A typical Labrador Retriever tops out around 23.6 mph in Fast CAT. The fastest one on record ran 32.62 mph. 0.9 mph faster than the typical dog (22.7 mph). The fastest Labrador Retrievers outrun Usain Bolt's top speed by 4.8 mph.
Lab: same breed, same answer. Based on the best Fast CAT run of 3,097 Labrador Retrievers, a typical Labrador Retriever tops out at 23.6 mph, and half of them run faster than 24.2 mph. That makes the Labrador Retriever the 54th fastest of the 226 breeds that have run Fast CAT.
Only 28 Labrador Retrievers have ever broken 30 mph, and 1,215 have topped 25 mph.
Among the most popular Sporting breeds, the typical Labrador Retriever is faster than 4 of 8. The Vizsla is the quickest of the bunch at 24.9 mph, and the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (23.7 mph) runs closest to the Labrador Retriever. Over Fast CAT's 100 yards, the 1.3 mph gap to the Vizsla is about 0.47 seconds.
Flash's Primary Return holds the fastest consistent run by any Labrador Retriever: 32.62 mph at the Cascade Hound Association in Oregon on April 28, 2019. That's 100 yards in 6.27 seconds.
AKC's results also show Buckeyes Mr. Tanner at 35.61 mph, but that dog's next-best run is 25.28 mph. A jump that big is usually a timing or typing error, so we flag it rather than crown it.
On Dash-Hound, the fastest Labrador Retriever is Kraken, with a best of 30.44 mph over 66 logged runs.
A little. The typical Labrador Retriever ran 22.6 mph in 2016 (27 dogs) and 23.8 mph in 2025 (1,026 dogs). As more everyday pets join in, the average moves around.
Wisconsin has the most Labrador Retriever runs, 4,446 of them, followed by Ohio, Virginia, New Jersey. The fastest Labrador Retriever run in Wisconsin is 30.44 mph.
Any AKC-registered Labrador Retriever over 12 months old can enter, and your dog runs alone down a straight 100 yards. Most dogs figure out the lure fast. Have someone your dog will run to waiting past the finish line, because a dog that stops to check on you can lose a second or two.
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Speeds from AKC Fast CAT results. Photographers: spotted your work? Tell us at [email protected] and we'll credit it or take it down.