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We're just showing off (media.piefed.world)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/whitepeopletwitter@sh.itjust.works
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[–] 22 points 3 months ago (13 children)

I'm sure they're lying but running an average of 10 kilometers per hour over 48 hours isn't insane

Usain Bolt's top speed is 44 kilometers per hour. Maybe the dude wasn't that fast or running top speed the whole time but his job was running a lot I'm sure he was fast as fuck.

So maybe it averaged out and it was only exaggerated a little bit?

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  • [–] 31 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    They have ultra marathons where you run for 24 hours straight, and this guy would have smoked the current record holder going over rough terrain.

    People in general are more athletic nowadays, but our top athletes are basically inhuman compared to athletes from 75 years ago, let alone 2000 years.

    It's most likely a straight up lie, or exaggerated by several multitudes. Ancient "historians" are pretty famous for exaggerating things to make things look more heroic.

    For example Herodotus claimed Xerxes led an invasion force of over 5 million people, in reality it was more like 100k-300k. This was well known even as far back as the Roman, who called Herodotus both the father of history and the father of lies.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    I mean yeah it's definitely a lie I'm not saying it isn't.

    But I do think it's not that insane of a lie. I mean for one apparently the guy died and for two genetic freak factor.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 months ago

    It's insane, and science agrees. Read up on Functional Threshold Pace (FTP), which is what would be a factor in runs like this. The sheer amount of fueling (food+water) required to keep pace going would be insanely impossible for 480km, unaided, without stops. And I mean all caps INSANE.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago

    I still think it's pretty crazy. The "genetic freak factor" is still moderated by the conditions of their environment.

    We have a lot more genetically gifted athletes now then back then, and our genetically gifted athletes grew up with diets fortified with vitamins and other nutrients. If modern athletes even slightly struggle with doing something similar, ancient athletes would find it impossible.

    It's just as crazy as claiming that someone from ancient greece would be able to compete on the same level as Usain Bolt in sprinting.

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  • [–] 23 points 3 months ago (8 children)

    10km per hour over 48 hours is absolutely insane, and the comparison with Bolt's 100m world record doesn't make any sense.

    The ultramarathon world record holders today might do it : the closest existing event is the Spartathlon, a one-way Athens-Sparta race, for which the records are around 20h. Which leaves 8h of sleep before you have to do the world record run a second time...

    Another decent comparison is the 48h ultramarathon. Matthieu Bonne broke the world record at 485km in 48h in 2025, the previous one being 475km.

    But Matthieu Bonne is running on a flat rubber track. And both examples have modern shoes, nutrition and a support team following them.

    So we are supposing our guy is world record material, even though he is selected from a population of 30k male Athenian citizen at the time. We are supposing he is running the world record twice, back to back, in sandals and without anyone to help him on the way. And/or we are supposing he is running as fast as a guy doing it on flat rubber.

    It's not quite impossible (or only slightly exaggerated) but it sure as hell is absolutely insane.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    He also fought in a battle immediately after the run. Then ran some more. Then died.

    You don't think someone could run themselves to death? Humans are capable of miraculous things.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago

    Definitely insane but I don't think it's that insane. There are definitely far more embellishments that are unbelievable than that.

    I do also think we should account for straight genetic freaks. They lived back then too. I doubt this guy was one but I'd bet the fastest person that ever lived has a higher likelihood of being lost to history than competing professionally today

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    I remember a similar argument about how it was impossible for the Egyptians to have built the pyramids. It comes down to ‘I don’t understand how it could be done, so it’s impossible’

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