Wilson Kipsang being the world record holder for the marathon, Usain Bolt holding the world record for the 100m. Substitute ‘elite marathon runner vs elite sprinter’ if you like.
Imagine a race between the two. In the 100m, Bolt will obviously win. However in the marathon Kipsang will. Between these two points, there’s got to be a point where the two men have covered the same distance in the same time, where the marathon runner will pull ahead of the sprinter.
What would be the best guesses for the distance and time?
My WAG would be that if Usain is running all out at his sprinting speeds, then he’s maybe got 25 seconds of maximum effort - he runs the 200M is just under 20 seconds and I suspect that he’s “left it all on the track” as they say at that point. So they’re never at the same place at the same time in terms of running… Usain jumps way ahead and then collapses… eventually Wilson runs by.
There’s no telling if Kipsang even has the ability to run sprints. Nor is there any proof that Bolt could successfully run a marathon, They trained differently and their bodies are adapted to two completely different forms of running.
It’s like asking if a rugby player could play in the NFL.
Completely different abilities and completely different games.
Mo Farah guesses that 600m would be a good distance for a race between him and Bolt, although he’s more of a 10k man.
Well, of course. But if they did race there’s gonna be a point time wise and in terms of distance of the track where an Olympic-calibre marathon runner would overtake a sprinter of similar calibre, which is what I’m asking.
I’d guess 600-700m. As well as being Olympic 10k and 5k winner, Farah is the UK record holder at 1500m (no mean feat in itself). He’d probably be pretty decent at 800m too. Don’t know what Kipsang’s like at the shorter distances, but marathon runners usually have comparable times.
I don’t think the question has been written precisely enough. Is Usain Bolt running the 100 meter, then just running as fast as he can for as long as he can? Is Wilson Kipsang just running the marathon, and catches up whenever he does? Or is he trying to catch Usain as soon as he can? Is Usain trying to lead as long as he can? Or are you asking if they were having a race of some distance, and they both knew the distance, where would they be equally matched?
If the later, are Usain Bolt and Wilson Kipsang both in their prime? Are you surprising both of them on race day, or do they get a week or a month to practice?
Imagine that for every meter Bolt is in the lead he gets $1000 of Kipsang’s money. Kipsang’s strategy would be to overtake Bolt ASAP. Bolt’s would be to last as long as possible.
These estimates seem to be predicated on Bolt running all-out from the start. If all he had to do was stay ahead of Kipsang it could extend the distance of his lead tremendously. Distance race organizers have used “rabbits” that are shorter distance runners who get out in front of the pack and step up the pace. The rabbit has no intention of winning. They gas out and either quit or drop back. If Bolt just acted like a rabbit he might lead for several miles.
I interpreted the question as “For how long could Bolt run at a 4:42 per mile pace, as Kipsang did in Berlin?” My original guess was 2 ± 0.5 miles, but after thinking about it, I thought it might be about a half mile longer. (Or, in metric, 2:55 per kilometers, 3 ± 1 km for first guess, 4 ± 1 for second.)
I think that’s a significantly different question from the other interpretations, though. I would answer roughly 500-550m for sitchensis’s question and somewhere between 400m and 800m for Telemark’s.
Mo Farah did the double-double of world and Olympic 5k/10k and is now dibbling his toes in the marathon. I reckon he knows what he’s talking about so I’d go with his estimate.
There has been talk of getting those two to race, as well as against David Rudisha (who is much more Bolt’s body type and would push him at 400m)
Top level sprinters pretty much never go beyond 400m whereas the middle distance boys start at 800 and develop to longer distances from there but some still retain their speed. Farah for example did a last lap in a 5k race of 50.8 sec. His best official time for the 800m is in the 1.48 region but I’d suspect he could improve that.
In fact, here’s an article that covers it nicely. It deals with Bolt/Farah as they are better known but the concept is along the same lines for Kipsang (though he has always been long-distance rather than middle-long)
If those are the conditions, Bolt will adjust his running speed. He isn’t stupid and I’m sure he likes money. Knowing he will eventually be overtaken and that he only has to stay ahead as long as possible, he’d back off his speed a little to extend his team in the lead, and could push it further than 400.
I’m not sure how much further. Elite marathon runners at full clip are wicked fast and Bolt carries a lot of additional muscle mass. A marathoner could push faster than his average 4:42/mile pace for a single mile. Can Bolt run a 4:30 mile?
I highly doubt it. He’s slightly faster than Michael Johnson at 200 but is considerably slower at 400.
Johnson was a 200/400 runner while Bolt is a 100/200 runner.
The 800 is where distance running ability overtakes sprinting. Alberto Juantorena is the only runner to medal(Gold) at the Olympics in that double.
Well, he certainly has the ability to run 100m, and rather briskly at that. The fact that he then commonly runs another 26+ miles at the same clip should not be held against him.
Indeed, in a marathon Kipsang runs each 100m in approximately 17.7 seconds, which is not sprint fast - any half decent athlete can run a 100m faster - but it’s a damn brisk pace. He isn’t just ambling along, he’s moving pretty quick. Many adults can’t move that quickly at any distance. Knowing he had to run a shorter distance there’s little doubt Kipsang could run a 100m split in 13 seconds, four or five teams at least, without even really trying all that hard.