How fast is Captain America in the MCU?

With the release of ‘The Wakanda Files: A Technological Exploration of the Avengers and Beyond‘ we’ve managed to gain insight to just how the heroes of the MCU operate, from how their superpowers work to how many calories they eat in a day. The in-world book is written by request of Shuri (Sister of King T’Challa AKA The Black Panther) and goes along way in answering some of the MCU’s biggest questions.

A Life Between Runs: Captain America is way too fast - a runner's rant — *Image: Marvel Studios / Disney*

How fast can Captain America run?

Not as fast as you might think. According to the book mentioned above, Captain America can “comfortably run thirteen miles in 30 minutes”. This is the equivalent of 26 miles per hour with seemingly limitless stamina to go with it. To put this in some context for you, the fastest speed ever recorded by a human is 27.8 miles per hour, which was clocked during the Olympic 100 meter race by Usain Bolt, the fastest man in history. It also means that Cap can run a Marathon in approximately 1 hour. The world record currently stands at 2 hours. Given this, maybe we should be more impressed by Cap’s speed? I guess the source does use the word “comfortably” hinting that this is not his top speed, but rather jogging pace for the leader of the Avengers.

How much can Captain America lift?

The energy required for this feat needs to come from somewhere. Even in the fictional world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe there are rules. So just how many calories does Captain America require to power his busy universe-saving schedule? 8000 calories is the answer, which is about the same calorie intake as the competitors in The Worlds Strongest man competition. Where does Cap find the time?!

According to the Wakanda Files book, Captain America can lift several tonnes. This doesn’t reveal too much detail but it does mean that Steve Rogers is able to lift a fully grown male Asian Elephant which weighs about 4 tonnes, or 4,000 Kg depending on how you do your measurements.

National Zoo Mourns Death of Asian Elephant | At the Smithsonian | Smithsonian Magazine — *Image: Smithsonian Magazine*

There you have it. Now you know that Captain America jogs at about the same speed as Usain Bolt running at full pace and that he can lift an Elephant (if he wanted to, of course). Extremely useful information that you can now share with your friends.