How far could Kipchoge run sub 6 minutes per mile pace?

I'm not entirely convinced you're not a troll but this is a really intriguing question.

Armchair exercise physiologists of letsrun, I want to hear your input. I'm assuming six minute pace is well above his aerobic threshold, so I guess it really comes down to whether or not he can have water and fuel. Does he have pace cars and rocket skates?

Either way, I think 100 miles is absurd. If nothing else because he would literally have to be eating cheeseburgers while holding the pace in order to sustain that kind of effort. Maybe Nike will give him an intravenous drip of sugar and electrolytes for their next science experiment.

I think he could make it probably past 20 miles, IDK. Depends what he does his long LT runs at. But they dont use stop watches.

bonrwrestler wrote:

I think he could make it probably past 20 miles, IDK. Depends what he does his long LT runs at. But they dont use stop watches.

6 minute pace is slower than his marathon pace would be, and 20 miles is shorter than a marathon!

My guess would be in the range of 50 miles if he had a few months to prepare for it with a few over distance days sprinkled throughout.

It would be unnecessary and frankly could hurt his fitness if he did over distance for anything under 6 min miles are you crazy??

I guess it would be hard for him to run 6 minute pace or under for more than 10 miles.

I work with an ultra runner and he does like 200 mile weeks in the summer time. He's extremely fit but barely runs sub 6 for ONE mile! He also has run more marathons than Kipchoge and more finisher medals. So I'd say 8-10 miles tops.

Of course Kipchoge can run 4:40ish for a marathon. But 6' pace is another level. Different stride. Ultra runners will smoke him and go by him even before 3 miles at this pace.

He could run sub 6 pace very fast. He has ran a sub 12:50 which is way under sub 6!

100 miles seems absurd. After i thought about it in many perspectives, i think in ideal conditions and if he prepares for this he'll get to about 65-70 miles.

Trolling at it's best...i hope !

The 100 km world record is 6 hours and 10 minutes, which is just under 6 minutes per mile. Now, I think the greatest marathoner in history might have the potential to get close to that with proper training. However, this takes time, and I don't think he would be able to get past 50 miles in the next two years. If he (hypothetically) kept training for that challenge, he might get closer.

Africans don't and never will humiliate themselves with ultra marathon running. It's for white slow heelstrikers.

Hahahaha wrote:

Trolling at it's best...i hope !

Buuutttt.... This ultra guy!!! He has more finisher medals than Kipchoge ;-)

this English guy wrote:

The 100 km world record is 6 hours and 10 minutes, which is just under 6 minutes per mile. Now, I think the greatest marathoner in history might have the potential to get close to that with proper training. However, this takes time, and I don't think he would be able to get past 50 miles in the next two years. If he (hypothetically) kept training for that challenge, he might get closer.

I'm not convinced that 100km "specialists" are training all that differently from marathoners. I predict he snags this 100km record with 5 days notice if he wants to

Oh they do. What is the longest duration run Kipchoge does? 3 hours? 3.5 hours max? If he tries to run 100k WR pace, he will falter after 4-5 hours, because his body just is not used to running such a long time. I have no doubt he is physically superior to all but the best 100k runners, but he could not get close to the WR (within 10 minutes even) with 5 months notice.

He may not make it, if he's asked run a 100km tommorrow.

But with a 6-12 months of training, he will shatter the record or probably hold the record pace for 100 miles.

I would say over 50 miles. The 50 mile treadmill world record is sub 6 min pace. I'm guessing 60 miles.

What? His marathon pace is 4:42 and you assume that 6:00 is well above his aerobic threshold?

You people are way underestimating him. Here are the paces he could likely run when in top shape for the marathon at different distances assuming he fuels and hydrates well, and his connective tissue holds up:

26.2 miles 4:40 per mile

30 miles 4:42

40 miles 4:53

50 miles 5:06

60 miles 5:18

70 miles 5:40

80 miles 5:51

90 miles 6:03

Somewhere between 80 and 90 miles would be doable for him as a conservative estimate.

Think about it this way: his easy, conversational pace is 5:40 per mile.

Where is Calculo when we need him?

"Oleg Kharitonov ran 100 miles in 11:28:03 in a 100 mile track race in 2002. That's an average of 6:53 pace, which means he essentially did four marathons in a row at an average of 3:00:16.

What's crazy is that this race actually came down to the wire. Another runner, Denis Jalybin, also wanted the record and was a full four laps ahead of Kharitonov with just seven miles to go. Kharitonov somehow picked up his pace and passed Jalybin at the end of the 402nd lap--with literally 135 meters left in the race. That's equivalent to catching someone in the last 4 feet (1.3 meters) of a mile race or the last 3 inches (8 centimeters) of a 100 meter dash. A defeated and exhausted Jalybin broke down and took a full 2 minutes to cover the last 135 meters while Kharitonov celebrated his new record.

Here's the full suite of 100 mile world records:

Men's road running: 11:46:37 by Yannis Kouros (GRE)

Men's track: 11:28:03 by Oleg Kharitonov (RUS)

Women's road running: 13:47:41 by Ann Trason (USA)

Women's track: 14:25:45 by Edit Berces (HUN)"

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-fastest-time-anyone-has-run-a-100-mile-foot-race