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Here's How You Can Outrun A Horse

When it comes to feats of speed and strength, Homo sapiensis a pretty pitiful species. The list of animals that can outsprint us is embarrassing. There's the cheetah, of course, but also horses, ostriches, greyhounds, grizzly bears, kangaroos, wild boars, even some house cats.

Usain Bolt, the fastest man alive, ran 100 meters in 9.58 seconds. A cheetah has done it in 5.95.

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
/ NPR's Skunk Bear
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The Florida Channel

Based on the their speed unspooling fishing lines, we think black marlins can travel 80 mph. But you don't need the fastest fish on the planet to make gold medal swimmer César Cielo look slow. He also falls behind the Gentoo penguin and the common octopus, not to mention a whole lot of species of fish.

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
/ NPR's Skunk Bear
/
The Florida Channel

A snow leopard easily jumps farther than world-record holder Mike Powell.

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
/ NPR's Skunk Bear
/
The Florida Channel

An elephant can lift more than Belorussian sensation Leonid Taranenko, and that's just with its trunk.

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
/ NPR's Skunk Bear
/
The Florida Channel

But there is one event where humans might best every other species: the marathon. We may not be sprinters, but we can run incredibly long distances.

The latest videofrom NPR's explores the physiology and evolution behind humanity's secret power, and takes you to a race in Wales that pits humans against horses. Now there's one human vs. animal race where we stand a chance.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Ryan Kellman is a producer and visual reporter for NPR's science desk. Kellman joined the desk in 2014. In his first months on the job, he worked on NPR's Peabody Award-winning coverage of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. He has won several other notable awards for his work: He is a Fulbright Grant recipient, he has received a John Collier Award in Documentary Photography, and he has several first place wins in the WHNPA's Eyes of History Awards. He holds a master's degree from Ohio University's School of Visual Communication and a B.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute.