What sport produces fastest athlete to carry 20lb. bag of rice over shoulder through technical hilly trails? Say 10 miles.

Guys, we're talking about 20 pounds of rice, not 20 pounds of rocks or something. If it was 20 pounds of something heavy a distance runner might struggle, but if it's just rice a 10K runner should be just fine.

I think it is a different answer if you ask how a collection of most top athletes in a particular sport would do in this than if you ask about the top outliers. (There are probably a few top cross-country runners who would do great at this, while many would not have the necessary strength.) I'm not going to go with the rowers as a group, since most of them are too big and heavy to be great runners, although they are aerobic beasts. I'd think a few lighter Navy Seals might do pretty well, as might some soccer players and even a few triathletes (Dave Scott or Luc Van Lierde in their prime!). But I'd probably vote with some others of you for the cross country skiers. One other group not mentioned is top handball players (not Olympic team handball, but the one-wall and 4-wall sport played in USA) - but I think the sport is not doing well popularity-wise, so the pool of contestants is diminished and I'm really talking about top handball players from 50 years ago!

Ryan Kent OCR

https://www.facebook.com/dropthehammerr/photos/racing-for-your-teammates-and-representing-your-country-theres-nothing-quite-lik/1977959532260451/?paipv=0&eav=AfbmQ2i92nh56vne1azRMo2OthaiZh0PIEA0RPHQmjJW81uyx8AlnLCih5qUzGr9WEg&_rdr

I'm going with champion rock climber Hobbs Kessler.

Pipelayers, framers, and plenty of other tradesmen would do fairly well. They're not going to be best of the best, but plenty of these guys would be competitive.

Anyone not saying mountain runners has never done a competitive mountain race.

+1. Will Peterson holds the FKT for the Long Trail (unsupported). t took him 4 days, 11 hours and 34 minutes to cover 273 miles, and he started with a 33 lb backpack.

run247.com

Another Long Trail FKT as Will Peterson sets new unsupported best

Olly Green

Will Peterson set a new unsupported FKT on the 273-mile Long Trail in Vermont, USA, just less than a month after John Kelly's supported best.

Open link

Though TBH maybe Jim Wamsley or someone like him would have such an advantage at going fast that the weight wouldn't be decisive.

Still, both guys have mountain/trail experience. It's just matter of what specific guy we're calling here.