# Has anyone ever run a sub-4.2 40? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 14, 2006, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-run-a-sub-4-2-40/348290 "2006-03-14T06:44:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vinniepaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@vinniepaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vinniepaz)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-run-a-sub-4-2-40/348290/1 "2006-03-14T06:44:08Z")
Me and my friend are in a big argument about this. He says that a guy (i forget who) ran a 4.12 at the age of 44. I don’t believe this in the slightest, but he insists. So, what’s the straight dope? Is there an official record for the 40? If so, what is it? If not, what is the fastest time ever recorded? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-run-a-sub-4-2-40/348290/2 "2006-03-14T07:03:47Z")
That’s an unusual distance; I don’t know if there are any world-wide records for it. I certainly can’t find it in Guiness. The Olympics and the IAAF championships don’t do anything shorter than 100m, so no help there. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-run-a-sub-4-2-40/348290/3 "2006-03-14T08:17:54Z")
You may find this site helpful: [http://www.olympic-usa.org/11611\_32384.htm](http://www.olympic-usa.org/11611_32384.htm) > [@](#): > > There is no official world record for 40 yards. … But it is another Canadian, Ben Johnson, who is believed to have run 40 yards faster than any human in history. … He went through 40 yards that day in 4.38 seconds. Thise site has a slightly different answer: [http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=345879](http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=345879) > [@](#): > > The data on 40-yard-dash times is usually very shady and unreliable. > > The most official information comes from an ESPN article, and is > pretty old: "At a rookie mini-camp last weekend, Vick ran the 40-yard > dash in 4.36 seconds… Poking around on google, I didn’t find anything faster on any web site that seemed to be a reasonably reliable source of info. I did find a 4.25 on a web site selling shoes (shoes that will make you run faster, according to them, so already the data is suspect), but there was no info about who ran that time or when they ran it, other than a vague reference to the NFL. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-run-a-sub-4-2-40/348290/4 "2006-03-14T09:17:09Z")
Forty times are a notorious load of bullshit. Supposedly Deion Sanders ran a 4.28 forty in front of impartial observers at the NFL combine when he came out. BUt I’m pretty sure it wasn’t electronically timed. Then there are al kinds of crap said about college players on home tracks with friendly coaches. I remember that Napolean Kaufman was claimed ran a 40 in 4.13 or something absurd, but couldn’t come close to it anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-run-a-sub-4-2-40/348290/5 "2006-03-14T09:40:07Z")
Sanders ran 4.29 the last year before electonic timing. [Here](http://www.dispatch.com/sports-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/02/26/20060226-E1-01.html) is a recent article about the combine and the 40. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-run-a-sub-4-2-40/348290/6 "2006-03-14T09:54:25Z")
According to the information at the Olympic site there is at least a .39 second fudge factor in favour of hand timing. On that basis a hand timing for Johnson would be 3.99 - imagine the excitement that would would cause if he were a footballer. ---
**Author:** ![jew\_the\_foo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8dc957/32.png) [@jew\_the\_foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jew_the_foo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-run-a-sub-4-2-40/348290/7 "2006-03-14T19:39:56Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Forty times are a notorious load of bullshit. > > Supposedly Deion Sanders ran a 4.28 forty in front of impartial observers at the NFL combine when he came out. BUt I’m pretty sure it wasn’t electronically timed. > > Then there are al kinds of crap said about college players on home tracks with friendly coaches. I remember that Napolean Kaufman was claimed ran a 40 in 4.13 or something absurd, but couldn’t come close to it anywhere else. From what I recall from last year’s NFL combine, Jerome Mathis from the University of Hampton, currently with the Houston Texans, ran a 4.28. That’s the fastest I’ve heard in recent years. NFL.com might have actual 40 times listed for this years and previous years combines, but no gaurantees. They do have a record book on the site that could contain this information. ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-run-a-sub-4-2-40/348290/8 "2006-03-14T21:13:00Z")
Depending on source, Rocket Ismail is timed anywhere from 4.24 to 4.4.