What would the average speed of a long distance runner be?
Most recreational runners probably do around 10 minute miles in training. And Forrest Gump may have been going even more towards 10:30 – 11:00 pace most of the time going cross country. The average time in most large marathons is around 4:30/4:45 — around a 10:15/11:00/mile pace. That’s where the bulk of the “slow, steady” people come in. (And those “sustainable” 8 minute miles in competitive high school and college runners don’t usually hold up over marathons.) And when ultramarathoner Dean Karnazes did his 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days, he was very often around a 10:00/mile pace (or slighly faster). That’s probably the most real-world you’re going to get to Forrest Gump running across the country, and Dean Karnazes was/is probably in better shape, too. Anyway, I’d personally use a 10:00/mile pace for ease of calculations, but you could probably go up to 11:00 and still be realistic.
