What are some achievements in other sports that are comparable to completing a marathon in under three hours?

Discus? Well if we think logically about this the world record for the marathon is 2:00:35. That is roughly about 67% of 3:00:00. The world record for the discus is 74.35 meters. If we apply that same percentage to the discus we would get a throw of around 49.8 meters. There are other factors, I’m sure, but this would probably be a good starting point.

Did you have any other throwing events that you wanted to compare to a 3 hour marathon other than the discus? Shot put? Javelin? Hammer? What about other track & field events? Just use that 67% factor and you’ll get a rough idea.

Hitting a single in an over 40 adult softball league while 7 beers deep.

Surprised no cyclists have weighed in even though they'd be one of the most obvious comparison sports.

While unsure myself if this is an apt comparison, how about biking a century (100mi) in under 4 hours?

I've never considered any of my marathons under 3:00 hours anything special.

Are you biking this century by yourself or in a pack?

Riding a century under 4 hours by yourself is about like running a 2:20 marathon.

Riding a century under 4 hours in a pack on a flat course is probably easier than running a 3 hour marathon.

Yeah, as I see it, a sub 3 is a pretty standard benchmark that basically any healthy male amateur under 40 should be able to hit with adequate training. I'm just wondering what people think similar benchmarks are in other sports might be

-100mph serve in tennis

-throw a football 50 yards

-bench press 245 lbs

Re Cycling, agree with ^ although 2:20 is too generous if a TT bike is used.

In cycling terms, a sub 3 marathon is probably the equivalent of a 3.6-3.75 w/kg threshold or a midpack finish in a cat 2/3 (combined) race, or maybe getting into the break in a cat3 race.

Fighting a 58 year old Mike Tyson in a fixed boxing match and winning by decision.

What does threshold mean in this case? I hop on a bike occasionally, and my watts (based on Strava) are pathetic. I'm curious how pathetic.

Under 80 round of golf

Making your high school jv baseball team your senior year??

Threshold means your max average for an hour, ~90% of what you can average for 20 mins or ~95% of what you can average for 2x20 mins.

Standing on one leg for longer than 15 seconds.

Posting on LR more than twice in an hour.

About 30 meters/100 feet