# When the sun comes up, you'd better be running **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 8, 2012, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-sun-comes-up-youd-better-be-running/630839 "2012-08-08T09:39:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-sun-comes-up-youd-better-be-running/630839/1 "2012-08-08T09:39:54Z")
\*Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a lion or a gazelle–when the sun comes up, you’d better be running. \* I have seen this quote attributed to Roger Bannister of [the sub-4 minute mile.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/borntorun.htm) Is he the author of this quote? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-sun-comes-up-youd-better-be-running/630839/2 "2012-08-08T11:01:04Z")
I don’t know, but it’s incorrect. The gazelle only has to outrun the slowest gazelle. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-sun-comes-up-youd-better-be-running/630839/3 "2012-08-08T11:21:11Z")
It’s like the two hikers who encounter a bear in their path. One hiker gets a pair of running shoes from his backpack and puts them on. The other hiker says, “Are you crazy? You can’t outrun a bear!” The first hiker says, “I know I can’t outrun a bear. I just need to outrun you.” ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-sun-comes-up-youd-better-be-running/630839/4 "2012-08-08T13:47:06Z")
The quote is also nonsensical because lions don’t run just because the sun comes up. They sleep a lot, conserve their energy, stalk carefully, and run only when they think they have a good shot at making a kill. In other words, their behavior is the polar opposite of the activity for activity’s sake which the quote seems intended to inspire. [I know, deconstructing motivational speaker buzz-speak is a waste of time. It’s like worrying about whether you \*really can\* boil a frog to death by slowly heating up the water. (You can’t.)] ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-sun-comes-up-youd-better-be-running/630839/5 "2012-08-09T05:44:41Z")
Any factual answers to this? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-sun-comes-up-youd-better-be-running/630839/6 "2012-08-09T05:50:39Z")
You see there’s this search engine, and it’s called Google, and after entering just the first line it only took me less than one minute to find [this](http://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/08/05/lion-gazelle/). ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-sun-comes-up-youd-better-be-running/630839/7 "2012-08-09T06:38:40Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > … It’s like worrying about whether you _really can_ boil a frog to death by slowly heating up the water. (You can’t.) ] Pretty sure I can. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-sun-comes-up-youd-better-be-running/630839/8 "2012-08-09T06:42:56Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Pretty sure I can. You just need to put a lid on the pot. C’mon, people, do I need to tell you how to outsmart a frog? ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-sun-comes-up-youd-better-be-running/630839/9 "2012-08-09T07:35:35Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > You see there’s this search engine, and it’s called Google, and after entering just the first line it only took me less than one minute to find [this](http://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/08/05/lion-gazelle/). I tried google first, but must have done something wrong in my search terms.:smack: Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-sun-comes-up-youd-better-be-running/630839/10 "2012-08-09T14:49:35Z")
When the sun goes down and the moon comes up, I turn into a teenaged goo goo muck. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-sun-comes-up-youd-better-be-running/630839/11 "2012-08-09T14:54:52Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > When the sun goes down and the moon comes up, I turn into a teenaged goo goo muck. I cruise through the city and I roam street, looking for something that is nice to eat. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-sun-comes-up-youd-better-be-running/630839/12 "2012-08-09T15:30:15Z")
When nobody’s looking at me, I’m a giraffe. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-sun-comes-up-youd-better-be-running/630839/13 "2012-08-09T15:46:39Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You just need to put a lid on the pot. > > C’mon, people, do I need to tell you how to outsmart a frog? What if the frog is smarter than the average frog? ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-sun-comes-up-youd-better-be-running/630839/14 "2012-08-09T16:09:08Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > What if the frog is smarter than the average frog? he gets a lot of pic-a-nic baskets and sings ragtime ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-sun-comes-up-youd-better-be-running/630839/15 "2012-08-09T18:02:15Z")
If the gazelle waits until morning, the nocturnal hyenas will have made dinner of it. Gazelles got it rough. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-sun-comes-up-youd-better-be-running/630839/16 "2012-08-09T21:30:20Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > If the gazelle waits until morning, the nocturnal hyenas will have made dinner of it. > > Gazelles got it rough. Being a gazelle just _sucks_. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-sun-comes-up-youd-better-be-running/630839/17 "2012-08-09T22:02:35Z")
Problem is, we don’t live on the savannah anymore, and actually running isn’t what keeps us fed or alive. In modern society, the predicament translates to: “When the sun comes up, you’d better make sure you get to work on time, to spend another day performing repetitive, mind-numbing tasks in a small cubicle.” Fuck that shit. I’d rather be running.