The average person is far more athletic than you think and might be able to outrun some of the slower guys on here

this and this wrote:

Not sure what the OPs point is.

Yes there are some average people that can outrun people on these boards. Not everyone on these boards is a fast runner. So what?

I strongly believe that the average (emphasis on average) person in the US could not outrun the average person on that reads the LR boards in a 5k

Using 5k as an example her as LR is primarily focused on distance running.

According to the CDC, over 73% of people in the USA are either overweight or obese (42% of the population is obese). While there may be a few extreme exceptions, being overweight or obese are very detrimental to distance running performance.

There are some very fast people on LR boards, and some slow people, but I believe the average time for a 5k of those who post on this site is under 25 min.

There is no way that the average person in the US could finish a 5k in under 25 min. (or even 30 min)

aeiou wrote:

Lol yeah when I was in eihgt grade we did a mile time trial in gym class. I'd never run more than the length of a football field before in my life and I ran it in 4:50. And the crazy thing is it wasn't even on a track it was a trail course around the middle school campus, so convert that to a track with spikes and it's probably equivalent to a 4:30 mile or so.

And I wasn't even the best in my class there were like five guys who beat me. Just goes to show how unathletic distance runners are. They just take the dregs from all the other sports who are too scrawny to compete. Makes me wonder if I could have gone to state if I did running in high school lmao

Sadly I seem to have lost my running ability I just turned 30 and tried running a time trial mile on a track and ran 8:45 so whatever. Although thats speculation cause I had to drop off with 200 yards left cause of a cramp lol. That was at 8:15 minute so I just added 30 seconds figuring I'd have closed that fast if I didn't cramp up. So maybe i would have closed in like 25 s for a 8:40 finish.

hobby jogger nation wrote:

It's definitely not a common sight, but I've seen hobby joggers compete at college meets. They all share a few common themes - a non-athletic looking body type, inappropriate gear, and an almost total lack of knowledge of the race. I'm usually expecting groans and sighs as they lumber along and hold up the meet, but I've always been pleasantly surprised at their performances. Here are the ones I remember:

Hobby jogger A - is definitely overweight and may even be borderline obese. He looks to his friend (?), holds up a pair of spikes, and has this conversation:

A:"I'm supposed to wear these, right?"

Friend: "I guess you could use those, but you're supposed to get sprint spikes, not distance spikes."

A: "Oh, whatever. So how do you use and adjust those things again?" (points to the blocks)

A looked really awkward getting out of the blocks, but he somehow ran a wind-legal 12.3x that day.

Hobby jogger B - isn't overweight, but he doesn't even attempt to use blocks and appears to be totally clueless. He walks up to one of the competitors and says "Are we supposed to stay in the same lane the entire time?" When he was told "umm... yeah", he then asks "Does anyone want to switch lanes with me?"

That was for the 400. He ended up running a 57 flat.

Hobby jogger C - shows up wearing a T-shirt and pants (!) to the 1500. There are no awkward conversations to be heard this time, but you can tell that he's a newbie. He's in lane 8 when the gun goes off, but he tries to get into lane 1 ASAP and runs wildly uneven splits. I don't remember his exact time, but it was in the low 4:40s.

Hobby jogger D - shows up wearing a T-shirt and Air Jordans to an XC meet. While checking in, he asks where the water stations, food stations, and porta-potties are along the course, and "where you can pick up your awards." I don't know what his time was, but I remember seeing at least 10 other college runners finish behind him.

Believe it or not, none of them got a DFL. So don't pre-judge the folks you see at the local Wal-Mart, many of them are faster than what you'd expect.

kumquat wrote:

hobby jogger nation wrote:

It's definitely not a common sight, but I've seen hobby joggers compete at college meets. They all share a few common themes - a non-athletic looking body type, inappropriate gear, and an almost total lack of knowledge of the race. I'm usually expecting groans and sighs as they lumber along and hold up the meet, but I've always been pleasantly surprised at their performances. Here are the ones I remember:

Hobby jogger A - is definitely overweight and may even be borderline obese. He looks to his friend (?), holds up a pair of spikes, and has this conversation:

A:"I'm supposed to wear these, right?"

Friend: "I guess you could use those, but you're supposed to get sprint spikes, not distance spikes."

A: "Oh, whatever. So how do you use and adjust those things again?" (points to the blocks)

A looked really awkward getting out of the blocks, but he somehow ran a wind-legal 12.3x that day.

Hobby jogger B - isn't overweight, but he doesn't even attempt to use blocks and appears to be totally clueless. He walks up to one of the competitors and says "Are we supposed to stay in the same lane the entire time?" When he was told "umm... yeah", he then asks "Does anyone want to switch lanes with me?"

That was for the 400. He ended up running a 57 flat.

Hobby jogger C - shows up wearing a T-shirt and pants (!) to the 1500. There are no awkward conversations to be heard this time, but you can tell that he's a newbie. He's in lane 8 when the gun goes off, but he tries to get into lane 1 ASAP and runs wildly uneven splits. I don't remember his exact time, but it was in the low 4:40s.

Hobby jogger D - shows up wearing a T-shirt and Air Jordans to an XC meet. While checking in, he asks where the water stations, food stations, and porta-potties are along the course, and "where you can pick up your awards." I don't know what his time was, but I remember seeing at least 10 other college runners finish behind him.

Believe it or not, none of them got a DFL. So don't pre-judge the folks you see at the local Wal-Mart, many of them are faster than what you'd expect.

those times are not so special.

kumquat wrote:

hobby jogger nation wrote:

It's definitely not a common sight, but I've seen hobby joggers compete at college meets. They all share a few common themes - a non-athletic looking body type, inappropriate gear, and an almost total lack of knowledge of the race. I'm usually expecting groans and sighs as they lumber along and hold up the meet, but I've always been pleasantly surprised at their performances. Here are the ones I remember:

Hobby jogger A - is definitely overweight and may even be borderline obese. He looks to his friend (?), holds up a pair of spikes, and has this conversation:

A:"I'm supposed to wear these, right?"

Friend: "I guess you could use those, but you're supposed to get sprint spikes, not distance spikes."

A: "Oh, whatever. So how do you use and adjust those things again?" (points to the blocks)

A looked really awkward getting out of the blocks, but he somehow ran a wind-legal 12.3x that day.

Hobby jogger B - isn't overweight, but he doesn't even attempt to use blocks and appears to be totally clueless. He walks up to one of the competitors and says "Are we supposed to stay in the same lane the entire time?" When he was told "umm... yeah", he then asks "Does anyone want to switch lanes with me?"

That was for the 400. He ended up running a 57 flat.

Hobby jogger C - shows up wearing a T-shirt and pants (!) to the 1500. There are no awkward conversations to be heard this time, but you can tell that he's a newbie. He's in lane 8 when the gun goes off, but he tries to get into lane 1 ASAP and runs wildly uneven splits. I don't remember his exact time, but it was in the low 4:40s.

Hobby jogger D - shows up wearing a T-shirt and Air Jordans to an XC meet. While checking in, he asks where the water stations, food stations, and porta-potties are along the course, and "where you can pick up your awards." I don't know what his time was, but I remember seeing at least 10 other college runners finish behind him.

Believe it or not, none of them got a DFL. So don't pre-judge the folks you see at the local Wal-Mart, many of them are faster than what you'd expect.

None of these are hobby joggers, as none of them jogs as a hobby. They are out of shape unpracticed athletes. Also those times are not so special.