IF you would get PAID $1,000 for every mile, how far could you go on foot tomorrow?

I could probably make at least 51 that's 3 mph probably more if the ground is flat and I have plenty of water

Easily 70-75 miles.

The average human walking speed is 3.1 miles an hour I would simply walk 1 mile jog 1 mile for the first 10 miles and rest 20 minutes. Do that again and then start walking 10 miles and rest 20 minutes (change of foot gear and massage if needed) but my walking speed the first 4-5 hours would be faster than 3.1 mph.

70-75 miles minimum

You guys are incredible. I wonder what the maximum distance you have covered in a day? Would it be 20-25?

I did a 100k in 10 hours on a relatively flat course With that motivation and when I can choose the route myself I would easily be able to do 100+ miles. .

Probably 50-60 miles. Each mile after that gets exponentially more painful and the additional money becomes more and more incremental.

I’ve done 50k running easy pace. felt a little tight after.

Walking 6+ hours does not fatigue me at all, though.

I mean, 100 is baseline regionally competitive. I just checked and 50 year from my city who I've never even heard of did 100 miles in 18 hours last year.

Same guy has barely broken 3 for the marathon on a massively downhill course.

I would run one mile, and then realize I am losing money by doing this.

I need the money. I'd go 127.5 miles.

Yeah I may have exaggerated but he did say “well over 100” miles which to me seems like they must be quite confident they can do at least 115 or so. It sounds like a lot to me, but for many of you it is almost like a walk in the park. 115 would be like 4 marathons and then you still have to go more than 10 miles. To me it sounds daunting.

So you would have to run 8 minute miles nonstop for 17 hours. This is really not so easy. I am not sure how many people in the world can currently do this. It seems it would be less than 100, but I admit to being a bit ignorant about this sort of thing.

Only if I get paid at least 50% before the attempt. I don't want to be scammed. I would try to do 53 miles, double marathon.

I pulled out a 20k loan last week to invest. So I would make sure to do 20 miles at a minimum. I've been bodybuilding for the last 13 years since having a grade 3 hamstring year. I think I could walk 30 miles in a day but would be happy with anything over 20.

I'm in pretty good shape right now. 20-25 miles is a fairly standard double T day for me. If I slowed it down, did a bunch of walking, I'm absolutely certain I could get to 50. I think elite ultramarathoners do 100 in what, 12-15 hours? I don't think I train properly to be an elite ultramarathoner, but I might be able to get 100 done in 17 hours? Not sure. Somewhere in that 50-100 range for sure though.

Couple observations -

Thread title says "...tomorrow?" Perhaps many people replying (like me, initially) defaulted to a 24-hr day. So maybe some of these misguided predictions are based on having that extra 7 hours?

The best reply in this thread is #30 by Running UberNerd -

"But as anyone who has endeavored past 50 knows, something mechanically usually goes wrong, or your stomach goes bad and you can’t eat. And that’s what slows you down, not fitness. So my answer is 100-120 on a good day. 85 if things go awry (which they probably would)."

His or her comments about sh*t going wrong are what tells me he knows what he is talking about and not some poser claiming to be an ultrarunner. Aside from the physical issues he mentions, the mental aspect of how much is sucks shouldn't be overlooked. I, myself, quit at 50-mi of a race in which I was easily under big-buckle pace for no other reason than I was just mentally done. I was physically in fantastic shape. For the record, I am/was also a sub-24-hr mountain 100 guy. I am 57 and I don't think I could touch 100mi in 17 hrs, I'd be more likely to come in around 80 or 85 miles these days, depending on terrain.

I'd imagine that diminishing returns (that the incremental gain seems smaller and smaller as you amass more and more money) would play into the decision, as the body falls apart.

In an ultra marathon the reward (finishing) comes only at the end, and the specter of shame (dropping out) is ever-present until the reward is attained, so there is plenty to incentive to keep going.

If I have pocketed $50 to $65K and could go through some more horror over the last half an hour for another $1k or $2k, I might hang it up. The mission has been accomplished.

I'd think that if you've never done a high-mileage day it's very hard to predict how far you could go. The most miles I've ever ambulated in a 17-hour period is probably not much over 30--a marathon plus warmup plus walking to and from the car or hotel and whatever other walking was required. I surely could have done quite a bit more than that, but how much more? I guess that at peak fitness I could have made it at least 50 miles in 17 hours by alternating easy running with walking breaks and gradually lengthening the walking breaks. But I suspect that well before the 17 hours were up, some body part would break down no matter how easy the pace seemed.

Two years ago, at age 70, I started a 100 mile race at 9:00 am. At midnight I was around 57 miles so I get $57K even giving away two hours at the start.