Do you get wetter from walking or running in the rain?

Question

I always run because I want to get out of the rain faster, but I wonder if I’m just running into more rain and actually ending up wetter…

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Answer 1

You will likely get wetter faster by running, but you will reduce your exposure time if running to and from a sheltered location.

You will get wetter at a slower rate by walking, but you will offset your lower wetness per unit of time with an increase in travel time between the same beginning and end points.

The relationship should technically be linear, then, but there are complicating factors: running will increase your surface area in the horizontal plane, meaning that per unit of time you are liable to be hit by a greater number of raindrops. You will also run through a higher number of intersection points between airborne water droplets and your horizontal movement. You will also be reducing the number of intersection points between water droplets and the same body part during your walking test because you are effectively running out from under a large percentage of those same water droplets that would have otherwise landed on that same given spot uf you were walking. These complicating factors may disrupt the linear relationship. Interesting things happen given complicating factors in statistical representation such as minimum and maximum points, inflection points, or logarithmic relationships.

I would suspect that you get wetter by walking given a requisite ratio of walking speed to running speed. You technically should get wetter faster by running given increased horizontal surface area and increased intersection points, but it is doubtful that you would get, say, 600% wetter per unit of time, versus the capability of people to run, say, 600% of their walking speed. I, for example, sprint at approximately 12 to mayyyybe 14mph, but I comfortably wall at 2 to 3mph. Given the same distance, then, I suspect you’d be better off running because although your rate of wetness increase per unit of time may be higher, you are cutting your exposure time by an even greater factor

The interesting question then becomes “At what walking versus running speed relationship does it become drier to walk? (Like if you can only run 30% faster than your walking speed) and how does, if at all, the density of rainfall effect the outcome?”