Military people and running times

My most enjoyable experiences in running have been when I beat up on Marines. hahaha. It's great when all their buddy's are out there & you hear them all talking their guy up hardcore, stating bogus times. God bless the Marines.

I was in the Army for four years back in the early 1990s.

I definitely heard a lot of BS stories from people on times, and most of the time the course wound up being well short.

But on the other hand, there were quite a few tremendous athletes who had no concept of time. They figured they were running much slower than they really were. I got one guy to run in a 10K with me because he seemed really fast on the PT runs. He was just a weekend runner who had run a little in high school, but the dude took 3rd in the race in 33:50. There were plenty of other guys who had lots of ability also. With a little proper training, they could have been very strong runners.

I'm in the Canadian Air Force. Did CISM 1988 to 2001.

I think the military guys have a way of....exagerating stories.

I remember in the mid to late 80s I was in San Diego and the tri scene was really hot. We'd get these badass SEAL guys showing up at races, and they'd just get hammered...not just by pros but by decent age group men.

Now, in their defense, these guys could probably run 5 miles carrying 100lbs a helluva lot faster than I ever could. It's all about perspective, I guess.

CISM sucks because many of the countries, especially African countries have literally their National Team members representing their Military.

I retired from the Army after 20 years. For 15 of those years I was a competive bodybuilder (light heavyweight class) I would always run my PT Test 2 mile run in the low ten minute range. A couple runners told me about a 5K race at Quantico that was comming up that they were entering so I entered it also. Ran 17:12 with no training, won my age group,place 3rd overall, by the way I am 48yrs old. I since started running a little more and lowered my 5K to 16:46 in two months. From experience I know that there is a lot of fast untapped runners in the military. Oh that 5K was at Quantico in June of this year in case some a-hole wants to check.

It was mentioned above about SEALs running with 100lbs on their backs. That is a different ball game there altogether. Once a year we had to run 3 miles with a full pack and combat gear. That kicked my ass every time. I got more sore from that than any track workout. I always respected the Recon guys who did that regularly. They may not have been the fastest, but they sure were strong.

Correct! Get a haircut, put on this uniform, just run, we'll look after you, and see you at CISM. Can you say Vincent Rousseau? The whole thing was kind of a joke really. Great travel though.

Bad-Ass Sergeant wrote:

It is very normal for members of the United States Armed Forces to give 100%. Not only does the U.S Military have running talent, it has every kind of talent imaginable. Don't question ability of Men and Women who continue to make America the greatest country in the world. Some people take greater pride in serving there Country than winning races. Go Army!

There are two things I find bizarre in this post. First is the implication that the reason that members of the US Armed Forces can run really fast as compared to civilian runners is because military runners give 100%. I guess the rest of us just aren't trying hard enough?

Second, the statement that we can't question the ability of members of the military. I hope no one suggests that people in the military can eat 1000 pancakes in one sitting, or run 5:55 for 5km in trainers, because we will all just have to accept it, no questions allowed.

is there some kind of a cross over from the military to triathlons???

both are notorious for short run portions, and tall tales

I doubt they "exaggerate" more than the people on this board.

You don't seem to mind when it's Jason Rexing!

Really? wrote:

I hope no one suggests that people in the military can eat 1000 pancakes in one sitting, or run 5:55 for 5km in trainers, because we will all just have to accept it, no questions allowed.

I am wearing a soft cast and will not be allowed to train until the end of November. I have a stress fracture in my heel.

I will run a marathon in May.

what state? I run for the Oregon NG

yes

Im Air Force and am by no means a god but my mile and half was in 7:20. (In May) I plan to run the Houston Half Marathon in January with hopes of breaking 1:15.

While I too have heard many of the "there's this guy in my unit who is a stud runner" story over the 22 years I was on active duty, I also came into contact with truly talented runners.

I think I related a story on this board some time ago about a overweight red headed kid that showed up at our morning run one day to ask if he could train with us. (we never turned anyone away) After about a week of stuggling to hang with us even thru 4 miles I overheard him telling one of the younger guys that he had run 9:05 or something like that for 2 miles. I pulled his bulls*** card and told him to stop blowing smoke up this kids rearend.

He didn't back down, he swore he was telling the truth, so I happened to do a search on him and sure enough, he had actually ran that fast. He just messed around in high school and didn't have the grades for any college to pay attention to him (Cameron Copher). Sadly, as hard as he tried, and despite all the work he put in, he never quite got rolling on his training.

One other time one of my training partners, at Fort Hood, (young 1st Lt), came to me telling me a story about some bulls*** story someone in his unit was telling him about a girl that ran a "10 minute 2 mile". We both laughed because we knew that that could be anywhere from a 10:00 to a 10:59, but also knew that there was no way that any female in the Army currently could do that. However I did say, "Sarah Day could do that but she's not stationed here."

Wrong, it was Sara Day who had just recently been assigned to Fort Hood, and she did run under 11:00 for her 2 mile pt test, on the post track.

10,000M Runner,

I am taking leave in Jan to run the 1/2 marathon in Houston as well. Good luck to you!

That's right you f**, My beer mile is faster than your best high school half X 2, so accept that!