Could any professional footballer run a sub-4 minute mile?

[lostsoul]

Could any football league player run a sub-4 minute mile?

Now, footballers have to be very fit, and we know a lot of them are very fast but would it be possible for a top footballer - just on basic football fitness conditioning - to run a sub- 4 minute mile?

Steve Cram ran sub-minutes at 17 yrs of age, and Irishman Eamon Coughlan did it at 40 plus years of age.

Indeed, one athlete, Daniel Koman, ran two consecutive sub-4 minute miles. ( i.e he ran as fast as Bannister, and, then. without stopping, carried on and did it again! ).

But would it possible for a footballer to run sub-4 minutes?

I reckon such an attempt - and the build up - would make for a great Tv “reality” show.

[Kritou]

Could any football league player run a sub-4 minute mile?

Now, footballers have to be very fit, and we know a lot of them are very fast but would it be possible for a top footballer - just on basic football fitness conditioning - to run a sub- 4 minute mile?

Steve Cram ran sub-minutes at 17 yrs of age, and Irishman Eamon Coughlan did it at 40 plus years of age.

Indeed, one athlete, Daniel Koman, ran two consecutive sub-4 minute miles. ( i.e he ran as fast as Bannister, and, then. without stopping, carried on and did it again! ).

But would it possible for a footballer to run sub-4 minutes?

I reckon such an attempt - and the build up - would make for a great Tv “reality” show.

Would the final knee slide count as part of the mile?

[pedoja]

Why would they need to run a 'sub 4 minute mile?'

Surely Football requires short bursts of activity rather than a prolonged steady pace.

[lostsoul]

Why would they need to run a 'sub 4 minute mile?'

Surely Football requires short bursts of activity rather than a prolonged steady pace.

Well, interestingly, that's exactly how miler's train.
"Short bursts" of running followed by a short recovery period.
And, of course, footballers have to "keep going" for 90 minutes.

I would be very surprised if the "right" footballer couldn't run under 4min 10 sec; after all, athlete Walter George did that back in the 1880s with very minimum training.

[DixieRoy]

Could any sub 4 minute miler score 20 goals in a Premier League season?

Unfortunately my question, like yours, lacks relevance, so why bother?

[lostsoul]

Silly reply!
Milers don't need to able to handle a football BUT footballers have to run!
And, run a lot!
They also need to have speed and lots of stamina, and those are basic requirements for runners.
Put, another way, if a footballer could run a 4 minute mile, then he wouldn't be flagging in any way at the end of 90mins!

[BOOTLE BILL]

in 1959 at the age 14 I ran a sub 5 minute mile 4 min 52 secs in Bootle Stadium how many ex footballers my age could even run today.

[lostsoul]

I came across a running “fitness test” for football league players ( see below ).

Now, the top level of fitness i.e. 1300m in 4 mins equates to a 4min 50sec mile pace.
But, of course, the footballers where required to perform the run test twice and with only a 2 minute rest between runs AND performing it while “shuttling” over a 100m strip.

Of course, footballers will have varied running abilities. Some will be “naturally” fast, while other will have great “natural" stamina.

Milers, by the way, are right at the place where speed and stamina meet. Steve Ovett, for example, could run 21.7sec for 200m AND be good enough to beat marathon champions over the half-marathon distance.

Here is the “fitness test”:

The 4-Minute Drill (Aerobic)

WHAT TO DO:

Use cones to measure out a distance of 100m (the approximate length of a full-sized football pitch). Run up and down the full 100m line as hard as you can for four minutes, and measure the total distance you cover. Rest for two minutes then repeat the exercise. Now work out your average distance per set by dividing your combined distance over the two sets in half, and check your times against the chart below.

HOW YOU RATE:

Sunday League footballer = 1000m

Good amateur footballer = 1100m

Championship footballer = 1200m

Premier League footballer = 1300m+

( BTW, One mile = 1609m )

[whiskeyman]

It's like asking 'Can a joiner lay 1000 bricks a day?'. It's irrelevant.

[DixieRoy]

It's like asking 'Can a joiner lay 1000 bricks a day?'. It's irrelevant.

Totally in agreement with your post, same point that I was making, but prefer your analogy.

[lostsoul]

Look! Footballers run!
Everyday they run,
They sprint to increase their speed. They run to increase their stamina.
They spend hours in the gym strengthening their core.
AND, their ability to " run all day" is part of their job description.

Let's put it another way, couldn't we find a super fit footballer - with the physical makeup of a middle -distance runner, who could give a top FEMALE miler a run for her money?

Or, would these super fit footballers, who run miles and miles a week be run into the ground by a slip of a girl?

[whiskeyman]

Look! Footballers run!
Everyday they run,
They sprint to increase their speed. They run to increase their stamina.
They spend hours in the gym strengthening their core.
AND, their ability to " run all day" is part of their job description.

Let's put it another way, couldn't we find a super fit footballer - with the physical makeup of a middle -distance runner, who could give a top FEMALE miler a run for her money?

Or, would these super fit footballers, who run miles and miles a week be run into the ground by a slip of a girl?

Would the 'slip of a girl' be running with a ball and have huge defenders trying to break her ankles every few yards? Totally different training for totally different sport. Have you ever actually watched football?
You can't see the irrelervence?

[lostsoul]

I don't know if you are silly or simply stupid!

I'm not asking if the footballer could throw the discus over 60m!

Footballers run. It's part of their training!

They train for speed running. They train for endurance running.

All things being equal, the better runner they are the more valuable they will be as a player.

That is why the top players are fitter - running wise - than those in the lower divisions.

I bet that there are footballers playing today who were very good junior middle-distance runners as teenagers.

Now, with all the training that they have done since their youth, one would imagine that they must now be even better at running.

[cally800]

but its not just about running, is it?

Strength training & conditioning will put on body mass which is not required for middle distance running.

I'm sure there are footballers who might have been capable of running a sub 4-minute mile if that was what they trained for instead of training to play a 90 minute match including skills, defensive and attacking tactics, set piece training etc...

[lostsoul]

Well, it is true that many modern footballers " bulk up", but many footballers over the years have had the physique of middle-distance runners ( George Best and Cruff come to mind).

But, I don't think anyone would disagree that modern top players will have superior cardio-vascular systems.

Also, would it be a disadvantage for a footballers to be able to run a four minute mile?
Also, moden footballers would certainly have the time to put in any extra training to reach sub-4min potential.

But, if not sub-4 min, what? Sub 4 min 20sec? Sub 4 mins 10 ses?

Again,it would be fascinating, for me, to know how fast a premiership footballer could cover a mile.