How fast is the average athlete that puts in 70+ miles a week?

No idea about averages but when I was younger and running about 70 per week my bests were

2:51 marathon

1:18:30 HM

35:59 10K

16:47 5K

"Average" talent is probably a bit misleading as you need definitely above average talent to be able to run 70 mpw sustainably, but if we took an average of all runners doing 70 mpw with sensible workouts i'd say

16:10

33:10

74:00

2:38:00

If you can’t run 14:00 for 5000 m off 70 mpw, (113 km/week) you should either learn how to train or quit.

My buddy runs 70 mpw consistently for a few years now and he has run a few sub 3 marathons. He was a 19:30 5k in high school.

Bunch of losers wrote:

If you can’t run 14:00 for 5000 m off 70 mpw, (113 km/week) you should either learn how to train or quit.

Unless you're just running for fitness/enjoyment. Not every high mileage person is trying to be competitive.

I run 60-80 for the most part. I've run 1:51, 4:15, and 25:48 XC 8k, no 5000. Definitely better at shorter stuff but I think the mileage helps in the long run. My teammates that run similar mileage have run 14:55, 15:08, 15:21, 15:34, 15:45. But then there are the kids on my team that run 50-70 (one up to 90) and only run 16:15-45. I understand that these don't represent average. But I would imagine that serious runners running 70/week with even relatively good workouts should run around 16:30-17:00, obviously slower on average for folks much older than 40. I used 5000/5k as speedier guys will run much faster for the mile and lighter, aerobic talents will run well better at 10k+.

I have run 70miles per week one time. Usually only 50-60 miles per week. I have run 14:45-15:00 several times.

Some of my teammates run 80+ miles per week but have never gone sun 15:00, while others who only run ~50 miles per week with PBs of 14:3X.

Milage is nothing without quality and recovery.

college pro wrote:

Milage is nothing without quality and recovery.

Yeah 70 miles a week is too much for most people to fully get the recovery they need. If you can't do a long run of at least 15 mile, 70 miles will be too much for you.

Example scenario: If you took one off day you'll have to run 12 miles a day minimum for the remainder of the week. If your long run maxes out at 15 miles, you have 5 days remaining to cover the other 55 miles in the training schedule. You could do doubles but most people would rather get one run in a day.

If you're not averaging 8 minutes per mile at a minimum, you're probably not going to have much time for anything else in your life if you're aiming for 70 mile weeks.

as usual, if you ask an LRC poster what an "average" runner can achieve, they give you anecdotal results that mirror D1/D3 athletes that represent the top 5% of everyone who puts on shoes

if you look at actual statistics which are readily available in droves, the reality is an "average" runner looks more like the healthiest middle aged guy at your office, not a 14 minute 5ker

point? LRC posters by and large have no clue what they are talking about

That mileage can produce world class times in those events and mediocre college runners.

flubber wrote:

as usual, if you ask an LRC poster what an "average" runner can achieve, they give you anecdotal results that mirror D1/D3 athletes that represent the top 5% of everyone who puts on shoes

if you look at actual statistics which are readily available in droves, the reality is an "average" runner looks more like the healthiest middle aged guy at your office, not a 14 minute 5ker

point? LRC posters by and large have no clue what they are talking about

It depends on what pace you think running begins and jogging ends. For example, set a baseline cadance/stride movement and say that that is the running cadence. If you put a best fit line through that, plotting the strides of all runners and joggers on it, you'll find that running starts at about 7:30 mile pace.

Visually, this is just common sense. So let's say the running population starts at those who run a 5k in under 24 minutes. If you look at that group, the average runner should definitely be under 20 minutes for 5k at 70 miles per week.

krispy kremlin._._._._ wrote:

70 mpw for, say, 8-12 consistent months without injury and with 2 workouts per week (one fast, one higher volume) for an averagely-talented runner under 40yo should be:

1:57

4:24

15:59

32:59

Consistent mileage, over time, can turn an average runner into an above average runner with the right mentality.

