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

According to Daniel's Calculator, the winning Saluki's easy pace should be around 3:22-3:41 per mile.

physics defiant wrote:

LateRunnerPhil wrote:

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.

One of mine competed in the 'Marathon' which is 753 yards. Not a sprint.

geographical geoff wrote:

physics defiant wrote:

You are wrong. Greyhounds are sprinters.

One of mine competed in the 'Marathon' which is 753 yards. Not a sprint.

It's a sprint. The Greyhound Derby takes about 30 seconds and it's over 500.

If Usain Bolt runs a 600 is he no longer a sprinter?

ATLien wrote:

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/

The consensus here among greyhound owners is no. Greyhounds tend to overheat, which can be life-threatening.

I have a greyhound and I try to take her trail running at least once or twice per week. She runs great for 8-10 miles and makes my 7:00 pace look like a walk but once it starts getting longer than that she begins to struggle. I got lost on a trail once and ended up running 15-16 with her and had to flag down a car because she was absolutely spent and I thought she was going to die. I actually had to carry her about 400 meters to the road because she had collapsed. Obviously I’m much more cautious now but I don’t think there’s anyway they could run a marathon unless it was in very cool temps.

Wolves have insane endurance.

So I'd say:

https://www.quora.com/How-long-could-a-wolf-run-for-with-out-stopping

However, at a run, say 80% of top speed, wolves can go on for a very long time. When I was younger, I used to ride a mountain bike along logging roads with two of the wolves I’d raised. At the time I was racing bikes for a living and I could easily ride at 15–20 miles per hour on flat to rolling terrain. I did quite a few rides of more than 20 miles where both animals not only kept up with me, but zig-zagged through the trees along the trail, occasionally stopping to check things out.

RW article:

https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a20832277/the-canine-kings-of-endurance/

My Labrador used to get gassed out and start going further behind me when running 4 miles at an 8 minute mile pace when she was 5 years old lol, never took her running much at all though.

That was in the winter as well I might add, taking dogs running when it's over 50*f is just flat out stupid/dangerous for them. The main reason dogs suck at long distances is their inability to dissipate heat.

This backs up why the Huskies run in the snow, it's so cold they don't have to worry about losing all the heat they are generating. Put the same dogs in 70*f and they'd be passing out after a few miles.

but forget dogs, and Ostrich could run a marathon in ~45 minutes.

Glendower wrote:

This backs up why the Huskies run in the snow, it's so cold they don't have to worry about losing all the heat they are generating. Put the same dogs in 70*f and they'd be passing out after a few miles.

Yep. Huskies overheat way too easily unless its very cold out. I have had quite a few dogs in my life and have run with all of them. I had a Golden Retriever who could do about 12 miles or so as long as it wasn't too hot. My lab was the worst for stamina. The husky could run in the winter but if it was hot I wouldn't take her more than 4-5 miles.

The best running dog I have had hands down is my current one. A German Short Haired Pointer. She can just crush it. I only do trail running now but she can rip off 12-15 mile runs and when we finish look up at me with a look that says "why did you stop?". I easily could see that dog doing a marathon. The trick would be making sure you had either places for the dog to stop to drink water. The trails are easy as my dog just quick pops into streams.

I have a greyhound: he runs outside for like three minutes at 45 mph, and then sleeps for the next five hours. I've tried to walk, not run, with him and he gets tired after 2 miles. So, if he could go top speed the whole time, he could run a little over an hour for a marathon, but there's no way he'd make it over half a mile.

www.americangreyhound.org

You are absolutely right! I have had 7 greyhounds in the past and currently have three, all retired racers. Speed demons for a few minutes max, then snoozing pretty much all day. And they never walked more than a mile.

I took care of a rescue greyhound once for a month. She would not have been capable of walking a marathon, let alone running one. Greyhounds run out of gas pretty quickly with any type of effort.

Plus they sleep around 18 hours a day. On and off. I'm not sure the one we had would every stay awake for 2 hours!

Nice dogs, but pretty high strung.

used to take care of a Basenji ... he could run 10 miles in the heat (80 F) with ease.. no doubt with training he could have run a fast marathon

Yes, quite a few breeds are heat adapted. The myth that all dogs will overheat in hot weather is bogus.

if cheetahs cannot run distance, then greyhounds probably won't either

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-24953910

physics defiant wrote:

geographical geoff wrote:

One of mine competed in the 'Marathon' which is 753 yards. Not a sprint.

It's a sprint. The Greyhound Derby takes about 30 seconds and it's over 500.

If Usain Bolt runs a 600 is he no longer a sprinter?

He ain't sprinting that whole 600, that's for sure.