What's a good 8k time for an average college runner? Assume a flat but fair (4.97 mile) course
If you're slower than 24:54 you're pathetic (as that won hobby jogger nationals this year). Honestly, I'd say slower than 24:18 as that course is incredibly long, I believe 5.09 miles so that'd the 4.97 mile split. If you can't beat the fastest hobby jogger in the country you shouldn't be on a NCAA team
they have the curve roughly right for D1 runners, but D1 runners are usually above average. at D3 top teams will average around 25, some others at nationals into the 26s. average team at a regional maybe 27-something. bottom chunk on down to the low 30s.
i say this because to me the 3 divisions compose "college" for an average, and the Venn overlaps, and including D3 pushes "average college runner" down to more like 26. D1 then tends to absorb more of the above average as either recruited athletes or walk ons.
i say this because that Venn overlap nonetheless poses a big fish small pond/small fish big pond choice.
i also say this because some of this curve misleads as some of the walkons at D1 will be on a 20-30 man team and barely see a meet their whole time there.
I ran for a Top 15 D1 NCAA program with over 40 guys on the squad. Our coach (legendary) always said "if you can run in the 25's by your sophomore year, you can be great." and that's what I'm sharing with today.. 25's are really great at D1. Because you can progress to 24's and anyone in the 24's has a chance to be All-American as the get into the 23's. But on most teams we raced there are only 1-2 23'min guys.
Is this a joke? There are 100 teams who did that. Here is a random team who had 5 guys at 24:24 or faster and only finished 7th in a weak region. Drake.
Your coach was wrong. The 10th team at nationals had 5 guys go sub 24. No guys who run 25 as sophomores end up runningb 23 during college. None. All-Americans ran 24:00 as freshmen, not 25:30.
to reconcile the two camps here, there's "capable of" and there's "on the day." team might have several 24-PR kids who on some snowy hilly regionals course run an average more like 25.
I would say 26:21 is faster than average, but that doesn't mean it is terribly fast. While it isn't a terribly fast time, I wouldn't call it slow either.
Would it reasonably correspond to a 3:07 'thon?
No, a 3:07 marathon is not in the same ballpark; it’s not in the same city, or state.
It just goes to show that all the people upvoting your post in agreement, thinking it was, haven’t a clue.