For instance, Longri once wrote:
[*Or, you must be a heroic Greek!].... 4.5 mph = speed of walking to running transition
3.2 mph = optimal walking speed
It isn't terribly different. But for either height a 4 mph pace, even on ideal terrain, would be energetically wasteful. To have an optimal pace of 4 mph one would want to be about 8 1/2 feet tall.
So what do you all make of supposed historic fact I just read, which states that the Greek Marathon messenger was far surpassed in long distance messaging by the guy the Athenians sent first to warn Sparta that the Persians were coming. Here's the scenario from the book:
"HIstorically sound, however, is the account of the prelude to the battle of Marathon. ... An Olympic champion runner [named Pheidippides] was dispatched to enlist the aid of the Spartans. He pressed on for two days and two nights, swimming rivers and climbing mountains... a distance of about 158 miles. [and then he returned as fast as he could to get the news back to Athens.] In four days Pheidippides had covered over 300 miles of difficult country on foot"
Okay Longri, et al, what do you reckon- possible?
Now for another set of pacing facts:
"Another record... was set by a Cretan courier named Philonides in the service of Alexander the Great. He ran along the fairly level road ... a distance of 160 miles, in nine hours"
Calculations are not my strong suit, but if a great marathon pace would be 2 hours per 26 miles, then it would seem that Philonides needs to string together four great marathons back to back to get there. So, do I get to be proud of my Greek ancestors, or not?
Efharistó polí, Harlen-Xeniades