For the record: Lagat referred to the race as a "5k"

Most American runners call it the 5 or the 5,000.

Proof that Lagat is still Kenyan.

How many runners do you know that when asked "what are you running today" answer: "I'm running the ten thousand meter race?" Zero, they answer "the ten."

u r close wrote:

Actually K is for kilocalorie. Km is for kilometer.

Great point. I'm going to start calling it the 5km, pronounced 'Five-kim.'

X-Runner wrote:

K is for kilometer.

It implies a greater margin of error to measure in kilometers vs meters hence 5K is not as accurate a 5,000 meters. 500,000 centimeters would be even more exact.

Road races, even certified ones, aren't the same exact distance. There are always different tangents and curves involved.

But 5,000 m on the track is always the same.

Shame on Bernie.

Good logical answer. But, in kilometer, the kilo still stands for one thousand. Kilometer = 1,000 meters. 5,000 meters is the same as 5 kilometers. Shorthand for 5 kilometers is 5k (in T&F anyway).

I thought using the metric system was supposed to alleviate these kind of ambiguities in measurements.

I just saw a video today where Ritz says 5k. Oh noez.

X-Runner wrote:

K is for kilometer.

It implies a greater margin of error to measure in kilometers vs meters hence 5K is not as accurate a 5,000 meters. 500,000 centimeters would be even more exact.

Road races, even certified ones, aren't the same exact distance. There are always different tangents and curves involved.

But 5,000 m on the track is always the same.

Shame on Bernie.

I'm pretty sure 5km is exactly the same thing as 500,000cm. So, no, not more exact.

this thread is the epitome of everything that i hate about letsrun

K is the symbol used to denote the absolute temperature scale Kelvin.

()o() wrote:

5k on road 5000 on track-

Still wrong.

Keep trying though. Maybe if you say it enough times you can make it true through sheer force of will.

ra ra ra rawr wrote:

u r close wrote:

Actually K is for kilocalorie. Km is for kilometer.

No, kcal is for kilocalorie. K is for kilo-. So, 5k basically means 5000. Why is this an argument? Besides, who f**king cares if "it implies that it is not exact." We all know the difference between a road race and a track race, so what's all the fuss about?

Fail 'k' is for kilo. It's a small 'k'.

'K' is for Kelvin as was previously mentioned.

suburbanxcore wrote:

I just saw a video today where Ritz says 5k. Oh noez.

He is more of an authority than Lagat.

This is one of the dumbest threads I have seen in a long time. Essentially the argument is over the something that is the same thing.

X-Runner wrote:

K is for kilometer.

It implies a greater margin of error to measure in kilometers vs meters hence 5K is not as accurate a 5,000 meters. 500,000 centimeters would be even more exact.

Road races, even certified ones, aren't the same exact distance. There are always different tangents and curves involved.

But 5,000 m on the track is always the same.

Shame on Bernie.

Re-learn your significant digits. 5,000.m might be more exact, or 5000.00m even more exact, but really, bernard might as well say 5km [6]. "4 k open-brackets 6 close-brackets"

Have you ever heard of fractions?

sig digs wrote:Re-learn your significant digits. 5,000.m might be more exact, or 5000.00m even more exact, but really, bernard might as well say 5km [6]. "4 k open-brackets 6 close-brackets"

pwnd. 5k and 5,000m are precisely the same thing, because k=1,000m, so 5k=5(1,000m)=5,000m. no difference in accuracy between them.

ra ra ra rawr wrote:

I had never heard of this, but that is one of the most moronic things I've ever heard.

Have you heard of it, or not?

Inane \In*ane"\, a. [L. inanis.]

Without contents; empty; void of sense or intelligence;

purposeless; pointless; characterless; useless.

You all heard it wrong. What he said was was..."I felt good running the 5, mmmkay?"

FightinPhils wrote:

pwnd. 5k and 5,000m are precisely the same thing, because k=1,000m, so 5k=5(1,000m)=5,000m. no difference in accuracy between them.

k = 1000

km = 1000 m

5k = 5000

5km = 5000 m