douglas burke wrote:
71:25 is not fast at all for someone who can run 14:24 for 5000, even if you discount kara gouchers 66:57 on a slightly downhill course she as still run low-mid 68 minutes on several occasions, her best is 14:55 and she has run many 5000's under perfect conditions, in her wildest dreams she could never run 14:24.
that was one example, there are 534 women who have run under 70:50 (that is all the tilastopja list goes to) only 2 or 3 of those 534 have gone under 14:30
if the kid really went all out, he would probably run 64-66 minutes.
he was probably doing it as a training run.
He ran the 71:25 after his freshman track season 2 years ago.
From the linked story:
"In 2011, at 14, he ran the Utah Valley half in 1:13:20, a 14-and-under course record. In 2012, after his freshman season, he ran the event in his 1:11:25 PR, a 15-to-18 course record."
Granted, he was only ~10 seconds faster in XC last year than he was this year, so he was probably in ~14:35-14:40 shape within a half year of his 71:25... but for a 15 year old, 71:25 at slight altitude (~4.5k feet) probably isn't too bad.