Humans can run 65 km/hr (40 mph)!

William Atkins
Friday, 22 January 2010 19:36

Science - Biology

In a recently authored study on how fast humans could physically run at their maximum, U.S. researchers from Texas and Wyoming have found evidence to show that humans could achieve top running speeds of up to 65 kilometers per hour (40 miles per hour).


The researchers are Peter G. Weyand and Rosalind F. Sandell (both from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas), Danille Naomi Leoni Prime (Rice University, Houston, Texas), and Matthew W. Bundle (University of Wyoming, Laramie).

They showed in their study that several variables limit the maximum running speed of humans.

And, the researchers beieve that we haven't reached that peak speed yet.

They conjecture that, based on their research, the biological limits of how fast humans can run could be raised from nearly 45 kilometers per hour (28 miles per hour), today's top speed, to, what they estimate, to be 56 kilometers per hour (35 miles per hour) or even 40 miles per hour (sometime in the future).

The summary of their research is published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

Its title is “The biological limits to running speed are imposed from the ground up” (Appl Physiol (January 21, 2010); doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00947.2009).

They state in the abstract to their paper that running speed is determined (and limited) by the mechanical interaction “... between the stance and swing phases of the stride.”

The researchers “… tested whether stance phase limitations are imposed by ground force maximums or foot-ground contact time minimums.”

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