We’ve all experienced the sudden dash to avoid getting soaked in the rain, but is sprinting to shelter the best approach to stay dry?
This question sparked a lively debate on Capital FM and went viral on TikTok. In a video with the caption: “Why you should never run in the rain” and “mind is blown” radio presenter Siân Welby shared some surprising insights: “The science of avoiding rain. If you run from the house to the car, scientists say you will get more wet than if you did a sort of, like in horror films, like a serial killer walk. Just a really slow walk.”
Her fellow host Chris Stark admitted he had “heard this before” yet still couldn’t wrap his head round it.
“I don’t believe you,” he declared. Siân justified her point: “It’s about surface area, Chris. Because apparently, in theory, if you’re walking it’s going to hit the top of your head and maybe the back. But if you run you’re going to get smashed in the face with the rain as well. It’s going to hit the front, so you get more wet all over.”
The conversation drew mixed reactions online. One listener was astounded, saying “Wow,” while another chimed in: “Running also causes the water to forcefully hit you. It hits you harder.”
The popular show MythBusters even delved into this conundrum back in 2003, and it appears the issue isn’t as black-and-white as we might think.
Factors such as wind direction, the distance covered, and your pace all play crucial roles in determining how damp you’ll end up when caught in a downpour.
After an experiment using sprinklers they came to a conclusion: “It’s better to walk than run and it was very clear.” They found running accumulated more water than if a person walks.
However, years later they retried the experiment using actual rain, and found running made the person less wet than walking.
In 2012, physicist Franco Bocci argued in the European Journal of Physics the problem had been oversimplified. He said there were many factors to consider that hadn’t been previously, including a person’s height-to-breadth ratio and raindrop size.
“The answer depends on the shape and orientation of the moving body and on wind direction and intensity,” reads an abstract from the study. “For different body shapes, the best strategy may be different: in some cases, it is best to run as fast as possible, while in some others there is an optimal speed.”
However, he claimed that running as fast as you can is probably the best approach for most people. He told BBC News back in 2012: “Let’s say that in general, the best thing is to run, as fast as you can – not always, but in general. If you’re really thin, it’s more probable that there will be an optimal speed. Otherwise, it’s better to run fast.”