# What are some human endurance feats not get accomplished **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 25, 2017, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183 "2017-04-25T03:13:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/21 "2017-04-25T22:12:36Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > You’d have run a marathon, with a particularly slow time. People stop at aid stations for varying periods of time, you’re just extending those times a bit. 🙂 Rest during a marathon doesn’t invalidate the race, as long as you travel everywhere on foot. Well thats great then, I can say I ran a marathon this month. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/22 "2017-04-25T23:39:27Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Well thats great then, I can say I ran a marathon this month. If you never left the course, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/23 "2017-04-26T01:04:20Z")
Anything from the Ad Council ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/24 "2017-04-26T03:50:19Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > I think the point is that of course nobody can swim the entire Atlantic all in one go, it’s impossible and won’t ever be done. But swimming the Atlantic all in one go is still the challenge, it’s still what people think when they hear “swim the Atlantic”. Just as when I hear people talk about swimming the English channel I assume they mean they swam the bloody channel, they didn’t stop halfway and take a few days rest to prepare for the 2nd half. > > The guy in question traveled across the Atlantic and covered a lot of the ground by swimming, but he didn’t swim the Atlantic. He did 73 individual swims over a few months, I don’t believe it is the same thing. > > If I ran 5k, then took an hours rest, and did that 9 times have I ran a marathon? Or have I just covered 45k? That is exactly my point. He swam the Atlantic but in 73 separate swims. Still very impressive Some more things that may be possible ??? Jumping from orbit to the ground. (Yes I know about the ones by Baumgartner). What I am thinking is from an orbit of say 100 miles height. Crossing the Antarctic in their winter Walking from the North Pole to the South Pole (It has been driven, I think) ---
**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:** [April 26, 2017, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/25 "2017-04-26T04:42:49Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > Jumping from orbit to the ground. (Yes I know about the ones by Baumgartner). What I am thinking is from an orbit of say 100 miles height. The orbital speed at 100 miles is about 7.8 km/s, or 17,500 mph. Hitting the atmosphere at that speed and surviving is not possible. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/26 "2017-04-26T05:10:49Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > I think the point is that of course nobody can swim the entire Atlantic all in one go, it’s impossible and won’t ever be done. But swimming the Atlantic all in one go is still the challenge, it’s still what people think when they hear “swim the Atlantic”. Just as when I hear people talk about swimming the English channel I assume they mean they swam the bloody channel, they didn’t stop halfway and take a few days rest to prepare for the 2nd half. > > The guy in question traveled across the Atlantic and covered a lot of the ground by swimming, but he didn’t swim the Atlantic. He did 73 individual swims over a few months, I don’t believe it is the same thing. > > If I ran 5k, then took an hours rest, and did that 9 times have I ran a marathon? Or have I just covered 45k? This is correct. The point of these things is the location/object. As others have mentioned it is a very impressive feat but what he really did was take 73 extended swims in the ocean which if strung together would equal the distance of the Atlantic. If I take 31,000 3 foot jumps it would not be correct to say I jumped across the Grande Canyon. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/27 "2017-04-26T05:39:45Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > _It’s impossible…to stick a Cadillac up your nose, it’s just impossible…_ Well, we already know which Dopers can and cannot fit their wedding rings up their noses, so start with the ones that can and go from there. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/28 "2017-04-26T06:29:30Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > I’d nominate the sub-2:00 marathon as maybe possible. [There will be another attempt](http://www.runnersworld.com/2-hour-marathon/nikes-sub-2-hour-marathon-attempt-will-be-run-in-early-may) at it this May. > > There are some physiological reasons to argue it won’t ever happen, but’s it tough to say never. I think it will be a while, and will probably involve technology improvements (shoes, running surface, doping) if it does. Given that the fastest Marathon time has dropped from 2:08 and change when I started running in the '80s to 2:02 and a lot of change today (just sub-2:03), I think it is inevitable that the 2 hour barrier will eventually be broken. If I had to guess I would say another 20 years, but there may be a freak who does it sooner. Personally I won’t count it if the runner(s) follow a wind-breaking car, but it will still be quite a feat. When Bannister broke the 4 minute mile, his pace-setters needed to complete the race to make it count - I think the same spirit should be employed for the Marathon. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/29 "2017-04-26T07:17:08Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > It’s probably impossible to swim the Atlantic without resting but if someone did it without getting out of the water and only resting/sleeping by floating or treading water… that’d be damn impressive. It’s impossible. Their skin would fall off (the phenomenon has been documented in cases of wreck survival who were in the water constantly for much shorter times than would be necessary to swim the Atlantic. And a drysuit probably wouldn’t help - not for that sort of duration. