How fast can he go?

Question
Hi, my name is Kellean and I am a freshman at Castro Valley High. My science project this year is generating electricity with a hamster on a wheel. I've tried to see how fast my hamster can go but he usually doesn't run when I'm in the room, but I always hear his wheel squeaking when I'm out of the room. Any help you can give me with this project would be GREATLY appreciated. If you think that this project is not possible, that would help to :) I'm not so sure right now, but I could really use any help you can give. Mainly, how fast can a hamster go? Thank you for taking time to read this, have a good day.

Answer
Hey, Kellean.

First of all, that project would be possible, it just will probably take a lot of work.
And to answer your question..
I'm pretty sure that a hamster's average running speed is 2-3 mph.. sometimes they can run up to 4 mph but not very often and not for long.  Also, just in case you want to know, they run about 8 miles a night on their wheel.
 
By the way, I know there's special hamster wheels they sell at pet stores... with these, you can find out how many miles your hamster ran, how much time, what speed, etc.  If you can find one of those, I'm sure it would help out a lot with your project.

Hope this helps, and good luck with your science project.  If you have any more questions or need any more help, feel free to ask.