How fast could the average American run 400m on the track?

^ that actually is about right.

wineturtle wrote: Random 1000 -time them-eliminate the top and bottom 10% lets call them the outliers and take the median of that.

Do you realise that the median is the same with or without discarding the top and bottom 10%? Outlier rejection is useful when computing an average.

If the typical lean (middle BMI range = 21,75) individual can do 75, the overweight (30% of pop. BMI=27,5) and the obese (20% of pop. typical BMI = 32) would do ~95 and ~110. That's fairly optimistic since above ~ 80/90 s, it's very difficult to maintain speed (see speed drop from 45 s to 1:40 of effort at elite level). So the median is likely more than 100.

infinity wrote:

Jaz wrote:

Bkt of a ridiculous answer really, I think the fact we are ignoring DNFs is pretty obvious. Most people would actually finish, we are talking about the median times of those who finish.

95-115 secs.

OP asked about the average, not the median.

Also, I don't think that discarding/ignoring DNFs offhand really makes sense. If we want to know how good the average person is at running 400m, the fact that some people are so bad at it that they can't finish would seem to be relevant information. You can't simply drop the worst X% of results and expect to get a good estimate from the experiment.

I think that DNFs should remain in the data listed at the extreme slow end, and then a median rather than an average should be taken.

1:30

I'm pretty sure that the average American male aged 20-29 can't even break 100 seconds. For that demographic, the average time might be 2 minutes.

I think it’s less dependent on body weight and more on physical activity level. Most 20 something males who do some kind of hard lifting, crossfit or running should be in the 60s or below. My PR was 56 in high school and at 28 years old I went to the track to see what I could do and tied it at 56 at 195 pounds. But 50% of the population would be about 1:45-2:30. My guess is the average is 1:30-1:40. But if everyone was working out and training for it you’d probably have a 62-65 second average

I haven't run seriously in over 6 years.

In HS I was a 4:25 miler, and 15:50 5k guy and ran a 54.5 qtr on a relay.

I workout 6 days a week now, mostly powerlifting, Yoga, and tons of basketball, with some sprinting work (100m or less) from time to time.

I'm 5'9" 190, most people say I am "jacked."

Went to the track a couple days ago to see what I could run a qtr in... 68.5 on cinder in trainers.

Based on that time, as I am still in extremely good shape but not running shape (As it is very specific), I would guess the average American (Who would be quite large) would struggle to run under 2 mins for a 400.

Relatively fit American dudes I can see in the 75-95 sec range. But that is not average.

2 minutes plus.

Aa a lifelong runner, I could run 73 when I was 50.

Now at 62, i struggle to break 80. But I can still crank a sub 35 for 8k.

My hs pe classes were full of kids who couldn't run a 10 minute mile. By the end of the year, I had all of them under 8:30. The xc team helped by pacing the pack...nobody was allowed to pass Caleb, and Luke brought up the rear, screaming to keep the slugs in front of him.

With a little 400 pace work, most people could avoid the 3 minute death march.

But 70? No way.

FlyingFast wrote:

I'm pretty sure that the average American male aged 20-29 can't even break 100 seconds. For that demographic, the average time might be 2 minutes.

+1

There is no way they are running 80 seconds. I'd say 2 minutes. Half of my running club that trains consistently (and are hobby joggers) but run marathons cant break 90-100seconds on 400s.

I’m 46, 6’, 160 fit male and I’ve been running for fitness reasons for about 2 years now. I try to run at least a 5K everyday. I would say I run between 7.5 - 8mph over the 5K distance. Today after working out at the gym and running on the treadmill, I took my son to the track for his HJ practice. For the heck of it, I did a 400m just to see how fast I can run. Don’t know if I reached 100% but was pretty gassed at the end and I only ran a 1:25. I’d be extremely surprised the average American male can run faster than that.

consider the average american is obese I'm guessing a long time

ellensmif wrote:

consider the average american is obese I'm guessing a long time

Heeeeeyyyyyy there.

I guessed at some numbers and came to an average of 96.5

# People Time

1 50

4 60

100 70

200 80

300 90

200 100

100 120

95 150

100 seconds

210 lbs, 46 years old completely out of shape guy last year. Lost 50 pounds from last April til now (Oct 18, 2018) to get down to 210 lbs.

63 seconds just now.

Last year though when I was seriously out of shape, might as well say then my time would have been in a range between [ridiculous,infinity], but definitely less than sideways 8 ^2 :) Then I wouldn't have been even able to finish the 400 at a less-than-sprinting clip, let alone a fast(er) time.

I still have terrible endurance but good top end speed (4.19 seconds fastest 40 yd time in college but more like 4.55-4.65 now).

55 second goal next summer by staying in shape over a long Minnesota winter (just bough indoor treadmill) and further improving speed endurance. Should at bare minimum break 60 seconds even at 47 yrs old (next summer).

Still with terrible endurance over even a 400m, let alone a 800, or 1 mile. Part of that is probably still due to more than optimal weight to haul around for 400-1600m distances.

I've been running fast hills 800m and 1 mile, even with super bad endurance to improve times and endurance, which incredibly keeps improving.

Last year when I decided to get into shape after I was hospitalized for potential heart failure due to bad diet and inactivity. Now, after pushing myself to run over those damn hills, all my health is in line.

Anyhow, with hard work, those couch potatoes and office fixtures like myself can be surprised over time if they pushed themselves into better shape.

Everybody's different. I would never even try to compete in a longer distance race, but a short distance race is a different story. Adding my stats into the mix still is in line with what has been stated here, by taking the more in shape me versus the out of shape me. Add that to the median and you still get slowpokes in the US (even with the averaged me in the mix).

Anyhoo, great discussion thread.

The average american male is 190lbs and female is like 155lbs, there is no way they could run a 70 sec quarter, it would be closer to 90-100 because sure while there are a lot of people who can run below 90 seconds and even down to 50's there is quite a few, there's a hell of a lot more overweight, out of shape, old, some sort of smoking problem, etc. people who cant even run a lap nonstop.

Funny, I was reading this thread yesterday and now you've bumped it.

Good job if you are indeed down to 63 seconds 1 year off the couch at age 46.

You obviously have great genetics though. The average person isn't getting close to sub 60 after 1 year, especially in middle-age.

I am a similar age and starting position and would like to get to sub 60 next year, although it might be unrealistic, especially as I'm trying to do all distances, including run a sub 20 5K.