How fast do you have to walk to stay ahead of the Grim Reaper? About 3 miles an hour, according to new research.
In the five-year study, published under the title "How fast does the Grim Reaper walk?" Australian researchers use the mythical character, which personifies death, to determine what walking speeds allow older men to outpace death, AAP reported.
They determined that older men who walk a speed of about 4.5 feet per second (or about 3 mph) are likely to live longer, publishing their results in the British Medical Journal.
From the study of 1,705 men from a mixed demographic pool, the researchers deduced that Reaper strolls at about a 2.7-feet-per-second pace when he's working.
The men in the study clocked an average walking speed of of 2.9 feet per second, and a total of 266 of them died.
"Interestingly, no men with walking speeds of [4.5 feet] per second or above had contact with the Grim Reaper," said Dr Danijela Gnjidic, who co-wrote the study.
"The results support our theory that faster speeds are protective against mortality, because fast walkers can maintain a safe distance from the grim reaper."
According to the LA Times, the results are similar to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in January that found those who had an average walking speed of 3.3 feet per second or higher had survival rates that were longer than expected for their age and sex.
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