ROFL. These are top 1% that very few get to ... ever. Nothing average about them, even on 70 mpw.

well yeah wrote:

2:15

5:00

17:40

37:00

2:55

I run close to those times (800-5k) and I know several people in this ballpark too. None of us ran those on anything close to 70 mpw. 30 was a good week for us, and only recently have I been increasing to 50-60mpw. Ran a 16:55 TT off a few weeks of that. I think anyone with average talent is way below these times on 70mpw

1. 4+ years. I ran between 60 to 80 miles per week, averaging around 70 over a 3-4 month training block.

2. Yes - ITB syndrome, hip bursitis

3. Road races ranging from 5k to the marathon, focusing in 10 miles to marathon

4. 5k: 15:29 / 10 miles: 53:27 / half mary: 1:12 / marathon: 2:38

5. Jan - March: Easy miles and hills / March - November (2-3 quality days per week including speed work, tempo run, and long runs or weekend race) / December: off

https://cpstest.org

I've run around 70mpw for much of the past 15 years. I'm now 47.

Never really trained for anything other than marathons and ultras. Shorter races or time trials only came in the middle of marathon training, with no specific sessions or tapering.

My best performances have been

5k - 16:50 (paths and grass, not track)

10k - only done a couple but around 36mins

half - 76.50

full - 2:44

Reckon the only way to truly excel at any distance is to train specifically for it. I know I should be faster across the board, but I enjoy running and entering races, so do about 4-6 marathons a year and a similar number of 50-100 mile ultras, sometimes just at an easy pace rather than a full on 100% effort. Not sure I'd wanted to have sacrificed any of those for a few mins quicker over the shorter races.

I'd say:

800: 2:10

1600: 4:40

5K: 15:30

10K: 32:30

These are all slightly faster than what I achieved off 60MPW, thought I'm probably below average talent.

It is completely unrealistic that Messi or Ronaldo even after years of training should be able to come close 1.47 in the 800m and 28 in the 10K.

It is only some very few elite allround runners as Bernhard Lagat and Alan Webb who have done that. Hicham El Guerrouj have not run faster than 147: 18 and never got a 10k time (but could possible have run 28 at his best). Jakob Ingebrigtsen could probably also run faster than 1.47 in the 800m but has not done it yet (ran 1:49.40 when 16)

If Messi and Ronaldo could go under 2minutes in the 800m and 35 minutes in the 10k they should be happy but I don´t think they can even do that, especially not Messi who is a typical sprinter rarely running longer at a time in soccer plays than 50m.

Many years ago when Bjoern Daehlie and Thomas Ahlsgaard were some of the very best cross courtry skiers in the world they were running a special 800m (only the 2 of them) in The Bislett Games. Bjoern D who was the best allrounder in the world at the time thought that he would win but Thomes A won in a rather close race IN A TIME AROUND 2 MINUTES. So if such athletes who were RUNNING long distances as part of their training could not run faster how should 2 amateurs (as middle and long distance runners) as Messi and Ronaldo do better?

I played soccer for more than 40 years and I know how bad most soccer players (with few exceptions) are doing when it comes to middle and long distance running.

An 18 year-old that has built up to 70 miles per week and trains for a couple months at that level, I'd say the average one would run 2:03, 4:32, 16:00 cross country 5k, 36 minute 10k road race.

These are pretty solid times, most high seniors don't hit these. But most high school seniors don't run 70 miles per week either. Personally I topped out at 70 miles in high school, most were around 60 my senior year. I was 1:55, 4:14, 15:20, I wouldn't have run those times if I ran less than I did, say 40 or 50 miles.

Back when the BBC Superstars show was on, the soccer players often ran close to 2 minutes for the 800m. In 2003, 37 year old Dennis Wise ran 2:08 ( behind the Commonwealth 400m champion). That was when soccer was only starting to become a lot more professional as regards fitness standards, but Denis Wise was always known as a nightclubber and slacker.