Man versus Horse Marathon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_versus_Horse_Marathon

by harporoeder • 2 years ago

25 6 2 years ago

en.wikipedia.org

metadat• 2 years ago

The results table really surprised me.

Terrain can be tricky.

teruakohatu• 2 years ago

Indeed interesting, and it does not surprise me that a human can beat a animal carrying a heavy load (a human) in an endurance event given we are hairless sweaty mammals optimised for endurance rather than speed. Adding a proportional burden for humans (maybe 10kg) would give horses a huge advantage.

It seems the race is also long-term optimised for humans to win. There are a lot more human competitors (> 10:1 ratio). The prize fund increased by 1000 pounds per year until a human won, no doubt attracting faster and faster athletes in increasing numbers.

The course has also been varied making year on year comparisons difficult.

wudangmonk• 2 years ago

In order to make the race interesting it needs to have a balance between the two, make it too short and the horses will always win, make it too long and the humans will always win.

halper• 2 years ago

According to the article, the extended course used during two years favoured the horses.

jeffalyanak• 2 years ago

It seems the race is also long-term optimised for humans to win. There are a lot more human competitors (> 10:1 ratio). The prize fund increased by 1000 pounds per year until a human won, no doubt attracting faster and faster athletes in increasing numbers.

I suppose so, but that only gets you so far. If you did a human vs F1 race it wouldn't really matter how many humans were competing or how big the prize pool was, the car would still win every time. :p

r-johnv• 2 years ago

It also appears that the horses are given what appears to be a 15 minutes handicap under the guise of 'vet checks'. (Commentary is there under the history section of the article)

I couldn't find more information on whether there are other things done to favor human over the house.

Man versus Horse Marathon

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