Tom Cruise runs a lot in his movies, but how fast can he actually run? Over the last several decades, Cruise has become one of Hollywood's top action stars. While plenty of actors of Cruise's pedigree would be fine letting stunt teams handle action scenes involving his characters, he is committed to doing as much of his own stunts as possible. That is part of the reason why the Mission: Impossible franchise has grown to include so much spectacle, as Cruise keeps pushing his body and safety to the limit for the thrill.
There are several crazy stunts in Cruise's past, but the one aspect of action scenes he's become best known for is running. Sure, he's dangled from the tallest building in the world, attached himself to the side of a plane, and learned how to pilot helicopters and fighter jets, but Cruise loves running most of all. Moviegoers have come to expect a sequence of Cruise running in his latest action films, with Mission: Impossible - Fallout specifically showcasing the technique and distance he can travel on foot. But, just how fast can he run?
In his movies, Cruise has had plenty of foot chases and even tried to outrun a sandstorm. Mission: Impossible III — which is the movie where Cruise has run the most and furthest — features Ethan Hunt sprinting through the streets of China to try and rescue his wife Julia (Michelle Monaghan). According to old interviews with Cruise, he said people recorded how fast he was running and logged his top speed at around 17 miles per hour. This came when Cruise was in his early 40s, so his top speed when he was younger and presumably faster is unknown.
Although some might be dubious to believe Cruise's claims he can run 17 miles per hour, the interest in his running speed has brought the internet together to back up just how fast he is. A user on Quora looked specifically at Mission: Impossible III's famous running scene and calculated Cruise's speed using his height and passing structures. These calculations reached the conclusion that he ran an average of 24.6 kilometers per hour, which is the equivalent of 15 mph. That is on par with Cruise's claim he reached 17 mph, so his top-end speed could've happened earlier or later in the sprint.
Cruise's ability to run between 15-17 mph in his 40s is quite impressive, but how does it stack up with the rest of the world? Usain Bolt is the fastest man on the planet and unsurprisingly holds the record for momentarily reaching 27.8 mph during the 100-meter dash in 2009. Several professional athletes have recorded speeds north of 22 miles per hour, such as Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill and former Jacksonville Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette. Cruise might still be quite slower than them, but he still eclipses speeds that are higher than the average human. However, if he specifically trained to increase his running speed to record it, Cruise could potentially achieve greater speeds than before.