What would be the world record for marathon if a person could run each mile a different times in 24 hour period

I think John Walker was the only guy to have two sub-4 races in one day. Seems very unlikely anyone could do 26 X 4:05. Seems like Kenyans could probably do low 4:20's for a long time. An Olympic development team held the 24 hour relay record in the 70's (I believe Gerry Lindgren was on that team) and I think the top guys were in the 4:40's for 29-30 miles.

Anyone know what the current 24 hour relay record is?

I think John Walker was the only guy to have two sub-4 races in one day. Seems very unlikely anyone could do 26 X 4:05. Seems like Kenyans could probably do low 4:20's for a long time. An Olympic development team held the 24 hour relay record in the 70's (I believe Gerry Lindgren was on that team) and I think the top guys were in the 4:40's for 29-30 miles.But El G ran 4:43 for the mile. That is a big difference from John Walker's 4:49 or Lingren's 4:01

sgdhtj wrote:

Anyone know what the current 24 hour relay record is?

Geb or Tadesse are the guys that come to mind who would do well.

Sorry, I should not have called you a dude in my earlier posting because you are really a girl, in that you have no concept of math. I'm just stating the facts.

Wow that was insanely sexist, you're dick!

adfadl wrote:

Someone could definitely average 10k pace for this. So for Bekele, what's that - 4:14 pace?

7 am - 7 x 1 mile at 10k pace with tons of rest, like 10 minutes between reps. This should feel pretty manageable due to the long rests.

8:30 am - finish workout, grab breakfast, play Xbox for a few hours

11 am - 6 x 1 mile at 10k pace

12:30 pm - lunch then 3 hr nap

3:30 pm - wake up, chill for a while

5 pm - 6 x 1 mile at 10k

6:30 pm - finish workout, have dinner, watch a movie

9:30 pm - bedtime - 8 hrs sleep

5:30 am wake up

One final 6xmile workout + 0.2

You really think Bekele would DNF with 1 mile remaining?

800m Coach wrote:

I think John Walker was the only guy to have two sub-4 races in one day.

Who was John Walker?

Jordy Williamsz did this just the other day at Penn.

D Komen wrote:

800m Coach wrote:

I think John Walker was the only guy to have two sub-4 races in one day.

Who was John Walker?

xrunnsez wrote:

8-10 years ago, Geb would have destroyed that race.

He was running 4/min mile pace for 5k. and low 26 for 10k? No way he couldn't do 4:02/milex26 over a day.

he ran 58min 1/2 marathons. You dont think he could do that, rest for 12 hours, then do it again (or close)

Actually, a 12:37 5k is 4:03.7/mi. The math is easy on that one.

It is interesting to note that there was a thread a few weeks ago discussing whether "elite" marathoners could break 4:00 for the mile, or all of them could, or something like that. Opinions were mixed.

I would count "elite" marathoners as those who have broken 2:06:00 now that the WR is in the 2:03:40 area. I suppose you have to make some allowance for people like Meb (who was 4th in Olympics and 2nd before) who have never broken 2:09:00 and even Ritz who has only broken 2:10:00 twice but has placed 10th in the Olympics.

Whatever the definition, it is interesting to note how some said that there could be 2:05-2:10 marathoners who could not break 4:00y no matter what and yet we have people on this thread who claim a human may be able to run 4:02y 26 times in one day.

I think I heard that Rupp/Farah did 8X1600 last summer at 4:12 w/3:00 rests ... maybe at altitude? If so, clearly they could make that easier at sea-level and with longer rests. I think this workout (or actually 9X1600m) could be done at 8 AM one day, then at 4 PM that day, then again at 6 AM the next morning. With longer rests and almost no running in between, I think it could be done at 4:15 or so per rep. But not much faster.

You would not want to run more than 1600 at a time, too much lactic acid would build up.

27 X 1600m = 43,200m = 43.2 Km ... 1k MORE than a marathon.

So, 4:20y pace is 1:53:30 and 4:15y is 1:52:00.

Keep in mind that 4:15y is 4:13.4 for a 1600m.

I think that spacing 1 mile out over each hour is a mistake. You would not be able to sleep and I think it would allow running faster for the first 10-15 single mile reps but you would suffer more after that.

Since top runners are used to running 2-3 times per day, I think breaking it into 3 or 4 workouts of mile reps: 9x1600m or 7X1600m spaced out accordingly.

Considering how rare an 8:05 2-mile is, I don't see how any runner could rip off 26 4:02 miles in one day. Obviously this can never be proven. Unless someone tried it and succeeded, if they failed, it would only prove that they could not do it that day on that attempt.

The sleep thing is not that big of a deal. As long as youre rested going into it its not a problem- you get sleepy by the end but it doesnt affect the actual running i dont think as long as you pace it properly which of course can be a challenge.

