles Bethea extensively cites the LetsRun.com messageboard on this very topic.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/sporting-scene/how-fast-would-usain-bolt-run-the-mile?intcid=mod-latest

Sadly, I must confess that in my reply to him I ripped the collective wisdom of this board.

Wejo thinks he could break 5:00. I think he might ultimately be able to do it but no chance at all if he was forced to say run a mile at the Olympics.

The original thread on Bolts' mile ability is here:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=4159515

You proved your ignorance once again, and on a bigger stage.

Ever heard of "The Fridge?"

He was a lineman/running back for the Bears, and very successful.

The 49ers had one before that.

The Fridge successful running back?

In 11 years he rushed 8 times for 5 yards. Hardly took the running back position by storm.

Everyone saw him score in the Super Bowl and now (incorrectly) remembers him as this awesome weapon for the Bears.

Dlc,cs wrote:

If Usain trained specifically for the mile for six months, his genetics allow a 4:15-4:25.

As it stands, Usain in top 100m/200m shape would struggle to break 5, but with some specific work could get down to 4:50.

No way he comes close to 4:15 or 4:25. The gap between that and 5:00 is beyond huge.

Can he run 5 now? Hard to say. Look at the pluses

+ he isn't fat

+ he runs. I assume he does very little work over 200m or so but things like 50m sled pushes and hill runs will give you some conditioning. Throw in some 1-2 mile warm ups/cool downs

Downsides of course is that he doesn't do much in the line of high level aerobic (or even anaerobic workouts) conditioning. Him busting out a 4:50-5:30 mile would all seem pretty reasonable to me.

Couldn't he just cruise the straight in 13 and jog the curves in 24 and break 5 that way?

Maybe he'd run out of gas, but it seems this would be easier for him than maintaining an even pace the whole way.

The first time I ever ran a timed mile was in 9th grade I ran 4:56 with no running experience. I'd bet my life bolt could run under 5:00 right now.

Red Blood Cells wrote:

Disagree. In this case I think the additional strength he has because of his weight is more beneficial than not.

If I was a fully matured 95 pounds I would agree with you. But the reality is I was a 95 pound boy who hadn't hit puberty.

I think Bolt with a 2:10 PR is physically capable to running sub-5 without any mile specific training.

My biggest question is whether he would be mentally capable. The feeling of running a mile hard is something he very well may have never experienced in his life and would most likely be very difficult for him to cope with.

I strongly disagree.

Please look at Mo Farah/Kiprop and tell me why they don't put on the muscle to weigh 200lbs?

Bolt weighs a lot. He is purely fast twitch. He has next to no chance. People seriously underestimate how quickly fast twitch muscles fatigue and are incapable of producing ANY force at all.

Put on a 40lb weight vest and try to run a 5 minute mile for me, please.

i love how every distance runner who has no idea what they are talking about suddenly jumps in and begins to start talking about something they know little about.

no one here has probably even spoken to or watched Bolt train, and they are certain he can break a 5:00 mile. he's publicly stated he loves the 400m but hates the training!

just like most everyone thought that Tadesse would break the marathon world record because he's amazing at the half marathon...

let's face it guys, we don't know that much about distance running, and there's a ton of bad info on this site we think is the 'truth'

World class sprinters typically have the same absolute VO2max as distance runners that are their same height. However, they are 20% heavier with a BMI around 24 vs 20 for distance guys.

20% heavier equals about 13% slower.

Therefore, a 3:50 mile turns into a 4:19, approximately

64 second laps for him would LOOK like jogging, but obviously it would wear him down. Heck, he looks like he's jogging when he runs a 46 second quarter. That first 2:10 through the 1/2 mile would have to feel like nothing to him. But the last 1/2 mile would creep up on him hardcore.

Seriously mate? wrote:

Those arguing that Bolt will likely run a faster mile than a slower sprinter who ran a sub 5 minute mile and not thinking logically. Bolt is most likely faster than this slower sprinter because he has more fast twitch muscle fibers. This would make him a worse middle distance runner as he has less intermediate and slow twitch fibers.

Correct correct correct.

To all the people claiming that a 5 minute mile is easy and Bolt could definitely do it, then why do decathletes, who have FAR more endurance than Bolt (they do 10 events in two days, one of which being the 400m and the other the 1500m, in case you all forgot) struggle so much..?

Lots of them can run a decent 800m too, yet still struggle in the 1500m. SURELY a decathletes who can run 45/46 in the 400m and likely sub 1:50 should EASILY break 3:50 in the 1500m? Right? Makes you wonder...

This is a very similar topic to a thread someone started about swimming. Physiologically, the mile is far, far closer to the marathon than it is to the 100m/200m.

Rojo's wejo wrote:

The first time I ever ran a timed mile was in 9th grade I ran 4:56 with no running experience. I'd bet my life bolt could run under 5:00 right now.

This is what I like about these threads. Fairly intelligent posters will argue themselves blue in the face regarding why Bolt's physiology is totally unsuited to anything beyond a sprint, and then somebody will come back with the old "I was a pathetic weakling and ran [some kind of fairly good time, off minimal to no training]; of course Bolt could go sub-5.

microfractured! wrote:

Couldn't he just cruise the straight in 13 and jog the curves in 24 and break 5 that way?

