Could you out run a police officer?

Here's a somewhat related story:

Going into my senior year of HS, I'm in Orlando, after an end of summer 10 mile race. I think I ran 55 low so I wasn’t in terrible shape. Anyway my buddy and I go into this novelty shop and I pick something out for my girlfriend. The only problem is that I'm flat broke, so I walk out the back door with it tucked under my shirt. My buddy quickly follows with a couple of shirts that he stuffed into a bag that he carried in. We must have been pretty obvious because the store clerks and managers are waiting for us as soon as we walk out the door.

They ask to see our bags. Within a couple seconds they find my buddies T's. Now the clerks grab hold of us and say they are going to call the cops. I start to relax and tell them, “Ok, ok you've got us.” As soon as my guy loosens his grip I take off down the back alley.

The clerks are wearing their "uniforms" complete with dress shoes so I can hear their footsteps behind me, tap, tap, tap, tap... I still have my racing flats on from the race that morning and now am absolutely flying down a brick road in some subdivision. As the race progresses I hear one guy quickly fall away but the other tap, tap, tap is hanging right with me. I can't believe it so I surge even harder.

We're now about 55 seconds or 400 meters into our ordeal and he can't be but 5 yards back. I'm starting to tie up badly but the only thing that keeps me going is that the sound of his tapping was becoming more distant.

Finally I can't run anymore, horribly tied up, I stop, hands on knees, hyper ventilating, I look back to see this guy, doubled over, hands on knees about 10 yards back, just looking at me. We don't say a word; I just right myself, throw him the tank top that I got for my girlfriend and slowly started jogging down the street. As I rounded a corner I looked back, he was still there breathing heavily unable to even get upright.

So as it turns out this guy was just 5 yards slower than me over a 600m distance (I’m guessing that I had at least a 5 to 10 yard head start). I’ve always been curious who he was and if I ever raced against him in track but am sure he was a 400 meter guy who probably split a 52 in a tuxedo and dress shoes on a brick road at 10 pm on Saturday night.

So the moral of the story is; even if you’re a 400 meter runner you should always work on your strength training (JW are you listening?)

There was a cop in my town who ran an 8:43 steeplechase in college. There was an article about him in the paper and he said his record for catching bad guys who tried to run was 13-0. I doubt you could run away from him.

Kyle Miller?

What is so special about my splits? They are pretty weak. That 20.84 had it been FAT, would have been marvelous as a 200m split in a 400m, but the result was 20.84/29.23 and probably FAT (21.13/29.49).

As for the 400m, I know it was stupid. I usually had my first 200m in about 22 - 23 seconds. When I went out in around 22 seconds, my times would be 48.3 or lower and when I went out in 23 they would be 49.4 or lower. On rare occasion, I went out a little under 24 and in these I usually ran over 50 seconds, but under 51.

Going out that fast made me hit a wall around 250m. Even though I have good sprint endurance, I couldn't even do this type of run in a 300m.

If this were official, I think the 100m split would be close to what I estimate. I usually run the first 40 in about 5.8 seconds in a 400m. This guy probably had his first 50 in 6.1 (That is 24.4 second 200m speed). I went all out at my 40, so I probably had the next 60 in about 5.5 seconds. His next 50 came at a little faster than my cruise pace, so he probably went around 9.75 mps.

Usually, I go around 6.3 in the next 60 and maintain that pace for another 100m or so. He was probably at 100m at 11.1 (20.2 pace). I think 11.3/11.4 is pretty accurate for my first 100m. Had it been FAT, I think the 200m split would have been a touch slower....Maybe 21.1. I've run under 9.75 a few times in my 2nd 100m in a 200m and I have gone 9.56 before, so the 11.3/9.54 is not overstretching it, just the 9.54 was to fit with the 11.3 estimate.

And, what is so great about my PR 300m split? This is pretty slow. A good 300m split is under 32 seconds. If I were to only run a 300m, I doubt it would be faster than my PR 300m split. I hit that 2nd curve very hard. There was nothing I could have done in the first 300m that was better than how I ran that PR. Maybe knock off .05 on the start, so maybe 32.76... I cannot run any harder for 300m whether I run 300m or 400m. The only thing I could have improved on was my final 100 and my start. I think my potential 400m would have been 46.64 - 46.84.

