This past weekend, I was on my 10 mile Sunday long run. It was about 90 degrees outside with no shade for miles.  This run was really difficult and I couldn’t imagine having to run a full marathon (26.2 miles) right now.  As I continued with my long run, I saw a cyclist pass me going at least five times faster than my running pace.  This got me thinking, as an avid runner and bike rider, what would be the biking equivalent to running a marathon?

Marathons are one of the most difficult in challenging races running and in any sport.  In order to run 26.2 miles you must push yourself physically and mentally.  Running and biking are two very different sports, however, they can be related because they challenge your endurance.  I did a little research and found out that the closest biking equivalent to running a marathon is a 100 mile (Century) bike ride.  Let’s take a closer look into how this was determined and what factors should be considered when comparing running and biking.

How Many Miles Biking Equals 1-mile Running?

In order to compare running a marathon to biking, we have to determine how many miles a 1-mile run equals to in biking miles.  It has been determined that running 1 mile is approximately equivalent to biking 3 miles. While this is not a 100% direct correlation, it is our best estimate. An important factor to consider is that in order to properly compare running and biking, the activities must be done with the same effort level. A deeper analysis into how many miles biking equals one mile running can be found in our recent article, How Many Miles Biking Equals One Mile Running?

What Is The Biking Equivalent Of A Marathon?

You might be thinking, by using the rule of thumb that 3 miles biking equals one mile running, we would end up with 26.2 miles running being equivalent to 3 x 26.2 = 78.6 miles biking.  Although this may be true, it is important to consider the extreme toll that running 26.2 miles or Marathon takes on the human body.  The most important aspect to consider is that when running you are constantly impacting your legs whereas when you are biking you are able to move without much impact.  Additionally, there are also some other factors to consider when comparing biking and running that will help our estimation of the biking equivalent to running a marathon.

3 Factors To Consider When Comparing Biking and Running

1. Constant Impact When Running

One of the biggest considerations as stated previously is the constant impact that you experience when running.  Each step when running causes impact to your legs and muscles.  Over the course of 26.2 miles, this can drastically wear down your body and cause bone pain and nasty blisters.  Comparing this to biking, there is relatively no impact for each pedal stroke. When you are biking, you are mainly using your thigh, hamstring, and calf muscles.  However, it is important to recognize that without proper gear you could develop blisters while biking as well.

2. Coasting On A Bike

Another important aspect to consider when comparing running and biking is that when biking, you have the ability to coast on a bike.  Compared to running, you have to constantly be moving if you want to continue moving forward in the race.  Therefore, for our comparison purposes we are stating that it is important to exert the same amount of effort for both sports. By exerting the same amount of energy for both sports, we are able to get a better comparison.  For this comparison it might be more effective to compare running a marathon to biking on a stationary bike.  If you’ve ever biked on a stationary bike you know that the constant pedaling is much more difficult than riding a bike outside.  This constant motion of a stationary bike is more similar to running than biking outside.

3. Faster Rotations/Steps on Bike

When comparing running and biking it is important to consider the faster rotations that are required when biking. It is known that biking requires a faster rotation per minute (RPM). While this RPM can be reduced at times, it is typically higher than running RPM or steps per minute.  This faster rotation can cause additional strain on your muscles and bones. It is very common for these fast rotations to cause knee or hamstring pain.  Therefore, by using the comparison of a stationary bike to running, the more rotations required while biking can make it even more difficult.

Verdict

Running and biking both have their own factors that make them difficult which include constant impact while running and faster movement or pedal strokes when biking.  As long as the same effort level is used for each sport, then the closest biking equivalent to running a marathon (26.2 miles) is approximately a 100 mile (Century) bike ride.  This approximation is slightly more than the 1:3 running to biking miles ratio, because coasting is possible on the bike.  This factor caused a high running to biking mile ratio for the estimation.

On October 12, 2019, Eliud Kipchoge became the first human to run a marathon (26.2 miles or 42.2 K) in under 2 hours.  His final time was 20 seconds under 2 hours at a final time of 1 hour, 59 minutes and 40 seconds.  This is a feat once thought impossible but through hard work, dedication, and perseverance #nohumanislimited.  So what pace did Eliud Kipchoge have to run to break 2 hours in the marathon?

Mile and 5K Pace

Eliud Kipchoge’s 5K pace to run under 2 hours in the marathon was 14 minutes and 10 seconds (14:10) per 5K.

Kipchoge’s mile pace to run under 2 hours in the marathon was 4 minutes and 33 seconds (4:33) per mile.

Further Pace Breakdown For Eliud Kipchoge’s 1:59.40 Marathon

Will It Count As A World Record

Although Eliud Kipchoge really did run the first under 2 hour marathon, it will not count as an official world record.  This is because it was not run in an open competition and the INEOS 1:59 event was purely for Kipchoge. Kipchoge did have pacers, however, they were multiple teams of pacers that would interchange during the race.  This is not allowed per World Record Regulations. Nonetheless, this is a historic achievement and has truely proven that #nohumanislimited!