One of the problems when someone asks how fit you are is that you usually have nothing to compare it to. You might quote a bench press figure or the time you take to run round the block but with lots of new fitness activities like tough mudder and the rewilding movement which focus on challenging yourself against nature we thought the ultimate fitness test is to work out which animal you could outrun.
We did our research, worked out what speeds different animals run and compared that to how long it takes a human to run 100 metres. Well, it turns out that unless you are Usain Bolt then most animals could beat you paws down. Even it seems the tiny chihuahua could leave you high and dry.
Usain Bolt Fastest Man in the World
In fact, even Usain Bolt would have trouble outrunning most animals on our list, though he would leave the chihuahua whose 100m time would be around 11.2 seconds, about a second and a half behind. Good job human race!
So where are you on the chart? Which animal can you keep up with? Lions at the top of our list (the cheetah is even faster) can run 80kph top speed, which means they could run the 100 metres in around 4.5 seconds (from a moving start) and probably around 6 seconds from a static start. Basically, if you were to try running away from a lion you would have no chance. We won’t bore you with the details but basically, even Mr Bolt couldn’t keep up with a Horse or a grizzly bear. He might just keep up with a house cat.
You, on the other hand, would do well to keep up with a goat, who runs at 24kph (100m in 15 seconds). The sprinters among you could beat a hippo or an iguana (33kph) around 11 seconds for 100metres. But most would struggle to keep up with a cow (28kph) which would run 100 metres in 12 seconds.)
The slower among you might want to consider that even the Basset hound, with it’s short legs, droopy skin and phlegmatic demeanour can even run at 12kph, which is around 30 seconds for 100 metres. And for those that would take a minute to run 100m, well you might just get beaten to the finish line by a hamster!
Check out the animal speeds below then clock your 100-metre time and compare. We find it is a great lesson in humility for all us 2-legged primates. When it comes to running it really seems that it is a case of 4 legs good, 2 legs not quite as good!
- Lion – 80kph
- Horse – 65kph
- Grizzly bear – 48kph
- Chihuahua – 32kph
- Hippopotamus – 30kph
- Goat – 24kph
- Squirrel – 20 kph
- Basset hound – 12kph
- Hamster – 11kph
- Tortoise – 0.35 kph
- 10 sec – 36.00kph
- 12 sec – 30kph
- 14 sec – 25.7 kph
- 16 sec – 22.5 kph
- 18 sec – 20 kph
- 20 sec – 18 kph
- 22 sec – 16.3 kph
- 24 sec – 15 kph
- 26 sec – 13.8 kph
- 28 sec – 12.8 kph
- 30 sec – 12 kph
- 32 sec – 11.25 kph
- 1 minute – 6 kph