Overall, in my sprints, I saw my limit as:

100m: 10.79

200m: 20.35 (10.79/9.56)

400m: 46.64 (11.39/10.54/10.75/13.96)

The only made up split is the 10.79 All other splits I ran at one point or another.

The 100m time is crap. The 200m is pretty good, but it was completely dependent on my opening 100m. My 5 fastest 100m were: 10.81, 10.91, 10.94 (in 200m), 11.03 (in 200m), 11.08 (in 200m). It didn't look like it was going to happen.

The 400m I think was very possible, but I don't think I would have been anything special. I think I could have been a consistent sub 48 400m runner with a few runs under 47 seconds. My 400m improved a lot when I began running the 800m. What improved most was the final 150m. My average runs were:

12.1/11.2/11.8/15.3

After I started the 800, they were more like:

12.1/11.1/11.5/14.8.

My top speed didn't change, but I was able to maintain faster paces much longer. However, there was no potential for me to break 46 seconds.

Nowadays, most police officers are NOT out of shape and don't smoke. I just got in my second foot chase of the week. I ran the first guys into a moving car and almost caught another guy on a bike. I was running in full uniform on both days with a vest, which weighs 22 pounds. It restricts your breathing and all of the weight is around your hips. I ran this turd on the bike up a slight hill for a 1/4 of a mile and came within 10 feet of getting his ass! I was talking crap the whole way and sacred the sh** out of him! Good times... Had I been in running shoes and shorts; I would have smoked him so quick, even on the bike. Watch out for cops that can run! Your ass will go to jail tired!!

Just for clarification, the gear, boots, uniform and vest weigh 22 pounds total. Not a 22 pound vest. Sorry

if you run after ppl who just run for no reason, then u actually suck. i dont do that but i like running from jackasses who chase me.

I've never committed a crime in my life (unless being extremely sexy counts), but I have outrun many people way more competent than the cops. I train routinely in parkour and free running. I also lift, run, and do resistance exercises. I'm in pretty good shape. I've even outrun those with more experience than myself. Given the situation, unless he/she had a gun or some way to inhibit my movement, no cop or group of cops would ever catch me on foot. The police are simply not properly equipped to outrun and catch criminals on foot without technical assistance, because as everyone knows from the time they're 5, the stereotypical cop is a stupid, donut-eating loser who could be outrun by an old grandma with arthritis and a cane/walker. As you come to find out around age 14, not all cops can be described as such, but most are still incompetent at anything requiring more physical ability that slamming a guy against the hood of a car with most if not all of their body weight.

First off, most cops are overweight and dumb. Not all, but most.

Outrunning most of these guys would be pretty easy. It's easy to see why lots of criminals try to run...because there is a good chance of getting away.

Of course, the cops tip the odds in their favor when the bring out dogs, choppers, guns, etc. But it's not likely they will use those tools on you if you're a simple petty criminal.

My buddy, former XC runner, is a cop. He says the fat guys in the department (i.e. most guys) get in foot pursuits all the time. He's yet to have one. The criminals can usually tell that he is in better shape than them (speculation).

Probably can't run a 36 second 300 though... Id still take my chances.

Today, I still like my chances against the majority of cops. But do I like my chances against just about all of them? No, not in good enough shape.

In my prime age 16-21, I doubt any member of the EPS save for perhaps a guy named Francis who I know hit 22.x, maybe 21.x for 200 could catch me.

And I am/was quite agile.

And this assumes I have bit of a head start.

The only way I'm getting caught by the EPS is if they have AIR 1, dogs, the whole gang.

Even then I think I could get away in some situations if I really tried, I am also proud of my knowledge of the city streets, ravines and river valley.

Having said all of that, I try to abide by the laws so I don't forsee any chases, even though I think I would beat these jokers. It would not have been much of a contest in my prime.

hate to say it wrote:

First off, most cops are overweight and dumb. Not all, but most.

Some are overweight. You join the force, you might have to jog 8 minute miles in training, then you're hired and you forget about that, go back to eating cheetos.

I don't think they are neccessarily dumb, intelligence is relative.

But how many have any post secondary education, even a single semester? It's not a requirement for most police forces.

five oh wrote:

Do you think that you could run from and get away from one police officer?

are there any requirements for how fast police officers have to be? I think anyone that can run a 55s 400 and can keep going for a mile under 5 minutes should easily be able to get away if chased by a police officer.

I did this. It is stupid and will only lead to more problems. If you comply things may sting a little but they will be over and done with.