Friday Fun Facts: 20 Fun Interesting Facts For Runners

Friday Fun Facts ** image courtesy of Upper End Properties

I found this article titled "20 Fun Interesting Facts For Runners" from Mission In Run to be an interesting read.


Here are the 20 Facts:

Fact #1:

Even if you’re a super-slow jogger, you’ll burn at least 10 calories per minute of running. That means you’ll run off half a block of Lindt Dark Chocolate in less than 23 min!


Fact #2:

The record for most marathons run on consecutive days is 365! Belgian runner Stefaan Engels, knows as the “Marathon Man” set the record in 2011, aged 49!


Fact #3:

Athletes dressed in red are more likely to win events than athletes wearing any other color.


Fact #4:

The fastest mile (approx. 1.6km) ever run was by Morrocan, Hitcham El Guerrouj, in 3:43:13 in 1999.


Fact #5:

The fastest mile for a woman was set by Russia’s Svetlana Masterkova, her time was 4:12.56 – the run was in 1996 and hasn’t been seriously challenged since.


Fact #6:

An average man has enough energy in his fat stores to run non-stop for 3 days at 24km per hour. That’s FAST considering about 10-12km per hour is the average pace general punters run at. Please don’t try this at home.


Fact #7:

The oldest person to complete a marathon was born in 1911, making him 100 years old at the time. He was an Indian man named Fauja Singh. AND guess what? Fauja didn’t even start running until he was 89 years of age. It’s never too late!


Fact #8:

Over 1 billion pairs of running shoes are sold world-wide each year.


Fact #9:

Runners who played ball sports (i.e. soccer or footy) as kids had nearly 50 percent fewer stress fractures than runners who didn’t. Stanford University researchers found that runners who played ball sports had, “greater and more symmetrically distributed bone mass.” (Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine)


Fact #10:

In the feet, 26 bones, 33 joints, 112 ligaments, and a network of nerves, tendons, and blood vessels have to work together when we run!


Fact #11:

Strides are extremely consistent among professional runners, usually between 185-200 steps per minute!


Fact #12:

Music can boost your running performance by up to 15%! But only if you’re a particular kind of runner. If you tend to focus inward while running, music probably won’t help you much… but if you look for stimulus from your environment, pump the tunes to get over the finish line more quickly!


Fact #13:

In a recent study, when asked what food they couldn’t live without, most runners named bananas as their most adored foodie fix!


Fact #14:

You can store about 2,000 calories’ worth of glycogen in your body to fuel your running. But it’s important to replenish your stores, so chow down on the carbs post-run.


Fact #15:

During the Great Wall Marathon in China, racers run 5,164 steps along famed wall during their 26.2 miles.


Fact #16:

It takes 200 muscles to take a step.


Fact #17:

When we run, the human heart creates enough pressure to squirt blood 30 feet.


Fact #18:

Three surprising animals that are faster than the human being are a domestic rabbit, a cat, and a kangaroo.


Fact #19:

Hours after she finished the Chicago marathon last month, Amber Miller, 27, gave birth to her second child. “I got the okay from my doctor to run half, and my husband ran with me and supported me along the way,” Miller said. “I ran half and walked half, that’s how I finished. Everybody just kind of stared as I’m running by.”

Miller’s time for her eighth marathon was 6 hours, 25 minutes, 50 seconds.

Fact #20:

Anyone can run a marathon – with proper training and determination you too can complete a marathon.



** Information courtesy of Mission Inn Run.