How Fast Can Humans Run? The Speed Limit of Sprinting

How fast can humans run? The fastest person clocked on our planet today is the Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt, who ran the 100 meter sprint at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing in a world record of 9.58 seconds, which works out to be about 37.6 kilometers per hour or 23.4 miles per hour. For a brief period during that sprint, Bolt reached an astounding 12.3 meters per second (27.51 mph or 44.28 kph).nd (27.51 mph or 44.28 kph).

As a physical activity, running is qualitatively different from walking. In running, a person's legs flex and the muscles are forcibly stretched and then contracted during acceleration. The potential gravitational energy and the kinetic energy available in a person's body changes as the center of mass in the body changes. That is thought to be because of the alternating release and absorption of energy in the muscles.

What Makes an Elite Runner?

Scholars believe that the fastest runners, the elite sprinters, are those who run economically, meaning that they use a low amount of energy per unit of distance run. The ability to do that is influenced by muscle fiber distribution, age, sex, and other anthropometric factors—the fastest of the elite runners are young men.

The possible velocity of a runner is also influenced by bio-mechanical variables, somewhat controversially attributed to the cycle of the runner's gait.

Factors thought to influence a person's velocity are shorter ground contact times, lower stride frequencies, longer swing times, greater stride angles, and longer strides.

In particular, sprint runners maximize their acceleration and maximum sprinting velocities by applying greater mass-specific ground forces, specifically horizontal ankle velocity, contact time, and step rate.

What About Long Distance Runners?

When considering velocity, sports researchers also look at long distance runners, those who race distances between 5–42 km (3–26 mi). The fastest of these runners use considerable plantar pressure—the amount of pressure the foot puts on the ground—as well as changes in bio-mechanical parameters, movement of the legs as measured over time and space.

The fastest group in marathon running (like that of sprinters) is men aged between 25–29. Those men have an average velocity between 170–176 meters per minute, based on marathons run in Chicago and New York between 2012–2016.

Because the New York City marathon runs in waves—that is to say, there are four groups of runners who begin the race at about 30-minute intervals—statistics are available for runner velocities at 5 km segments throughout the race. Lin and colleagues used that data to provide support to the notion one factor of speed is competition—runners increase speed and change positions more frequently at the end of the race.

What are the Upper Limits?

So how fast could humans run? In comparison to other animals, humans are very slow—the fastest animal on record is the cheetah at 70 mph (112 kph); even Usain Bolt can only attain a fraction of that.

Recent research on the most elite runners have led sports medicine specialists Peter Weyand and colleagues to suggest in press reports that the upper limit might reach 35–40 mph: but no scholar has been willing to put a number on that in a peer-reviewed publication to date.

Statistics

According to Rankings.com, the fastest three male and three female sprinters in the world today are:

Usain Bolt (Jamaica), 9.58 seconds, set at the 2008 Summer Olympic games in Beijing, 10.44 meters per second
Tyson Gay (United States) 9.69, during the 2008 Olympic Trials, 10.32 m/s
Asafa Powell (Jamaica) 9.72, heats at the 2007 IAAF Rieti Grand Prix 10.29 m/s
Florence Joyner Griffith (US) 10.49, 1988 Olympics in Seoul, 9.53 m/s
Carmelita Jeter (US) 10.64, Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, 2009, 9.40 m/s
Marion Jones (US), 10.65, IAFF World Cup, 1998, 9.39 m/s

The three fastest marathon runners, male and female, are, according to Runners World:

Dennis Kimetto (Kenya), 2:02:57, Berlin Marathon 2014
Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia), 2:03:03, Berlin 2016
Elud Kipchoge (Kenya), 2:03:05, London 2016
Paula Radcliffe (Great Britain), 2:15:25, London, 2003
Mary Keitany (Kenya) 2:17:01, London, 2017
Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia) 2:17:56, London, 2017

Fastest Humans on Earth: Rates From Races

Runner	Mi Per Hour	Km Per Hour
Usain Bolt	23.350	37.578
Tyson Gay	23.085	37.152
Asafa Powell	23.014	37.037
Florence Joyner Griffith	21.324	34.318
Carmelita Jeter	21.024	33.835
Marion Jones	21.004	33.803
Dennis Kimetto	12.795	20.591
Kenenisa Bekele	12.784	20.575
Elud Kipchoge	12.781	20.569
Paula Radcliffe	11.617	18.696
Mary Keitany	11.481	18.477
Tirunesh Dibaba	11.405	18.355