Is there a rule against attaching a helium balloon to yourself while running a road race?

Why stop with a Helium balloon? Hydrogen is much lighter than air plus when it explodes you’d be pushed to the finish line. An alternative idea is a super long rope attached to the balloon thus that the air resistance is less since the air is less dense. I do mean an extremely long rope.

If you know there's going to be a tailwind, couldn't you just attach some kites to your racing kit? Hmmm

Is there any rule that world records must be set on this world? On the moon, you would be getting enough gravity to keep you down but your stride length would be immense. However, you would be getting weighed down by oxygen and artificially aided by it. The entry fee would be immense and you'd have to get some relatively fit billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, a hobby jogger, to get enough paid entrants in the Moon mile or 5k to make it a record qualifier. You'd have to build a track or course, record eligible, and fly in David Katz to certify it. On the other hand, the NCAA would give you an immense time drop if you conducted your attempts in the Diamond-crushing gravity of Jupiter or better yet on a planet with only enough gravity to weigh you down a lot, not to crush your bones. Then too the NCAA-gravity correction table would require a lot of results from Saturn or Neptune to get it to count, but the cold weather would be great if you didn't freeze to death. Sprints, I am thinking, would not work well on an exo-planet.

You would.

There is no upward force acting on both you and the balloon, unless the combined object is so low-density that air displaces both. The air has to get under you and push you up.

Imagine a hot air balloon trying to lift a 100 ton block of lead. All 100 tons has to be canceled out by volume in that balloon, before air can get under it. You would need a whole airship to do it.

The upward force on you by a balloon is negligible. Step on a scale with a balloon and see for yourself.

I felt like a Kenyan when I ran with my tiny terrier pulling me. She weighed 5.5kg & could pull me for 10km no drama. I was a 32min to 38min runner depending on dedication levels.

I reckon at 38min fitness, the dog would speed me up to my 32min PB easily.

I miss that mutt.

Heck, imagine what the jumps records would be on the moon!!!

don't know, but i do know people like you should not be posting on this board.

Since the moon isn't actually a world (doesn't dominate its orbit), moon marks would carry an asterisk.

Indeed, indeed.

In fact, create an open-creature planetary race (lest we discriminate against aliens or those so-identifying). Stock trainers and shorts are mandatory - nudity will not be tolerated *alien participants take note* (who seemingly run around starkers on their own planets). Choosing a payment medium for intergalactic entry applications is a tricky one though seeing as a billionaire on Earth only has lots of paper which probably is worthless in the wider Galaxy..

Even if we discount aero drag and focus only on the weight reduction it's going to be a diminishing return. Taking off a few pounds is likely to help, but as you approach a net weight of 0 pounds there is vanishing friction with the ground. That is to say: if you had balloons that perfectly counterbalanced your weight you would never be able to push yourself forwards unless you had starting blocks or something angled, but even then part of the force vector would be upward and you'd never come back down (air density changes ignored)

The friction force your shoes have with the ground is equal to the coefficient of friction multiplied by the normal force, in this case that is weight. At a certain point the weight gets so small that your foot just slips backwards. Add to that the 'moonwalk' effect where the small upward force of a step lifts you several feet into the air.

The reason the "moonwalk bounce" worked in the first place was because the only way to overcome the low friction was to increase the normal force by pressing downward, propelling the walker upwards.

What a f*cking moron you are

This thread reminds me of the time Tippi Turtle tried to mail a package stuffed with a helium balloon:

I think it's been established that it would be no help, BUT that won't stop at least one runner in London on Sunday sporting such a contraption.

Just holding a leash in your hand isn't an efficient way to benefit from the dog. See the video when Fam tried to break 4 with a dog pulling. I think he had the leash tethered around his waste.

My daughter used to roller blade with her dog and she would be able to rest in spots with the dog doing all the work. With wheels, it's much easier to benefit from the force of the dog than when you have to rely on your legs.

So for drag reasons people have made it clear a balloon wouldn't work but if you wanted to test it out in a more practical way, you could make a puffy vest that you can run in and fill that with helium.

The thing is, helium won't actually make you lighter, it only pulls your body upwards. This means that while you may hit the ground with less force, you are still propelling an equal amount of mass FORWARDS to run, and going forwards is generally the goal in running. Using helium to lighten yourself would be the opposite of what race cars try to do with spoilers and downforce, where they can benefit from the extra force into the ground to increase friction and handling, without having to propel additional mass. The only possible benefit I could see from the helium is a minuscule increase in stride length due to spending a longer time in the air with each stride. Now this wouldn't offset the issues of drag and breathability of having a helium vest, but in an ideal scenario it might have a similar effect to wearing shoes that are 0.1% bouncier.

U Monster,

The national helium reserves are running out as we type and you are talking about wasting it on running? We are so done!

How will I have my gastric bypass surgery without helium?

Sincerely,

Beside myself and next to myself simultaneously.

I have long wondered if a person could use a large balloon to make it easier to land cliffs on skis.

I also wonder if you could wear one of those motors for powered paragliding and use it to ski uphill.