The best athlete in the world?
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Is this guy the best athlete in the world? (not the one in the blue shirt)Common water cooler conversation is who is the best athlete in the world. Some people say Michael Jordan, some say Lance Armstrong. Without a doubt in my mind the best athletes in the world are marathoners.
Why? Because they run 26.2 miles in just over 2 hours. That's insane. That means they're running each mile in roughly 4:50. Try going out to the local track and sprinting (running as fast as you can) 4 laps around the track (4 laps = 1 mile). Running a 6-minute mile is impressive and would require someone like me (a respectable athlete) to go as fast physically possible. And these guys are doing that for 26 miles at much faster speed.
The picture above is of Khalid Khannouchi a former Moroccan turned American who held the record for the marathon in for almost 4 years with a time of 2:05:38 in the 2002 London Marathon. He's only about 5'5", but he can light up the road. I bet he could make a three pointer or catch a touchdown or hit for a single, but I bet not one basketball, baseball, or football player in the world could run a 2:10:00 marathon. Case closed.
posted by Michael Tavani @ 5:31 PM |
