Why do people in the military suck so bad at running?

milkchocolateguppy wrote:

Seriously? I live by a military base and have met numerous runners who not only hate running but flat out struggle to even pass the pt test, one of my friends can't even do 16 minute 2 mile and is an officer.

WTh?

Because running breeds cowardice.

Because most Americans are obese?

Wise One wrote:

Because most Americans are obese?

Even the fat fck obese Americans can kick the $hit out of a pencil neck runner geek.

Because they were not top tier athletes able to get scholarships in any given sport...hence the military being one of their only options. that being said, the military is no different than your average high school..Only a few, if any, will be able to break 5 minutes in the mile out of the entire student body....Most just want to meet the minimum requirements since the objective is not to get a perfect PT score..but to finish all the requirements to get through basic training....

you may have the former region champ who does the 2 mile PT test in under 9:30 but can't hit his targets on the rifle range...

uh

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?board=1&id=7471752&thread=7471367#7471752

How about Chelimo???

You need to be friends with faster runners.

Apple IT is not that easy. It takes many hours to do. They get tired.

One of my favorite runs was an out an back on a converted rail road bed. The runner I was catching up to slowly turned around about where I planned to turn around so I ran with him. I was running 16 miles that day for my longest run to date and I think he was running closer to 12. It was his longest training run ever. So at 6 miles into his run I think he picked up his pace as some competitive runners do when running with someone else. He ran with me at about a 7:45 pace for the next 6 miles. I actually repeatedly told him our pace as he kept picking up the pace. I was not planning on running any faster that day and I could tell he was struggling at that pace while I was comfortable. I would say he was in his mid-20's while I was 49. He said he had just started training weeks earlier for his PT test as he was getting ready to go back into the military. I think he was going to do fine running 2 or 3 miles at a faster pace for his test that was still weeks away. I was impressed that he took his running training so serious, that he was following some training plan, and that he was willing to run as far as 12 miles to prepare for the test when most likely never ran track or cross country in high school and was not hooked on running as a hobby like the hobby joggers like me and others at Letsrun.

Yeah, like Billy Mills, USMC.

Kibet managed a 2:11 debut at Chicago after training solo during a deployment to Kuwait. There are normally a dozen or more sub-50 runners at the Army ten miler so there are some runners posting sick times.

Seems like military runners are no different than the general running population. Most have poor training which leads to poor times. Some are above average. Some are elite.

I've been in the Army just over twelve years. I typically run low 10s for two miles which will blow away all the other runners during fitness tests. Normally a sub 13 is considered impressive to most in the military.

I do agree military runners are not good on average. Many only probably run 10-15 miles per week during fitness training.

On the whole, they are NOT runners: They are mil members who need to run (to pass the test).

Applaud them for keeping up some modicum of phys fitness.

The *real* runners run quite well: we had entire 12 man teams running in formation (with flag) under 12 minutes for the 2 mile competition. We had individual runners doing sub 10 for the 2 miles. This in addition to their day jobs of being, you know, soldiers and like that.

Perhaps it's because a disproportionate number of the military people you actually see running are those who are borderline for their PT test standards and thus need to practice to pass.

When they run in formation, they have to run together. You only go as fast as the slowest runner. If you trained that way in HS, your times would not be good either.

Also, these days for most troops the need to run long distances is pretty small. For every soldier out shooting bad guys there are several in far less physically demanding roles. Troops are not marching 20 miles in a day like in WWII. They are taken in by trucks or airlifted in. They also carry a lot of weight on them. Being strong is far more important for most troops. All that armor weighs a lot.

They suck at everything. that's why they're in the military. If you were a halfway competent human being, why would you take a job killing poor people in third-world countries for crap money?

general incompetence wrote:

They suck at everything. that's why they're in the military. If you were a halfway competent human being, why would you take a job killing poor people in third-world countries for crap money?

Is that you, John Kerry?

They are slow because they are normal folks, not twitchy little dweebs who obsess about every step they run.