Running vs Walking in the rain

I’m sure that everyone has heard this question at some point or another in their lives. It is instinct to run when it is pouring outside because you want to get out of the rain as quick as possible so you don’t get too wet. However is it possible that this is causing you to get more wet?

According to Andrew Liszewski you would get more wet if you walked in the rain. He says the better option is to run because ultimately you spend less time in the rain so you would not get as wet. There could be some concerns about this, because as you run, you run into rain drops, so you are getting wet from above and from running into it. However, despite this you still get less wet because the amount of time you would be in the rain while walking would cause you to get more wet than from running.

I think that this makes a lot of sense. It seems pretty obvious that the less time you are in the rain, the less wet you will get. Despite arguments that could be made against this, I still believe that the best option is to follow your instincts and to run to get out of the rain as quickly as you can.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5970075/do-you-get-less-wet-walking-or-running-in-the-rain

2 thoughts on “Running vs Walking in the rain

  1. Kate Billings

    Hi Matthew! I find this post interesting because I’ve never thought about this before. Whenever it starts to rain I just automatically run to wherever I’m trying to go because that’s what I’ve always done. If you do think about it logically though it makes sense that running in the rain would be a better options because you are moving faster than you are if you were walking. In this article I was reading on this topic, http://lifehacker.com/5970476/why-you-should-run-not-walk-in-the-rain, they talk about how although you would think the answer to this question is simple people still have arguments for the other side. They say that while you run there is more of your body showing to get rained on. This argument does make sense but I think the arguments for the other side remain stronger. Interesting post, thanks for sharing!

  2. Chris North

    This is a very interesting and in tonight’s case, useful, topic. I recalled the Mythbusters running this same experiment. Their results were actually opposite yours. Running through the rain actually made them more wet than walking. While they did not test a lot of different variables, the set they did test proved that running through the rain actually got more surface area covered by rain. When they walked, rain only landed on their head and shoulders, but when they ran, water got all up and down their front side as they ran into water that was falling inn front of them.
    The video: http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/videos/running-in-the-rain-minimyth/

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