The fastest runner in the animal kingdom is surprisingly small

Alisa Vainio the superior marathon performance reminds us again that man is an excellent animal to advance very far.

We can’t outrun a lion, but many wild animals fall off the back of a trained human runner when traveling tens of kilometers.

So 42.195 kilometers are run in the marathon and the men’s world record is one hour 59 minutes and 30 seconds. Vainio’s EC winning time was 2:22.26.

At least an ostrich could beat a human in a marathon. This nesting bird can fly at speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour, but not for very long.

The ostrich’s speed has been estimated in various sources to be around 40 kilometers per hour, which means that the marathon would be completed by an ostrich in about an hour.

Ostriches have long legs that store and release energy elastically. The ostrich’s foot acts a bit like a sprung jumping stick. Its running is therefore very energy efficient.

However, it is unclear whether an ostrich can be motivated to run 42 kilometers with one call, and whether anyone has ever tried.

Human the special power is mental fortitude. A determined person can run hundreds of kilometers just for fun with only short breaks if they are fit enough, like ultra runners.

Man has beaten even a horse on a long journey. A 34 kilometer race is organized in Wales every year, where marathoners take the measure of riders.

The race, which has been held since 1980, involves running on varied terrain. A person has crossed the finish line before a horse no less than five times, last year a record 12 minutes faster than a horse. Of course, the horse has won 39 times.

World the fastest land animal is known to be the cheetah, which can accelerate to a hundred kilometers per hour. But in relation to its body size, it’s surprising how big it is.

In California lives a tick less than a millimeter long called Paratarsotomus macropalpis. This arachnid, the size of a speck of dust, can run 322 times the length of its own body in a second.

It is the same as if a person ran faster than a fighter jet, more than 2,000 kilometers per hour.