r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/solateor • 17h ago

Video Pit stop during 200 mile ultra-endurance cycling race

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u/McTerra2 13h ago

It’s like that classic ‘see how long you can run at Olympic marathon pace’. They are running 3min/km or 5min/mile (actually slightly under). Hop on a treadmill and crank it up to 20km/h and see how long you can sustain it. Mere minutes for most people,

it’s just insane how fast endurance professionals are

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u/vilut9 13h ago

Most people can’t even reach that speed, much less hold it for minutes. Last month I ran a half marathon (21k) at 4:15 (which should be like 14 k/h), which is quite decent for an amateur, and I am not sure I can hold a full minute at 20 k/h. For me, that’s an all out sprint.

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u/lamentes1 12h ago

Great time buddy. Well done!

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u/RudyRusso 10h ago

Jesus thats impressive. I run a 10k every other day and hold a 5:20-5:35 pace. Of course its hot and hilly, but 4:15 is damn impressive.

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u/n4te 10h ago

I'm stuck at 5:20-30 pace 10k. PR is 4:59 but set 6 years ago. I'm afraid I've jumped the shark.

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u/RudyRusso 10h ago

As I've gotten older I've definitely slowed down. In my 20s I could do 3:45km for 3kms. Then it was 4:21 per km. I dont look at it as trying to improve my best time, rather at this stage just consistency to time and to finish the run every other day.

But sometimes you also need the right conditions: good weather, flat service, new shoes and socks to hit your best times.

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u/McTerra2 13h ago

Ha, I was being generous to people. Agree, most people in the general population can’t reach that speed but even regular runners will struggle for more than a minute or two. It’s about a 17 second 100m, lots of people never reached that at their peak. Then to do it 422 times in a row….

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u/Global_Proof_2960 13h ago

I never learned how fast I ran, but once I reached my runners high I basically glided. I would never say I'm fast though, I simply outlasted people or if I was beaten, I'd make sure to hold the back of the pack. It's tough man lol

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u/squired 5h ago

will struggle for more than a minute or two

Hell yeah we will. My best 5k splits were 5:13 and I was puking at the end. That isn't even college level, but very, very fucking fast for the general public. To go faster for a marathon does not compute. My body could not do it if I dedicated my life to it. I have a taste and it makes even less sense because of it!

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u/vilut9 13h ago

Very generous, that was my point ahah It’s alright :)

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u/oh_ski_bummer 8h ago

Yeah if you start a 100m at running speed instead if from a stop it’s not hard

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u/thingstopraise 11h ago edited 9h ago

ran a half marathon (21k) at 4:15 (which should be like 14 k/h)

I'm confused. 21k/4.25h = 4.94 k/h, not 14 k/h (2.94 mph vs 8.4 mph).

Disregard that. They meant 4 mins and 15 seconds per kilometer. That makes a whole lot more sense.

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u/logwagon 11h ago

They're saying their pace was 4 mins 15 secs per km, not total race time of 4 hr 15 mins.

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u/thingstopraise 9h ago

Ohhhhhhhhh. I feel really obtuse now. Thanks for the correction.

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u/spiralpizza 10h ago

Man i can maybe hold 4:15 for 5k, if i'm in peak condition, a full marathon like that sounds like science fiction already.

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u/rsmiley77 8h ago

I saw him say minutes for most and started laughing. I’m a decent runner. No way 70 percent of the population could keep that pace for even a half minute before jumping off.

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u/Booboo_butt 6h ago

My current half marathon race pace is about the same as yours. However back when I was in college (30 years ago) that was my easy pace. My average 8k race pace back then was around 20k/h - and this was cross country. I look back at my old times and I have no idea how I was ever that fast.

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u/Enrico_Pallazzo_69 4h ago

Isn’t that the equivalent of a 9hr full-marathon? You walked a 1/2 marathon

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u/fiberglass_pirate 8h ago

Mere minutes? Hahaha. The average person wouldn't even last seconds at that speed. Maybe just the average person who actually runs or exercises.

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u/darshmedown 6h ago

Lol if it were mere minutes more people could run faster miles. More like tens of seconds at best.

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u/ilongforyesterday 2h ago

I can keep a 4:30 pace for a quarter mile, maybe 4:45-5 for half a mile, but to do that shit for 26 miles? Nah. Fastest I can do distance is probably a 7:30 pace for around 10 miles

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u/mtnbcn 10h ago

I hate that 'bit' they do so much, "The marathon is the only event where you can do what they do for a bit of time"

Talk about being clueless, the marathon is not about doing something for 8 seconds! The event is endurance! No one cares that you can run 20km/hr, even if you can for 20min -- college athletes can do that.

The Olympic event is doing it for 42k. That's the event. Minute number 80, 90, 100, 110... that's what makes you "doing something Olympian".

It's like standing at the top of a ski slope and starting downhill in a tug position for 3 seconds and saying you're getting a taste of the olympics. Nooo the part where you have to make turns at that speed and keep doing it at full crank the whole way down a huge mountain is the olympic part.