Maybe he'd run out of gas, but it seems this would be easier for him than maintaining an even pace the whole way.

That would be, without a doubt, much harder to run for a sub 5 mile than simply running just under 75 seconds/lap.

I don't think he could do it. For everyone posting, "yeah, well, I ran 4:5x at age 15 with no training, blah blah, so Bolt is a shoe in..., the fact that you are posting on this site probably means your physiology is way more suited to running a mile than Bolt's. The fact that Bolt is so naturally fast at 100 meters just makes it all the more likely he would be ill suited to running a mile.

The guy posting about the fast twitch NBA guy running a 5:03 mile as evidence that Bolt could do it has it exactly backwards. Bolt is more fast twitch than anyone in the NBA. I would expect most NBA players (not counting the fat ones and really awkwardly tall guys) would be better at a mile than Bolt.

I think a lot of people thinking Bolt could do it are incorrectly giving him credit since he is at least a "runner". But Bolt is not a runner. He is a sprinter. The 100/200 is not the same sport as the mile.

In fact, athletes in most other major sports would be closer physiologically to sub 5 milers than Bolt is.

YO IMAGINE HIS KICK THO!!!!!!

I think his best chance would to be to go out in about 60. That would be like jogging. He would have to average 80 for the next three laps. The second lap would not be difficult if he did around 80. The third lap would be difficult at 80 as he never runs hard for more than 45 seconds. Would come down to the 4th lap. I agree he would probably be around 90 on the last lap and that would be a 510. P.S. The 400 is like a distance race to him.

Castle Thickskull wrote:

Rojo's wejo wrote:

The first time I ever ran a timed mile was in 9th grade I ran 4:56 with no running experience. I'd bet my life bolt could run under 5:00 right now.

This is what I like about these threads. Fairly intelligent posters will argue themselves blue in the face regarding why Bolt's physiology is totally unsuited to anything beyond a sprint, and then somebody will come back with the old "I was a pathetic weakling and ran [some kind of fairly good time, off minimal to no training]; of course Bolt could go sub-5.

To those arguing that Bolt wouldn't be able to run sub-5 even with 6 months training, I'd like to start a list of public figures/celebrities that could probably run sub-5 or close with 6 months of training, and thus beat the greatest 100m/200m runner of all time according to LetsRun posters.

Guys who could beat Usain Bolt in a mile after 6 months training:

Paul Ryan? I can totally see sub-5, especially a few years ago when he was younger.

Probably not Zuckerberg, but maybe if he let go of his smartphone for a mile he could get down to the 5:50s or so. So only a few seconds slower than what rojo thinks Bolt would go with no specific training.

Prince William? He ran a 6:10 road mile (http://www.dukeandduchessofcambridge.org/news-and-diary/prince-william-runs-the-sport-relief-mile-sandhurst) some years ago. Put him on the track in spikes and give him a few chances and he'll be in the 5:40s. Bolt staggers in a few seconds before the hard-closing Duke of Cambridge.

Please feel free to make your own additions to this list!

Here is the COMPLETE list of athletes from other sports (which sprinting is) who definitely ran sub-5:00 for the mile (decathletes don't count as it is part of their event):

Lance Armstrong (after many months of training and lilely still on drugs)

-

-

-

-

-

-

(crickets)

Carl Lewis ran 2:12, 2:16 for 880y in two Superstars competitions in the '80's. Projects to about 5:30 for the mile.

Castle Thickskull wrote:

Rojo's wejo wrote:

The first time I ever ran a timed mile was in 9th grade I ran 4:56 with no running experience. I'd bet my life bolt could run under 5:00 right now.

This is what I like about these threads. Fairly intelligent posters will argue themselves blue in the face regarding why Bolt's physiology is totally unsuited to anything beyond a sprint, and then somebody will come back with the old "I was a pathetic weakling and ran [some kind of fairly good time, off minimal to no training]; of course Bolt could go sub-5.

I don't think you realize how slow a 5 minute mile is

Richard Hamilton when he played in the NBA was listed at 6'5 and 207 lbs. That is almost the identical height and weight of Bolt. Hamilton went well under 5 for the mile. So the height to weight ratio doesn't mean anything. Next is the fast twitch muscle and training. This is clearly the biggest obstacle to overcome. Given 6 months of training for distance I doubt many people would really bet against him breaking 5. However if he were to go out tomorrow it would be a struggle. Not impossible though if paced differently than you might think. I wager that if Bolt went out and did 90 seconds for each of the first three quarters he could close under 60. Why 90? It is half the pace of his current 400m capability. 75s would load him up and he would struggle to maintain and slow down. 90s wouldn't be the same effect. I have seen this in practice before. People have to remember he is not completely aerobic deficient. I have seen some wide receivers bigger than Bolt that could run 60 for a 400 go and jog 2 minutes per 400m for the first 3/4 and then get competitive with each other and go 75 on the last quarter.