Australia’s brown huntsman spiders are the fastest, according to a study, yet to be peer-reviewed, of 258 species.
According to the study, huntsman spiders can move at 3.59 metres per second.
More research is needed to confirm if there are other, faster species out there that have not been investigated.
For non-Aussies reading this, don’t be afraid, a hunstman spider won’t hunt you down and bite you though it might beat you in a race. It only eats insects.
Unless you look like an insect, apparently not. Actively threatening their eggs might provoke a reaction. They don’t appear to be particularly dangerous, but I guess you’ll want to avoid the pain of their bite anyway.
The ones mentioned in the article, Heteropoda Jugulans and H. Cervina, are also not the biggest representatives of their family (Heteropodae) or genus (Sparassidae, which covers Huntsmen in general). That honour (?) belongs to H. Maxima, which can reach 30cm (1ft) leg span.
I’ve been bitten by one. For some daft reason it got into bed and I rolled onto it. Tiny ouch, massive itchy swollen reaction. More typical of me than it.