How fast would the mile world record be if people actually ran to the death?

If you're literally running from death, you would be running all-out. You'd run way too fast for 400-500 meters, then quickly crumble. And by you, I mean all humans.

Not possible.

You would pass out before you got there

It would definitely make track meets more exciting if the runners were being chased by animals that could kill them. 🤔

Definitely 3:27 or something like that. If you gave El Guerrouj 600 meters to run like normal and then have him being chased by a pack of slow cheetahs. To absolute death would probably be 3:16.

ElGuerroujFan wrote:

In some extreme cases, people have been known to have sudden bouts of superhuman strength and agility, like a mother lifting a car to save her child.

Those are more likely exaggerated stories than "superhuman strength."

Is a woman "lifting a car off her child" standing under an SUV with both arms lifting an SUV over her head with all four wheels 6 feet off the ground?

No.

Or is it one of those things where her kid is pinned under the rocker panel of the car, and for one or two seconds she pulls on the car with all her might, and without getting the wheels off the ground, but with some give in the springs and shock absorbers, she's able to tilt the car to one side enough her still live kid is able to wiggle out?

More likely.

World records are your "super human strength." There's no effort beyond that, until there is. Then it become the new theoretical limit.

Tricking mom into thinking the only way she can free her child from a non-existant kidnapper isn't going to make her out sprint Usain Bolt or edge out El G's world record mile.

Film Rep wrote:

It would definitely make track meets more exciting if the runners were being chased by animals that could kill them. 🤔

Sounds like a great idea.

Film Rep wrote:

It would definitely make track meets more exciting if the runners were being chased by animals that could kill them. 🤔

May be coming

Das Unkle wrote:

Film Rep wrote:

It would definitely make track meets more exciting if the runners were being chased by animals that could kill them. 🤔

May be coming

I’m sure it would be just as controversial as supershoes.

Doesn’t have to be a world record. All you have to do is die and the crowd goes home happy.

So why don't ya give it a go?

Sham 69 wrote:

a pack of slow cheetahs.

... this sounds entirely realistic

I read an interview with Gerry Lindgren in which he thought 3:30 mile is very realistic.

GettingFasterDude wrote:

Is a woman "lifting a car off her child" standing under an SUV with both arms lifting an SUV over her head with all four wheels 6 feet off the ground?

Yes. As an EMT I've seen this happen more often than it's reported. Usually the woman then chucks the SUV about 20 yards more or less.

stan the corgi wrote:

I read an interview with Gerry Lindgren in which he thought 3:30 mile is very realistic.

3:30 one mile would mean 800m would have to be passed in about 1:44.00. The entire world competes at 800m except Japan for some reason. [Japan competes at 60m & 100m and Japan competes well from Marathon to ultras.] Jamaicans sometimes has world class runners at 800m. Norway sometimes has world class runners at 800m. We are near our human limits at 800m. More and more men every year are racing 800m sub-1:44 buy no new sub-1:41 800m men. Race to the death for one mile is fantasy. Either one milers would pass out or physically crumble due to muscle failure. No sub-3:30 one mile. Find a second man to race sub-1:41 800m before anyone talks of sub-3:30 one mile.

a) athletes already have adrenaline running through their systems during races. The mythical "boost" you are referring to is your adrenal glands going into overdrive. Any run "for their life" time would be similar to what they would run in a race.

b) your body won't let you run yourself to "death". At the extreme limit, you might pass out.

c) if you are completely out of shape, there is a chance you could die of an embolism/heart attack during or immediately after your supposed "run for your life" event. Some might die hours to days later of rhabdomyolysis....but the conditions are incredibly rare (i.e. they were very dehydrated and it was the first time the went faster than a walking pace in a decade)...

and Red Hot Chili Peppers play 'Slow Cheetah' live during the finale

There are really good sections on different elements of this question in Alex Hutchinson's Endure. He cites studies of what happens to cyclists if they essentially have their pain receptors shut off with fentanyl before a time trial on an exercise bike: turns out they bike crazy hard, feel great at first, and then their muscles start to collapse and they end up with slower times than without the fentanyl. Afterwards, they can barely walk. The suggestion of the research, I think, is that to reach our absolute maximum capacities we need our pain receptors and a sense of restraint. So maybe the absolute best scenario would be one where you put cheetahs running behind El Guerroj, but you train them to run 3:25. He knows he'll be fine if he hits that time, and eaten if he doesn't. That gets you the best combination of both pacing (restrain) and terror (elimination of all muscular limitations.)

byron evans wrote:

GettingFasterDude wrote:

Is a woman "lifting a car off her child" standing under an SUV with both arms lifting an SUV over her head with all four wheels 6 feet off the ground?

Yes. As an EMT I've seen this happen more often than it's reported. Usually the woman then chucks the SUV about 20 yards more or less.

Thank you. As a tow truck driver, no one believes me when I have to go recover all these mother-chucking vehicles.

If people raced to the death, runners would die in races before they reached their peak. The world record would be around 4:10, and would not really be in any danger of falling because no one would become a runner with such a high likelihood of death.

Alex Hutchinson is either a con man or is a fool. You are not much better poster for believing Hutch. A 3:25 one mile means a runner must past 800m in about 1:41.5. Not going to happen.