Sleep deprived exercise challenge

[oyster]

I've been offered a chance to participate and help organise a long charity hike that will involve sleep deprivation, and I'm trying to figure out whether it is even remotely doable or not.

The plan is approx 200 miles, so would take 50-odd hours, leading to 2 nights and 3 days without sleep. Can the human body actually do this without any dangerous repercussions?

[Snow and Rocks]

Unless you're already accustomed to serious long distance walking or plan on doing a lot of training I would question being able to average nearly 4 mph over 200 miles. Once you add stops for meals etc it gets even more ambitious.

[deckster]

Indeed. 100 miles / 24 hours is a common goal for endurance specialists and is hard as nails.

200 miles is another level. Nutty ultra-marathoners only need apply.

Who are you aiming the walk at?

[SteveStrange]

You will need a LOT of vaseline around your bits and bobs if you're walking for that long, at that pace, without stopping.

[Pebbles167]

As a young adult myself and a friend intentionally deprived ourselves of sleep for a few days. By 48 hours I began to hallucinate, became increasingly confused, and generally non functional. My friend acted as if he were on strong drugs, and passed out after the 60 hour point. At 70 hours I was microsleeping stood up, and couldn't answer basic questions, I threw the towel in shortly after.

It was incredibly hard.

And that was mostly just sat around my house playing video games, and getting outside for a bit for fresh air.

The exercise on top of that will be absolutely killer. You'll need to be nails to complete it.

Good luck though!

[oyster]

The pace could be eased if needed. It was based on what could be squeezed into maximising walking in daylight. But thinking about it, could make it 60 hours
E.g. Day 1 start at 06:00, Complete at Day 3 18:00. So average of 3.33 mph.
And it's a flat hike, little hills.

[deckster]

What is your personal experience with ultra-distance events?

Have you ever even run a marathon? This will be much, much (much) harder.

[cheesejunkie]

I've ultra runner friends who try and talk me into it from time to time. Even those maniacs only do 24 hours or so.

Sleep deprivation messes with your head in ways you won't know until you try it.

Three days with no training, I wouldn't chance it.

[deckster]

Just for a little context here. From https://www.runyourpersonalbest.com/post/how-to-ru...

Somebody who knows her stuff said:

Finish rates, on average across the races and years, hover around 60%.
.....
The winner of a 200 miler will not cross the finish line until nearly 60 hours of continuous running. Most finishers will complete the course in 80-90 hours.
.....
A mid-pack runner averages 2.5-3 miles per hour.
.....
There is a surprising amount of running and ultra-shuffling just to keep a pace of three miles per hour. The fastest runners on earth average a 14 min/mile at this distance.

And that's for people who are already supremely fit and experienced, before going into the huge amount of support that is needed, kit that is carried, injuries that will occur, the massive impact on your body and mind, and general sttiness that happens at the sharp end of extreme fatigue.

It's hard to express just how difficult a 200 mile walk is.

[oyster]

Not too bothered by the distance or speed- I’ve done Coast to Coast in 3 days before and back to back marathons in a day. It’s the sleep thing that concerns me

[Hoofy]

It'll fk your immunity so stay away from anyone with a cold afterwards.

[Randy Winkman]

I did a sponsored walk of 25 miles in a day, then camping that night and 25 miles the next day. I didnt sleep for even 1 second in the night. I simply couldn't get to sleep. Anyway, I did the 25 miles walk the next day reasonably easily from a physical point of view but from a mental point of view I WAS NOT HAPPY!!!

[M1AGM]

oyster said:

Not too bothered by the distance or speed- I’ve done Coast to Coast in 3 days before and back to back marathons in a day. It’s the sleep thing that concerns me

Speed will definitely help you stay awake for 3 days.

[andy_s]

oyster said:

Not too bothered by the distance or speed- I’ve done Coast to Coast in 3 days before and back to back marathons in a day. It’s the sleep thing that concerns me

2 'white nights' is sorta do-able but not at that pace and not easily and I wouldn't class it as a 'hike'.

Here are some of the 'continual' UK races with the distance, 'cut-off' time for the slowest and course record:

Winter Spine [265miles/168hrs/83hrs rec.]
Northern Traverse [200miles/120hrs/45hrs rec.]
Race Across Scotland [215miles/100hrs/59hrs rec.]]

Then:
Oyster plan [200miles/50hrs]

Faster Ultras like the West Highland Way [95miles/36hrs/13.6hrs rec.] really show the cumulative effect [you don't just 'double' the WHW time to get a 200mile estimate...]

Have a read of some of the blogs and you'll see the sleep monsters really kick in on night two, hallucinations etc, and of course this bleeds speed like a cut carotid, then you're in 'shall we rest so we pick up speed or continue to degrade' scenario*.

I'd also say your speed estimate is likely very optimistic, 4mph is a good 'walk with great purpose' speed, very difficult too maintain the average over 2-3 days solid, even if you don't stop - at all. The course records above, held by world class athletes, vary between 3.1mph av. to 4.4mph av., now flatten the hills and do it on a flat surface and you'd still be in world class territory if you get near those numbers, imho.