This Jetpack Will Help You Run A 4-Minute Mile

People have long dreamed of owning their very own personalized jetpack. You know the kind that you can soar over your neighborhood with, like a true superhero. A while ago we wrote about a company that is currently working on putting together a jetpack that pretty much anyone will be able to use. The current price tag of that jetpack is $75,000, a little out of range for most people. There are other kinds of jetpacks however, and that’s what we are going to take a look at today.

It started out as a fun project but quickly turned into something more serious. Jason Kerestes masterminded a new idea that could come to give people a well-deserved push when it comes to running. The jetpack that Jason is currently working on is not for flying, it’s actually for running. If you think this sounds odd then you’re not the first one. The project is truly revolutionary, and if implemented right, it could give for example soldiers wearing it a huge advantage.

The project, dubbed 4MM (4-minute mile), is a collaboration between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Arizona State University. The aim is to enable people to run a 4-minute mile with the help of this revolutionary jetpack.

Initial testing shows a guy running 200 meters in 25 seconds without the jetpack. When worn, the runner manages to shave off a whopping 3 seconds, even though the jetpack weighs in at 11 pounds. That’s an incredible feat that if refined could be the difference between life and death on the battlefield.

If this jetpack, at this early stage, can improve both speed and agility then there is no guessing what it could do in the future. It is very much an Iron Man project that I am sure we are going to hear much more about. Imagine if this jetpack, when refined, is combined with a jetpack that can actually let you fly. It would be one of the coolest battlefield gadgets you could ever dream up.

Whether it will be available to you and me when a finished product is made available is really anyone’s guess. Usually when it comes to military advancements it stays within the confinements of the bureaucratic boundaries. We can always hope and dream that we all one day will be able to own one. Who wouldn’t want to be able to run a 4-minute mile, if only for the speed sensation, right?