Racing with The Cheetah requires enough stamina

The Cheetah, as the fastest land animal, is of course, the fastest cat and has been recorded achieving speeds of 96+ km/h (60 mph). Cheetahs also reach their top speed very quickly, meaning they have very rapid acceleration. One animal in Kenya was recorded on video accelerating from a standing start to 90 km/h in only 3 seconds. However even the Cheetah can only maintain such a speed for very short distances and after 500 metres it is exhausted. Most chases in the wild last for less than 20 seconds during which time the animal covers between 200 to 300 metres.

The Cheetah pays a heavy price for its speed, building up a large oxygen debt in its muscles and risking serious over heating on it longest sprints. After a 30 second chase it can take a cheetah 20 minutes to recover its breath, (breathing rates can be as high as 150 per minute after a run as compared with 15 per minute for a normal resting animal), and expend its excess body heat, during which time it is unable to feed on the carcass (assuming the chase was successful) and must risk having it stolen by hyenas, leopards or lions.

Although other cats can sprint fairly quickly for short distances if necessary the Cheetah is the only cat specifically designed for chasing its prey. Other cats have evolved to catch slower prey, or to hunt primarily by stealth and surprise, or patience.

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