what kind of 5k time do you think makes a college guy "average"

I immediately thought 26 minutes. You asked about what 5k time makes a college guy average. You guys are all delusional.

For D1 I think 15:00 is pretty average. Keep in mind conference meets are usually pretty tactical so don't read too much into the times.

When I saw this thread, I thought to myself, what is the largest invitational I've run in this year, and the answer was the BU Valentine meet. However, they limited the entries a little this year, so I dug up 2010 results:

http://www.lancertiming.com/results/winter10/valentinem.htm

This meet has a wide range of talent, everything from community colleges to Ivy League schools to DI powers like Providence, Iona, Syracuse. It also has some post-collegiate athletes, but let's just count them along with everyone else for now. If they were competitive in the meet, then obviously they are at the same level as their college peers.

94 finishers in the 5k:

Top 25% - places 1-23 - 14:24 to 14:57

25% to 50% - places 24-47 - 14:57 to 15:25

50% to 75% - places 48-71 - 15:25 to 15:54

75% to 100% - places 72-94 - 15:56 to 18:50

15:25 appears to be dead average in this case study of one meet that had a lot of 5k finishers and a wide range of college running talent. Take that information for whatever it's worth.

chikin wrote:

MEAC - 10th best 5000 - 15:59

SWAC - 10th best 5000 at Conference - 16:31

A-10 - 10th best 5000 at Conference - 15:29

MAAC - 10th best 5000 at Conference - 16:32

Southern - 10th best 5000 at Conference (2008) - 15:29

Big South - 10th best 500 at Conference - 15:41

***21st in the Big South was 18:09.... on the track.

15:30 for an AVERAGE might be a bit fast. I know the above is just a quick sample from some of the smaller DI conferences but from looking at the results, 16:00-16:15 might be little more accurate for DI. There are a lot of schools that have really poor distance programs.

10th best is not average!

Average college guy, as in anyone in college. 25-30min

Just as an aside, if we look at all the results for this meet and use the same method - pick the middle finisher - our average male runner runs these times:

400 - 51.01

800 - 1:59.2

1000 - 2:33.6

mile - 4:25.8

3k - 8:50.9

5k - 15:25

That all looks reasonable to me. Basically an average college runner is the same as a good high school runner. But of course this is an average across all divisions (which are represented in this meet). The average D1 runner will be better than these marks.

Really? A 1:59 is equivalent to a 15:25?

That is the median.. not the average.

15:25----- 775-780

purdy points gives us about

51

1:58

4:05 1500

4:25y

8:50

9:35y

32:30

Pretty sure the worst guy to make the team is way way faster than an average matriculator.

Then are we safe to say average middle distance guys on a college team would produce " B relayteams" @ about 7:50 4x800 and 10:30 DMR 1/2,1/4 3/4,M ?

get your math straight wrote:

That is the median.. not the average.

It's both. Median is a type of average.

sprint7 wrote:

Really? A 1:59 is equivalent to a 15:25?

Using the criteria I outlined, yes, but my way isn't the only or necessarily best way to figure this out.

Did I say it was?

internet researcher wrote:

get your math straight wrote:

That is the median.. not the average.

It's both. Median is a type of average.

Racehorse wrote:

internet researcher wrote:

It's both. Median is a type of average.

No, median is the number in the middle. Average is all the times added and divided by the number of participants.

That's called the mean, which is a kind of average. The other commons ones are the median and the mode. Also geometric mean and harmonic mean.

i'd say 15:30 if you're a serious runner (48 weeks training per year) but you also have to realize that at some point guys are gonna specialize, because i'm "average" at best with a 15:32 5k pr but haven't run a legit one in maybe 2 years while getting into sub 71 minute shape for a half marathon

I researched this for a stats class back in 2002. I compiled all track meets in the USA from three different weekends during the mid to late collegiate track season (one weekend included the Mt. Sac meet which had some fast times). I was at a division 1 school so only looked at division 1 runners and their times at the 5000 meters. After putting in every single D1 runner at 5k from all of these meets (there were a lot of runners...I believe well over 300) I believe the average (mean, not media) was around 15:31 +/- 4 seconds. I believe the media was about 15:25. I found myself at the end of my college career striking the mean right on the button...and I was mighty glad to be average.

dafastestogre wrote:

i'd say 15:30 if you're a serious runner (48 weeks training per year) but you also have to realize that at some point guys are gonna specialize, because i'm "average" at best with a 15:32 5k pr but haven't run a legit one in maybe 2 years while getting into sub 71 minute shape for a half marathon

Serious runners don't take 4 weeks off per year.

logic wrote:

take the average runner from every team in the nation, D1 D2 and D3, and average their times together and you will have the average time.

Sorry buddy, not how it works...

15:10 is average for women

13:15 is average for men