the average person is asian.
the average person is asian.
Let's think about this some. Why not expect the average/normal person to run a 13 min 5k?? And let's limit it to persons with a bmi of say 18 to 24. Give them good training from say 14 to 27 yo. Forget about restricting it to those who have sub 50 400 speed cause now you are selecting for exceptional running ability. I still say no way for 15:30!
15:30 is real fast! It requires exceptional running ability. It ain't world class but you don't need to be at the WC level to be exceptional or gifted.
Less than than 2% of runners get to 15:30.
High School Joe wrote:
Can an average person be trained to run a 15:30 5k?
No. NFW.
Are we talking about road, cross, or track 5ks? Running 1530 is a lot easier on a track I'd say.
15:30 is pretty quick.
Letsrunners just don't get the fact that some people are not built to run and while will improve with training, will NEVER sniff 17:30, much less 15:30.
Lenny Leonard wrote:
Average person, no.
But I'd say any male over 18 could, provided they could:
A. Run 5K without stopping
B. Have a BMI of around 23 or less
C. Run 400m in around 60 seconds in about 2-3 years of training
It may take 4+ years, but definitely doable.
lol moron.
High School Joe wrote:
Can an average person be trained to run a 15:30 5k?
No.
It depends on your assertions of the meaning of Average.
What was the LetsRun average 5k time that was calculated out last year?(assuming nobody lied about it?)
You become far from average when you supplement and stack your training in such a way that you're able to dip below 18 and then again when you dip below 16.
It would be a more feasible question to answer if it was "could the average runner run 15:30"
Or the average male runner for that matter
The problem with breaking 16 is it requires sub 5 minute pace and unfortunately very few people can run sub 5 much less do it for 3 miles and 580 feet.
DontFeedTheTroll wrote:
Can the average person ask this question for the 100th time?
Back-up question: Who sits around and thinks about these things to the point where they are compelled to post about it on internet message boards?
25:30 maybe...
Yes. I have a friend who was a big footballer in high school and ran only his last two years of prep. In college he has recently gone 15:35 in the 5K. It took literally 90-100 miles a week to do it, but he's done it. 60 miles a week got him a sub 10 2-mile and it took 30 more miles to run at 5 minute pace for another 1.1 Give anybody that's in their peak fitness (20-25) I believe the average person could.
High School Joe wrote:
Can an average person be trained to run a 15:30 5k?
Even when changing this to "average 20-25 yrs old healthy male", the answer has got to be no. If the average person could be trained to run 15:30 5K, that means the average person could run well under 5 minutes at 1 mile.
You assume anyone can sustain 90-100 mpw? And even if so, it does not follow that they could put together 3 mi at sub 5 min pace!
that's a clown question bro...
i'd say somewhere between 90 and 95% of America's male population is born with an "ultimate" 5k floor that is above 15:30...
meaning, of course, that between 90 and 95% of American males have no shot at running 15:30 based on their genetics at birth...
this hubris is common among decent runners (distance runners anyway)...they like to claim their times are the result of only hard work and guts, but in reality, they had a "head start" from the second they were born...
15:30 would win a state cross country meet most of the time.
Considering most seniors have spent 3 or 4 years training, and the best of them is usually slower than 15:30, I doubt the average person can be trained to that time.
I went over my state meet lists recently to see how various people did after I graduated. Turned out the ones who were sub-17 as freshmen mostly got slower as they got older.
High School Joe wrote:
Can an average person be trained to run a 15:30 5k?
Depends on what exactly you mean by the average person.
I assume you mean men rather than people generally - 15:30 is pretty swift for a woman. And I assume you mean people in their athletic prime - say 17-35 years old. Also being really tall doesn't seem to work for running fast times over distance. So lets restrict it to people under, say, 6 foot.
The first thing is weight - many Americans are just way to heavy to run with any kind of speed. Second is they'd need to quit smoking. If they can be convinced to get down to racing weight, stop smoking, and then dedicate themselves to training properly for a few years then I think that very many 17-35 year old, sub 6' males could do it.
The real question is whether they'd have the will power and motivation to loose the weight, quit smoking and stick to the training.
this.
AVERAGE persons finish 5k's in AVERAGE times. That's one of many ways they are AVERAGE.
And if you take a look at any 5k, except a college or professional race, you will easily ascertain that 15:30 is not an AVERAGE time. The average person would have difficulty breaking 20.
I'm talking all people, all ages, both sexes, fat and skinny, short and tall, smart and dumb, rich and poor, healthy and ill, etc.
Could a rare individual plucked from the AVERAGE crowd, trained and coached and motivated, run this time? Maybe. But it would be very very uncommon.
Yes, the average person can also finish a PhD in Biochemistry in two years, finish college in 3 years, bench press 500 pounds, and play in the NBA even though the average man is 5'9.5" in the US. Height and "talent" don't matter, it is all about hard work and desire.Heck, I think that I could beat Michael Phelp's at swimming because there is nothing about his body more suited for swimming than mine.
High School Joe wrote:
Can an average person be trained to run a 15:30 5k?
No way!
Follow up question: Could Lance Armstrong run a 15:30 5K?