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/30 "2017-04-26T13:07:30Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > This is correct. The point of these things is the location/object. As others have mentioned it is a very impressive feat but what he really did was take 73 extended swims in the ocean which if strung together would equal the distance of the Atlantic. > > If I take 31,000 3 foot jumps it would not be correct to say I jumped across the Grande Canyon. The point about the swim though is that he might not have swum that many miles. If he swam 10 miles and then drifted over night then all the miles he drifted are miles he didn’t actually swim. I know it’s not possible to swim for 70 days, but if someone says I swam the Atlantic, but doesn’t stay in the same general area when they get out to sleep and drifts, I wouldn’t say they swam across the Atlantic. [Martin Strel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Strel) has done a lot of swimming in rivers, and I believe when he stops for the day he goes back to where he gets out and starts again the next day. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/31 "2017-04-26T15:54:28Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > It’s probably impossible to swim the Atlantic without resting Meh, I bet Rosie Ruiz could do it. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/32 "2017-04-26T16:53:13Z")
Has anybody managed to sit through the director’s cut of _Apocalypse Now_ without touching the remote or leaving the room? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/33 "2017-04-26T17:24:51Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > …Jumping from orbit to the ground. (Yes I know about the ones by Baumgartner). What I am thinking is from an orbit of say 100 miles height… > [@TroutMan](#): > > The orbital speed at 100 miles is about 7.8 km/s, or 17,500 mph. Hitting the atmosphere at that speed and surviving is not possible. If you “jump” from _orbit_, nothing happens. You just continue orbiting alongside whatever you jumped from. Most of the energy requirement to reach or exit orbit is for the huge _lateral_ acceleration. [https://what-if.xkcd.com/58/](https://what-if.xkcd.com/58/) The endeavor is, presumably, to “jump” from outer space, while moving far below orbital speed, so that you would indeed fall. Outer space is conventionally deemed to start at 100km. > **[Kármán line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A1rm%C3%A1n_line)** > > The Kármán line (or von Kármán line /vɒn ˈkɑːrmɑːn/) is a conventional definition of the edge of space. It is not universally accepted. The international record-keeping body FAI (Fédération aéronautique internationale) defines the Kármán line at an altitude of 100 kilometres (54 nautical miles; 62 miles; 330,000 feet) above mean sea level. > While named after Theodore von Kármán, who calculated a theoretical limit of altitude for airplane flight at 83.8 km (52.1 mi) above Earth, the later establi... That’s what Virgin Galactic is aiming for, so that would be one way to get there. You would need a whole lot of protection, and it seems to me that the delineation between what constitutes a spacesuit and a small spaceship would be somewhat arbitrary. It’s unclear to me what you’re really achieving by stepping out of the vehicle that got you up there. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/34 "2017-04-26T17:42:46Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > It’s probably impossible to swim the Atlantic without resting but if someone did it without getting out of the water and only resting/sleeping by floating or treading water… that’d be damn impressive. Is this thread only about solo efforts? Could a team of two people swim the Atlantic without stopping? When one gets out of the water, the other gets in; gives them a chance to sleep and hopefully solves that whole skin-dissolving issue. I’d still be plenty impressed. Could two people do it? Twelve hours a day, every day, would still be pretty damn taxing. Is it doable with three people (eight hours a day)? ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/35 "2017-04-26T17:42:53Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Has anybody managed to sit through the director’s cut of _Apocalypse Now_ without touching the remote or leaving the room? No, but I once made it all the way to the tiger scene without the use of any type of physical restraint. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/36 "2017-04-26T18:15:45Z")
Though many have tried, no US child has ever succeeded in digging a hole “clear to China”, or vice versa. [sub]Some say it can’t be done, others suggest the key is to turn left at Albuquerque.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/37 "2017-04-26T19:40:31Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Jumping from orbit to the ground. (Yes I know about the ones by Baumgartner). BTW Baumgartner was 24 miles high but \*not \*in orbit when he jumped. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/38 "2017-04-26T19:56:37Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Meh, I bet Rosie Ruiz could do it. No subways. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/39 "2017-04-26T19:57:41Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > You would need a whole lot of protection, and it seems to me that the delineation between what constitutes a spacesuit and a small spaceship would be somewhat arbitrary. It’s unclear to me what you’re really achieving by stepping out of the vehicle that got you up there. Eh, I could do it with just a '59 Corvette. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183/40 "2017-04-26T20:06:58Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > BTW Baumgartner was 24 miles high but \*not \*in orbit when he jumped. I’m not sure how you could actually jump from orbit. You’d miss the ground! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-human-endurance-feats-not-get-accomplished/785183.md?page=3)