# Middle aged male, top speed **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 11, 2023, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420 "2023-12-11T13:48:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2023, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/61 "2023-12-12T15:27:28Z")
A casual Google suggests that 20mph is possible for sprinting over short distances. So maybe. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2023, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/62 "2023-12-12T16:07:27Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > I’ll try out the treadmill idea I’d be really surprised if your treadmill goes fast enough. Most standard home treadmills have a max speed of 10 mph, and higher-end gym models top out at 14 or 15 mph. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2023, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/63 "2023-12-12T16:46:37Z")
Of course if he tops off before that we have an answer … 🙂 FWIW I would. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2023, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/64 "2023-12-12T20:25:01Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Garmin says their GPS accuracy is within 10 feet assuming good satellite coverage. If it’s measuring over 1 second, those are pretty big error bars. Yes, this is probably what is happening. Running 15 mph for 2 seconds, you’ll cover 44 feet. If the GPS is off a bit, and off in different directions at each sample, then it may think you went 60 feet in 2 seconds, which is 20 mph. Times when it is off slow don’t get noticed, because the watch highlights max speed. The average speed is probably reasonably accurate, because over time (random) errors will cancel out. The max value specifically is showing you the top outlier speed, so it is going to reveal the result with the largest too-fast error. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2023, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/65 "2023-12-12T20:37:59Z")
Say the fastest people can run 100 metres in 10 seconds. 20MPH is like doing a hundred metres in 11.2 seconds. So it is possible for some people over short distances. I’ve probably done it or come close, maybe not in the last three decades. Nevertheless, you are always travelling much faster than that. Maybe your watch realizes: _Consider the movement of the earth’s surface with respect to the planet’s center. The earth rotates once every 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.09053 seconds, called the sidereal period, and its circumference is roughly 40,075 kilometers. Thus, the surface of the earth at the equator moves at a speed of 460 meters per second–or roughly 1,000 miles per hour._ _As schoolchildren, we learn that the earth is moving about our sun in a very nearly circular orbit. It covers this route at a speed of nearly 30 kilometers per second, or 67,000 miles per hour. In addition, our solar system–Earth and all–whirls around the center of our galaxy at some 220 kilometers per second, or 490,000 miles per hour. As we consider increasingly large size scales, the speeds involved become absolutely huge!_ _The galaxies in our neighborhood are also rushing at a speed of nearly 1,000 kilometers per second towards a structure called the Great Attractor, a region of space roughly 150 million light-years (one light year is about six trillion miles) away from us. This Great Attractor, having a mass 100 quadrillion times greater than our sun and span of 500 million light-years, is made of both the visible matter that we can see along with the so-called dark matter that we cannot see._ ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2023, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/66 "2023-12-12T20:40:37Z")
Now I have an ear worm. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2023, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/67 "2023-12-12T20:47:04Z")
Just remember that you’re standing on a planet that’s evolving, and revolving at 900 miles an hour… ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/68 "2023-12-12T20:52:03Z")
And how amazingly unlikely is your birth… A good buddy of mine gold medalled in the Ontario 100m championships in high school. I was slower, of course, but he once timed me at 12.7 seconds. It’s not impossible for the first part of that I was doing twenty weird American units… ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/69 "2023-12-12T21:12:06Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > That’s a cool idea. I also have a treadmill at home, but I don’t know what the max speed is. C’mon, guys. If **RS** is actually going to take us up on our suggestions, we have to be MUCH more creative! I understand that the most reputable scientists advocate squawking and flapping your arms like a chicken during any testing is essential to obtain the most reliable data! ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/70 "2023-12-13T00:00:35Z")
Only if you have the proper music. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/71 "2023-12-13T09:22:04Z")
> [@Danger\_Man](#): > > That is a 27 mph top speed. About 18% faster than his average speed on 100m. And it can be seen here. [![](https://engineercalcs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Usain-Bolt-100-meter-sprint-speed-every-10-meters-300x197.jpg) ](https://engineercalcs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Usain-Bolt-100-meter-sprint-speed-every-10-meters-300x197.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/72 "2023-12-14T01:48:41Z")
More fun facts! Top speeds of the world’s fastest footballers, similar in activity I’d guess to Ultimate. > **[Top 32 fastest football players in the world in 2023](https://khelnow.com/football/top-10-fastest-football-players-in-the-world-2022)** > > Football has always been about athleticism. Here we take a look at the top 32 fastest football players in the calendar year of 2023. Fastest of the fast once is recorded at what comes to almost 23 mph. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/73 "2023-12-14T02:01:27Z")
I belatedly realized that I neglected to link my above quote. Sorry. Pray there‘s intelligent life somewhere out in space. 😉 > **[How fast is the earth moving?](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-fast-is-the-earth-mov/)** > > Rhett Herman, a physics professor at Radford University in Virginia, supplies the following answer ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2023, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/74 "2023-12-24T17:16:04Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Weather permitting, I’m playing again this weekend and I’ll turn on all three GPS system sensors and see if that makes a difference. I’ll try out the treadmill idea and I’ll see if I can do something with yard markers and a phone. Any follow up? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2023, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/75 "2023-12-24T17:29:11Z")
I threw my back out! I couldn’t play at all last week. This week was better, but I’m still super stiff. I did turn on all of my GPS sensors this week. According to the watch, my max was 17.5 mph. I didn’t do any real sprints though. Hopefully, I’ll be 100% next week and I’ll try again with all the sensors on. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2023, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/76 "2023-12-24T17:29:36Z")
Heal well! ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2023, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/77 "2023-12-24T17:29:56Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2023, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/78 "2023-12-31T20:38:03Z")
Ok, today I was running pretty well, but we were playing on squishy grass instead of the turf field. My watch said 19.2 mph for my peak (my heart rate reached 173 bpm at some point, which is pretty high for me). There’s a pretty cool graph where you my speed peak out, and shortly after, my heart rate jumps. After my supposed 19.2 mph, it got up to 163. We’re playing a New Year’s game tomorrow, probably on the turn, but I’m sure I’ll barely be able to move after playing today. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/79 "2024-01-01T23:54:53Z")
So maybe you _are_ that fast … ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420/80 "2024-01-02T11:12:05Z")
I mentioned that I played on New Year’s Day, too, but my back was killing me yesterday. I played anyway, and had a couple of short, painful cuts, chasing down the disc or trying to catch up on D. Anyway, I was running much worse than the day before, and my max speed was 15.1 mph. So, the watch is at least directionally correct – lower top speeds when I can’t go as fast, higher when I’m running well, even if it’s not necessarily absolutely accurate. I think we’ve gone away from any FQ here, so I’ll stop with the weekly updates. I don’t know if my back will recover by next Sunday anyway – I’m really in pain today. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-aged-male-top-speed/994420.md?page=3)