Which World Record is Stronger?

# of times that sub-13 and sub-27 have been run probably isn't a good metric. More fast 5K races than 10K races are run.

whoaminot wrote:

# of times that sub-13 and sub-27 have been run probably isn't a good metric. More fast 5K races than 10K races are run.

Answer the question brother.

IMO, the 5k seems harder due to the fast pace. I wouldnt be surprised if somebody beat the 10k record before the 5k.

that is a good question. Both are mind bogglingly fast.

Perhaps an easier question would be when will either be broken.... both probably not in a decade or 2.

5,000m run much more often on the circuit

How about this:

The closest other person to KB's 12:37.35 is Geb's 12:39.36. This is 2.01s. This is 0.265% of 12:37.35.

The closest other person to KB's 26:17.53 is Geb's 26:22.75. This is 5.22s. This is 0.331% of 26:17.53.

0.331% > 0.265%, hence the 10k record is stronger (i.e. harder to reach by someone else). This actually agrees with our intuition, namely that KB is more vulnerable in the 5k. He is absolutely unbeatable in the 10k.

But...

The closest other person to Bolt's 9.58 is Gay's 9.71. This is 0.13s. This is 1.36% of 9.58.

So Bolt has the strongest WR, hands down.

sprint fan wrote:

But...

The closest other person to Bolt's 9.58 is Gay's 9.71. This is 0.13s. This is 1.36% of 9.58.

So Bolt has the strongest WR, hands down.

Bolt's WR is irrelevant... it wasn't asked or mentioned.

I'm going to say the 10k is more unbeatable than the 5k, but that being said, I think someone other than Bekele will someday break both records. Not for a long time though

I'd say sub-27 is tougher.

My guess will be what ever KB is running at the time he tells his protege to stay with him in this race. The next person to go under one of these times will look just like KB or Geb in stature and running style and be born roughly 2 miles from where they were. And when he runs under this time it will be behind KB just trying to stay up there. You heard it here first.

Dweebo wrote:

Bekele's 5K (12:37) or his 10K (26:17)?

Will someone not named KB run 12:37 first or 26:17 first?

Is sub-13 harder or sub-27 harder? Despite the 5K record being only 23s faster than 13, whereas the 10K record is a whopping 43s faster than 27, I see that sub-13s have happened many more times in history than sub-27s (223 times vs. 66 times, according to

http://www.alltime-athletics.com/men.htm

). So this seems to indicate that sub-27 is harder.

See

http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm

12:37 is equivalent to 26:13, which implies that the 5K record is actually stronger.

13:00 is exactly equivalent to 27:00, so they are of equal difficulty.

The 10k record is stronger. A 5k/10k runner like Bekele would likely break both the 5k and 10k records at about same time- they are pretty much the same difficulty for a Geb/Bekele type runner. However, the 5k record could also be taken down by a 1500/5k runner similar to El Guerrouj or Daniel Komen. Although this possibility is unlikely, there seems to be no other "type" of runner that would be able to take down the 10k record.

moco grad wrote:

The 10k record is stronger. A 5k/10k runner like Bekele would likely break both the 5k and 10k records at about same time- they are pretty much the same difficulty for a Geb/Bekele type runner. However, the 5k record could also be taken down by a 1500/5k runner similar to El Guerrouj or Daniel Komen. Although this possibility is unlikely, there seems to be no other "type" of runner that would be able to take down the 10k record.

With that reasoning there is then a bigger pool of possible candidates to break the 5K record, as the pool includes world class 10K types and 1500/3000/5K types. Even with this large pool, no one (not NOONE) has beaten the 5K record. Since the candidates to break the 5K record include guys like El G and Komen, while the canidates to break the 10K include only 10K specialists, the 5K record must be stronger.

moco grad wrote:

The 10k record is stronger. A 5k/10k runner like Bekele would likely break both the 5k and 10k records at about same time- they are pretty much the same difficulty for a Geb/Bekele type runner. However, the 5k record could also be taken down by a 1500/5k runner similar to El Guerrouj or Daniel Komen. Although this possibility is unlikely, there seems to be no other "type" of runner that would be able to take down the 10k record.

That is a great argument but I would say it supports the opposite conclusion: the 5k COULD be broken by a much larger talent pool of athletes so the fact that it hasn't shows that it's stronger.

sprint fan wrote:

But...

The closest other person to Bolt's 9.58 is Gay's 9.71. This is 0.13s. This is 1.36% of 9.58.

So Bolt has the strongest WR, hands down.

lol at 1,36% of difference for a record being JAN ZELEZNY'S record for the javelin almost 10 meters ahead of what they usually win olympic and world's titles with nowadays.

beat this for a male record!

98,48 meter (JZ) - 93,09 meter (parviainen) = 5,39 meters!

it equals to 5,5% of difference!!

ccc wrote:

See

http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm

12:37 is equivalent to 26:13, which implies that the 5K record is actually stronger.

13:00 is exactly equivalent to 27:00, so they are of equal difficulty.

That calculator falls apart at the highest levels of competition. Punch in Komen's 3000m record--according to McMillan, plenty of people should have broken it already. But of course, only two people have come within six seconds--Bekele and Geb.

The 10k record is certainly stronger. There's no one in the world who can even threaten it right now. There are some guys who are in low-12:50 shape who might threaten the 5k record in the next few years, but the 10k is most definitely secure.

Noone has been even close to 26:17 recently. And we all agree that Bekele is a stronger 10K runner than 5K runner.

Mark my words: Someone else will run 12:37 before 26:17.

777 wrote:

ccc wrote:

See

http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm

12:37 is equivalent to 26:13, which implies that the 5K record is actually stronger.

13:00 is exactly equivalent to 27:00, so they are of equal difficulty.

That calculator falls apart at the highest levels of competition. Punch in Komen's 3000m record--according to McMillan, plenty of people should have broken it already. But of course, only two people have come within six seconds--Bekele and Geb.

The 10k record is certainly stronger. There's no one in the world who can even threaten it right now. There are some guys who are in low-12:50 shape who might threaten the 5k record in the next few years, but the 10k is most definitely secure.

I thought El G ran 7:23? Anyway, I agree, this is not really a useful tool for comparing world records.

They are close enough to being equivalent that it does not really matter. Neither he nor Geb could get all that close to the 3000 record (which is not even a Championship distance), which would make us think that they are probably a bit stronger long than short. However, you get few solid cracks at the 10,000 and weather matters more, ruining more attempts.

The strongest records are usually related to weightlifting. It takes alot of strength to set those records. Typically the heavier weight classes have the 'strongest' records. So I would go with the superheavyweight powerlifting records as the strongest.