Question is on the title.
Which land mammals could Outlast a human during a six day race?
Assuming there were guard rails on the sides of the track or road to keep them in line and they had normal land mammal aid stations with their favorite foods and a crew for reshoeing or massages just like the human contestants.
Is a train considered a mammal?
Horse, Camel, Wolf, African Hunting dog, Coyote, Dhole, Domestic dog of some sort, Kangaroo etc.
Alaskan sled dog
Iditarod
938 Miles, 8 days, in Alaska in March through snow.
Aren't the dogs in a team? Or is there a division where a dog runs alone?
I think caribou might make it faster.
Pronghorn (with the greatest of ease)
I don't know. The caribou (reindeer) can run about 34-50 mph and routinely travel about 34 miles a day at an easy pace and can eat up to 12 lbs a food per day t rest so they have a big engine. And they routinely put in 1,600 miles per year. Seems they might be more of an ultra runner type than the pronghorn.
50 wrote:
I don't know. The caribou (reindeer) can run about 34-50 mph and routinely travel about 34 miles a day at an easy pace and can eat up to 12 lbs a food per day t rest so they have a big engine. And they routinely put in 1,600 miles per year. Seems they might be more of an ultra runner type than the pronghorn.
34 miles a day ain’t gonna cut it.
ThatAverageRunner wrote:
50 wrote:
I don't know. The caribou (reindeer) can run about 34-50 mph and routinely travel about 34 miles a day at an easy pace and can eat up to 12 lbs a food per day t rest so they have a big engine. And they routinely put in 1,600 miles per year. Seems they might be more of an ultra runner type than the pronghorn.
34 miles a day ain’t gonna cut it.
That is their basic training mileage. How many people do 34 a day?
50 wrote:
Aren't the dogs in a team? Or is there a division where a dog runs alone?
You are right, the dogs are part of a team but they all have to run the whole distance + pull a sled.
The pulling of the sled is split between all the dogs on the team but each of the dogs have to run the whole way.
ThatAverageRunner wrote:
34 miles a day ain’t gonna cut it.
Probably correct.
The American record averaged about 90 miles per day for 6 days.
Kouros was over 100 per day.
But there may be an animal that with training could come close.
1234567890
On the other hand, what did the original poster mean by "outlast?"
It could be taken to mean something other than just miles traveled.
I think it depends a lot on the temperature. Humans deal with heat remarkably well (assuming access to water) compared with most other mammals. At a temperature below freezing I would think many canines could beat a human. At 100F, I suspect a properly dressed human with lots of water stops might come out ahead of all other mammals.
stateroftheoblivious wrote:
ThatAverageRunner wrote:
34 miles a day ain’t gonna cut it.
Probably correct.
The American record averaged about 90 miles per day for 6 days.
Kouros was over 100 per day.
But there may be an animal that with training could come close.
1234567890
On the other hand, what did the original poster mean by "outlast?"
It could be taken to mean something other than just miles traveled.
The caribou moving 34 miles a day is not during a competition. It is during their yearly commute. It would be like comparing the 34 miles a day to a Japanese runner who runs 10 miles each way to a desk job Mon-Friday. The top end is 50 mph but usually for only 10 miles at most whereas the proghorn could put in double distance, 20 miles at 50 mph.
So if you took either animal and slowed them down they could do pretty well, especially considering that during their long migrations they don't each much. Most mammals only eat well once their migration is completed. So, in a competition setting with access to foods they would do well.
I agree the iditarod dogs do pretty well but are they whipped? I think I've seen that in movies. That has to be like PED.
Camels would do well. Slow but consistent.
I think they still use them in the Tenere desert to transport salt over long distances.
Trucks came and went because they were to unreliable.
But overall I would think humans will always win this 6 day race because no animal would understand why they are doing that.
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/in-sahara-salt-hauling-camel-trains-struggle-on/
Is Jim Walmsley the mammal? If so, would it be fair game if he teamed up with the Coconino Cowboys?
A grizzly bear could easily outlast a human. Gun goes off. Bear eats human. Bear has successfully outlasted human.
50 wrote:
Which land mammals could Outlast a human during a six day race?
Interesting question and I have no insight to offer other than point to the great ultrarunner Bernd Heinrich's book Why We Run for some direction if you have not already seen it (wonderful read on its own). A career biologist / naturalist, he took keen interest in the endurance abilities of all sorts of animals and references them in his book.