Could a greyhound run a marathon? What kind of time would we be looking at?

Probably a greyhound couldn't run a marathon, they are more of a sprinter. But of course some breeds of dog can run a marathon distance, have you ever heard of the Iditarod sled race?

Reality Checker wrote:

Probably a greyhound couldn't run a marathon, they are more of a sprinter. But of course some breeds of dog can run a marathon distance, have you ever heard of the Iditarod sled race?

Did you call me an idiot?

iron will wrote:

Reality Checker wrote:

Probably a greyhound couldn't run a marathon, they are more of a sprinter. But of course some breeds of dog can run a marathon distance, have you ever heard of the Iditarod sled race?

Did you call me an idiot?

No, just uninformed.

Reality Checker wrote:

Probably a greyhound couldn't run a marathon, they are more of a sprinter. But of course some breeds of dog can run a marathon distance, have you ever heard of the Iditarod sled race?

You just have to train them to run distance. Can a human who does normally does the 400 run a marathon with different training? Same principle.

Huskies are only average speed-wise, and during the Iditarod they can pull a sled between 10 and 12 miles per hour, for 100-150 miles per day, for 11 days. So 5-6 minute miles for 6 hrs at a time, with resistance. That's absurd.

geographical geoff wrote:

Reality Checker wrote:

Probably a greyhound couldn't run a marathon, they are more of a sprinter. But of course some breeds of dog can run a marathon distance, have you ever heard of the Iditarod sled race?

You just have to train them to run distance. Can a human who does normally does the 400 run a marathon with different training? Same principle.

True but a Greyhound would only put up hobbyhound type times.

al bicarius wrote:

Huskies are only average speed-wise, and during the Iditarod they can pull a sled between 10 and 12 miles per hour, for 100-150 miles per day, for 11 days. So 5-6 minute miles for 6 hrs at a time, with resistance. That's absurd.

They are going a lot faster than that.

I was watching my friends dog. A lean mixed breed. Kept up 20 miles around 7:20 pace with utter ease. I stopped every few miles and it drank water and I was super mindful to make sure I wasn't overworkin him. He didn't seem to be exerting at all haha. Pretty amazing.

I've had other dogs struggle after 5. So it def depends on the dog.

My pit bull has no problem doing 20 mile trail runs with minimal stops so I don't think it would be difficult for a dog bred to run to do a marathon.

At hobbyjogger paces around town, the hounds seem to be trotting easily.

But you asked about greyhounds, and I think they look too delicate to take a 26.2 mile effort reliably. Here's a forum of greyhound owners discussing this topic:

https://forum.greytalk.com/topic/295898-how-far-can-you-take-a-greyhound-running/

iron will wrote:

Reality Checker wrote:

Probably a greyhound couldn't run a marathon, they are more of a sprinter. But of course some breeds of dog can run a marathon distance, have you ever heard of the Iditarod sled race?

Did you call me an idiot?

Ididanot.

geographical geoff wrote:

Reality Checker wrote:

Probably a greyhound couldn't run a marathon, they are more of a sprinter. But of course some breeds of dog can run a marathon distance, have you ever heard of the Iditarod sled race?

You just have to train them to run distance. Can a human who does normally does the 400 run a marathon with different training? Same principle.

Is that true? Not challenging you, I just really don't know.

I get that human sprinters can train to run long distances, human physiology being pretty uniform across the species. But dogs are so inbred and specialized that it seems that some would simply not be able to adapt. I've seen people running and hiking long distances with dogs like labs and jack russels and the like, but never have I seen anyone running or hiking with a greyhound.

As stated above, Greyhounds are Usain Bolts, not marathoners. Sled dogs are not pure Husky, they are a slimmer mix. They perform best in extreme cold. For a warm weather marathon, go with a herding dog from a warm climate, like an Australian Blue Heeler. They routinely run 20-30 miles a day.

Greyhounds would probably prefer to sleep, but if wasn't hot they could easily trot alongside a fast runner for a marathon once their paws were accustomed to the surface.

Raysharp001 wrote:

As stated above, Greyhounds are Usain Bolts, not marathoners. Sled dogs are not pure Husky, they are a slimmer mix. They perform best in extreme cold. For a warm weather marathon, go with a herding dog from a warm climate, like an Australian Blue Heeler. They routinely run 20-30 miles a day.

Wrong. Greyhounds are middle-distance specialists, which means they can also get faster in longer distances with the right aerobic training/buildup.

A sprinter in animal world would be a cheetah - they can go super fast for 100-300m, but anything longer and they are out of gas. A greyhound can easily drop a 3 min mile, and you wouldn't think of Bolt or Coleman to be solid milers or even 800m runners.

Lol!

If you want a marathon-going dog you should get a Saluki. They were bred to persistence-hunt fast animals like deer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZJRTPjN8oI

LateRunnerPhil wrote:

Raysharp001 wrote:

As stated above, Greyhounds are Usain Bolts, not marathoners. Sled dogs are not pure Husky, they are a slimmer mix. They perform best in extreme cold. For a warm weather marathon, go with a herding dog from a warm climate, like an Australian Blue Heeler. They routinely run 20-30 miles a day.

Wrong. Greyhounds are middle-distance specialists, which means they can also get faster in longer distances with the right aerobic training/buildup.

A sprinter in animal world would be a cheetah - they can go super fast for 100-300m, but anything longer and they are out of gas. A greyhound can easily drop a 3 min mile, and you wouldn't think of Bolt or Coleman to be solid milers or even 800m runners.

You are wrong. Greyhounds are sprinters.

physics defiant wrote:

[quote]LateRunnerPhil wrote:

You are wrong. Greyhounds are sprinters.

You are right, I was originally confusing them with the aforementioned Saluki. I would need to do more research to find the middle-distance and long-distance potential of a greyhound.

About Saluki's:

- King of middle-distance to up to 10k

- Max HR of 350-400+

- Heart size of 3% of the body (human ~0.7%)

- Crazy ability to pump blood and deliver oxygen, high VO2MAX

Desert race (2k in 2:49, very competitive finish, one dog overpaced)

In a sprint, Greyhounds win.