Why are there so many fast people on letsrun?

Most of them lie.

selection bias

-Lying/exaggerated claims. It's an anonymous board, so, duh.

-Posting bias. The faster people are more likely to brag about their times, while the slower people tend to keep their times to themselves.

That said, there actually are a lot of fast people here. I think that's because this forum attracts people who take running seriously, and isn't very welcoming to the uninformed. Check out the Runner's World forums, for example - you will notice the difference immediately.

Oh, and in the spirit of letsrun I have to say - 20:22 is a pretty good time, assuming you are a girl.

OP, welcome to the internet...where anyone can be anything they want.

Because we're all legends in our own minds

---Did you know that 16:15 is practically the same as 14:45!

And everyone not running 1:55 is a hobby jogger!

It's where your dreams become reality

There are A LOT of people that are either currently on Division 1 track/xc teams or were on Division 1 track/xc teams. Most of these people have a fair amount of interest in the sport of competitive running. Letsrun is the best if not the only site on the internet exclusively dedicated to competitive running new, gossip, etc. Therefore, its reasonable to expect there to be a lot of current or former Division 1 runners on letsrun.

Basically, any popular website that caters to hardcore fans of any particular sport is going to have a highly disproportionate number of people who achieved a high level in that sport.

mileage_man wrote:

-Lying/exaggerated claims. It's an anonymous board, so, duh.

-Posting bias. The faster people are more likely to brag about their times, while the slower people tend to keep their times to themselves.

That said, there actually are a lot of fast people here. I think that's because this forum attracts people who take running seriously, and isn't very welcoming to the uninformed. Check out the Runner's World forums, for example - you will notice the difference immediately.

Oh, and in the spirit of letsrun I have to say - 20:22 is a pretty good time, assuming you are a girl.

I'm a guy, but remember, it was a 6k, and I'm in highschool. I'm still pretty slow tho lol

ummmmm wrote:

Most of them lie.

This ^

i chose D2 wrote:

selection bias

And this ^

Two factors (besides just a TON of dishonesty) could be significant contributors.

1) People who actually were pretty fast (but not Olympic level) are much more likely to follow the sport and post here - reliving their dreams even if they cannot make them come true.

2) Among such a population those who were faster than others would be much more likely to post their times on threads that ask about PRs and such as compared to those who were slower.

Plus LYING.

Daniel Roy wrote:

Seriously, it seems like everyone here has won states or is on the brink of being on either a D1 college or almost on Team USA. And I thought my 20:22 6k was decent...

20:22? decent? That's mid pack in an 8th grade school race.

Daniel Roy wrote:

Seriously, it seems like everyone here has won states or is on the brink of being on either a D1 college or almost on Team USA. And I thought my 20:22 6k was decent...

I didn't that impression at all. To me most people never said they were fast, they all thought I was slow even though I was an Olympian from another country, and my time would have made many countries team.

My impression, is once you say your fast, they will challenge you and then deny it.

I have never had one person say they were a D1 or almost on Team USA. But I have not been posting here that long.

Now having said that it is pretty easy to lie because we dont give our name. I posted a participation coin and 1 guy made fun of it.

Mostly by staying plugged

mileage_man wrote:

-Posting bias. The faster people are more likely to brag about their times, while the slower people tend to keep their times to themselves.

.

This is far from true.

Two Minute Thousand wrote:

mileage_man wrote:

-Posting bias. The faster people are more likely to brag about their times, while the slower people tend to keep their times to themselves.

.

This is far from true.

Except that it is true. Minor detail, I know.

Thousands of people from around the world post here. College, club, and pro runners, many humble who never mention their times and many who embellish.

Hell, I never ran faster than 17:30 in a 5k and couldn't run one under 28 now. There was a thread a year or 2 ago where people were asked to post their P Bs. Lots of honest average responses.

Thousands posters means lot of fast, medium and slow paced runners post here.

And some very fast ones.

Not Ryan Hall wrote:

Daniel Roy wrote:

Seriously, it seems like everyone here has won states or is on the brink of being on either a D1 college or almost on Team USA. And I thought my 20:22 6k was decent...

20:22? decent? That's mid pack in an 8th grade school race.

dont play the race card, please!

Aernout wrote:

Not Ryan Hall wrote:

20:22? decent? That's mid pack in an 8th grade school race.

dont play the race card, please!

Wait... 8th graders are able to break 17 easily in the 5k now? Because that 6k is in pace for a 16;58 5k. Damn, eighth graders got fast...