I was thinking an even easier way to do it is in 400m or especially 100m segments. Could someone do a 100 in 14 every 3.5 min for 24 hours.I dont see why not and thats even faster than what is being projected.Bolt could prob do it lol ud just have to keep him interested have it at an all day party. Think about the workouts Ryun did 40x400 or whatever- you could multiply that distance by 2.5 and multiply the rest he took by like 10 times or more.

I came across this searching for the record:

"I was part of a group that supported an attempt by the famous Lynndale Club here in New Zealand on the then "World Record" for the 10 man 24 hour relay. November 17/18 1979

It was successful ; They ran 297 miles 1243 yards.

Top runners were;

Chris Pilone : then a 2:18 marathoner. 32 miles Best mile> 4:35 Worst > 5.01

Chris is now better known as the Coach of Hamish Carter who won the Triathlon at Athens Olympics.

next best was Gary Elliot : 31 miles. Best > 4:37. Worst 4;59

Gary became better known in the early 1980's as the Coach of Alison Roe of Boston and NY marathon fame."

So a 2:18 marathoner was not even breaking 5 at the end. I think you are vastly overrating what an elite runner could manage for 30 X 1 mile. Sure, they could run some fast miles but around mile 20 I think they would be faltering a bit.

The Splendid Slender wrote:

. . .

Chris Pilone : then a 2:18 marathoner. 32 miles Best mile> 4:35 Worst > 5.01

. . .

If I did the math right and assuming average mile time as average of best and worst mile, that makes his 32 x 1 mile pace 28 seconds faster than his marathon pace. That gives some credibility to estimates of about 10k pace for the event and a record potential in the region of 1:52.

Don't you think this would be limited by how fast you could get lactic acid out of your body? Maybe I'm wrong, but I doubt anyone could run a 4:10 without going anerobic. If you can't get it out of your system after a rep, you would eventually be overwhelmed by it.

Citizen Runner wrote:

The Splendid Slender wrote:Chris Pilone : then a 2:18 marathoner. 32 miles Best mile> 4:35 Worst > 5.01

. . .

If I did the math right and assuming average mile time as average of best and worst mile, that makes his 32 x 1 mile pace 28 seconds faster than his marathon pace. That gives some credibility to estimates of about 10k pace for the event and a record potential in the region of 1:52.

The 3 mile or 5k time would be a better indicator.

I was on a 24 hour relay team back in the '70s on which Clint Mericle of Corpus Cristi ran between 4:20 and 4:30 for somewhere around 30 miles, and he was a 2:25 marathoner at the time, so not world class by any means. I'd guess that someone capable of a 2:04 marathon could run a whole bunch of 4:10s with 45 minutes recovery. Hell, Clint did his on pretty much nothing but Pop Tarts and beer. So, my guess is 1:49:10.

on a 24-hr relay our top guy averaged under 4:30 miles, IIRC he didn't run marathons though his training partner was 2:30s low.

at that time I was 3:08 marathon, averaged 5:18 in the relay (B team).

so.. 1:45-50 would be my guess..

I like this guess. I can see someone doing 42.2 x 1k @ 2:30 with ~20mins rest or even something crazier like 211 x 200m @ 30s with 4 min rest or 141 x 300m @ 45s with 6 min rest. (I'm assuming only 16 hours of awake time, though).

Facts of life wrote:

The world record would be 1:46

I can't see someone doing this at 5k pace (4:03 WR). Maybe 10K pace perhaps, that would give what 4:14 pace? 1:50-1:51 for Bekele in peak shape

kanny wrote:

I like this guess. I can see someone doing 42.2 x 1k @ 2:30 with ~20mins rest or even something crazier like 211 x 200m @ 30s with 4 min rest or 141 x 300m @ 45s with 6 min rest.

I believe he did specify you have to run each whole mile at a time.

(I'm assuming only 16 hours of awake time, though).

why? The optimal way would be to use all 24 hours you're given.

I think I'd warm up a bit then start by breaking it down into 3 runs/workouts

1st workout = 10 miles

3 miles straight through

2 x 2 mile

3 X 1 mile

Rest and eat and try to nap.

Come back in evening for 8 miles

2 x 2 mile

4 x 1 mile

Workout number 3 after eating and getting a good amount of sleep 8.2 miles

2 x 1 mile

6 x 1 mile

.2 mile

I think I would be average somewhere between 10K to half marathon pace...probably closer to 10K pace.

There is plenty of time in between to take naps.

I feel this is most optimal, and would definitely prefer to sleep between reps.

But as already stated by multiple people in this thread, plenty of people have already done it at 5k pace. Just noone with a 5k time under 13 minutes has tried it.