Heaviest sub-5:00 miler?

I know a guy who did it at over 200#. I would guess not much over - maybe 205-210. He's probably 6'-05, so a really tall guy. He wears the 200-some pounds well.

Have to imagine there have been some pretty heavy decathlets who have done it (or the equivalent). That being said, those guys are not devoting most of their time to the mile, so more specialization could maybe mean a heavier guy could do it. However , anyone contending to be the heaviest sub 5:00 miler is probably not specializing or has to be doing something to keep on a ton of bulk.

I bet there are a lot of American football players with sub-5 fitness.

PapaROTC wrote:

The RW "trolling" thread made me wonder, who is the human trundling rhino who has run a sub-5:00 at...220?230? more????

I'd look at rowers. They are endurance athletes trained for a 6 minute event with a load of lactic acid. At college they would fairly regularly enter cross country races and fun runs, and would usually run a mile to the boathouse and back for warmup. I don't know how many have done a mile, but I'm pretty sure they have the engine to break 5 with a few weeks training.

From Wikipedia:

"Olympic or International level heavyweight male oarsmen are typically anywhere between 6'3" and 6'9" (190 cm to 206 cm) tall with most being around 6'6" (198 cm) and weighing approximately 225 lb (102 kg) with about 6 to 7% body fat"

I was in ROTC in college with a College Wrestler (@190 Wrestling weight -- so probably carried 10 pounds more) who could run @11:00 for two miles on the PT Test which is pretty close to a sub-5 equivalent.

One of my friends in high school was about 190 and ran 4:20.

My brother was defensive lineman/linebacker who walked on to a D-II program. During the first week they ran a timed mile and it was his goal to beat everyone. He ran 4:58 and weighed about 215-220.

I ran 4'58" for a legit mile at 215; I'm 6'7" though,and wore the weight as well as somebody that big can. I weigh 185 now though, and am glad for the weight loss.

I know a 200 lb guy who could probably run 4:10-4:15 right now.

I ran a 4:47 mile @ 209 (and 4:19 @ 185) . While I was surely the exception to the rule, there are certainly others with greater talent and work ethic.

Ain Olar Johanson (sp?) is an ironman distance triathlete from Estonia (won IM Lanzarote and IM New Zealand) at 208lbs (reported heavier other times). He ran sub-3:00 at end of IM, so he's certainly capable of faster than me... by a bunch, I wager.

I bet there's an elite rower, triathlete, wrestler, etc at 225lbs+, who could well well under 5:00. It's probably possible to get someone close to 250lbs there... if the right former elite would train for it.

Considering that currently there are detailed records for age-class records, the time is surely near where weight-class records are kept. It would be kind of cool (scary even) to see some 230-lb brute crank out a 4:59.

i was sub 5 at 204 and in the 4:40s at 190

Former NBA center/power forward Kevin Willis supposedly ran 4:40 to 4:30 at his athletic prime. He weighed 220 out of college and 245 in the NBA. He's probably the tallest sub 5 guy at a legit 7 foot. He was a total gym rat, I believe his best bench press was around 400 pounds. He played in the NBA until he was 44.

Google is great. Here's a Sports Illustrated article stating Kevin Willis ran 4:32 in high school and benches 400 lbs.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1140137/index.htm

Indie Douche wrote:

I ran 4'58" for a legit mile at 215; I'm 6'7" though,and wore the weight as well as somebody that big can. I weigh 185 now though, and am glad for the weight loss.

Inspirational ! Maybe we could get Tom Cruise to play you in your biographical movie !

Or drop another 40 lbs. and get one of the Olsen twins to be your(illegitimate mile) concubine, and have Michael Moore direct the flick .

Fahrenheit 4:58 .

but when he ran 4:32 could he bench that muhc?

My roommate is 300lbs and seems to think the world record for the mile is 2minutes. i just realized that's 30mph!!!

i ran 3 x 4'55,4'52,4'58,,, with 5 minut. rest/ i'm 45, 265 pounds.

i ran 3 x 4'55,4'52,4'58,,, with 5 minut. rest/ i'm 45, 265 pounds.