9.77 Kenyan sprinter Ferdinand Omurwa runs 5k - guess his time

SubEliteSprintGuy wrote:

Finally, a thread I can contribute to.

Very short background, I am (was) a 10.09pb, FAT obviously and wind legal. On the world stage I was a total nobody but in a country with limited sprint talent, I was on the podium at 5 nationals and I semi'ed at a Commonwealth Games. Nothing of any real note but I was reasonably quick.

I can't believe the comparisons being made by some on here, especially those claiming to be sprinters themselves. 18 minutes being 'really slow' might be true of those who are 13 min runners, but 10.3 is 'really slow' to a sub 10 runner and I promise you, there's not a single mid or distance runner on the planet that could get within touching distance of that. It's honestly laughable to make that comparison.

After I retired I didn't run at all but I stayed in good shape through various other activities. A number of friends ran Parkruns regularly and I thought it would be fun to join in one day so I gave 5k a crack. With no concept of pacing, I didn't even make it to 1k before having to stop and vomit. It was excruciating. I don't remember what my first 'official' 5k time was but it would have been around the 30 minute mark and included numerous walk breaks. I'll point out I wasn't fat either, at 184cm and 72kg (6 foot, 160 pounds), I was light for a sprinter and I remain about that weight today.

Being totally embarrassed by my initial attempts, I decided to do some training and I gradually built my mileage up over the course of a year to about 35k a week (bit over 20mpw). I ran numerous 5k's in that time and NOT ONCE did I break 22 minutes, my best being 22 flat. And I wasn't taking it easy, after each time I felt like I was going to die. Yep, someone who was 0.03sec off going to the Olympics was getting windburn from 60 year old women and felt like my lungs were going to collapse while doing so. If someone was to post on here that they couldn't break 22 on 20mpw they'd be accused of being obese or a middle aged woman (or both), yet that was my 100% effort pace under 'race' conditions.

I shouldn't need to state the obvious but clearly I do, sprint speed has absolutely no carryover to distance running. A 10.5 runner saying they ran 20min (assuming that is true in the first instance) and implying a 9.77 runner would he able to smoke that is certifiably insane. Even my 10.09 is a universe away from 10.5, and 9.77 is an even bigger step again, trust me when I say that the physiology required to reach such speeds and the training involved, particularly for an athlete who is still very much active over that distance, is totally incompatible with even being able to jog a 5k at any speed, nevermind being able to knock out an 18 min run.

I will bet every last dollar I have that I have that Omurwa did not run 18 minutes. Either it was a guesstimate like someone else suggested, the course was short by a couple of K or he is just flat out lying. I'd go with option A. In fact, if anyone can provide verifiable proof that he did run 18 I'll make a $1000 donation to the charity of your chouce.

Mr. Slowpoke wrote:

It is indeed a really great time for somebody who doesn't train, but I don't find it unbelievable.

Perhaps it's apocryphal, but I believe Justyn Knight claimed he ran sub 16 in Jordans the first time he ever ran the distance. Of course that's someone who is way way way out there on the distribution of natural talent for endurance.

As an aside, way back when I had a teammate who, on the first day of summer XC when we ran a time trial to test our fitness, ran mid 18 as a freshman in truly the first time they ever ran more than a mile (previous experience was gym class...) . He was obviously nowhere near the level of the Kenyan sprinter, but he was also a fast-twitch athlete, running a 47s 400m on the track by the time he was a Senior, and never breaking 18 in the 5k in his one year of practicing with us.

beingniceragain wrote:

As a sprinter this is 100% believable.

I was a very average university level (10.5) guy and right after uni ended I spent 3 months drinking my face off in Europe - came back home 10 lbs fatter - started jogging and hill running to lose weights and ran a 20 flat (had never run a 5k before) 12.5 laps at track.

A couple things here:

1 - 18 mins is actually really slow (I know a lot of guys here don’t run much faster but to an elite this is a super easy jog)

2- you’re discounting / no mention of other factors besides endurance and slow twitch fibers - like the strength of this guys legs and the efficiency of his stride!

3 - Again - 18 mins is VERY slow. As mentioned above this is a 27 second 200m. Even with only slow twitch fibers every elite distance runner could hit this , especially in off season or speed training sessions.

Anyway I have a sprinters perspective on this.

lamplight wrote:

SubEliteSprintGuy wrote:

Finally, a thread I can contribute to.

Very short background, I am (was) a 10.09pb, FAT obviously and wind legal. On the world stage I was a total nobody but in a country with limited sprint talent, I was on the podium at 5 nationals and I semi'ed at a Commonwealth Games. Nothing of any real note but I was reasonably quick.

I can't believe the comparisons being made by some on here, especially those claiming to be sprinters themselves. 18 minutes being 'really slow' might be true of those who are 13 min runners, but 10.3 is 'really slow' to a sub 10 runner and I promise you, there's not a single mid or distance runner on the planet that could get within touching distance of that. It's honestly laughable to make that comparison.

After I retired I didn't run at all but I stayed in good shape through various other activities. A number of friends ran Parkruns regularly and I thought it would be fun to join in one day so I gave 5k a crack. With no concept of pacing, I didn't even make it to 1k before having to stop and vomit. It was excruciating. I don't remember what my first 'official' 5k time was but it would have been around the 30 minute mark and included numerous walk breaks. I'll point out I wasn't fat either, at 184cm and 72kg (6 foot, 160 pounds), I was light for a sprinter and I remain about that weight today.

Being totally embarrassed by my initial attempts, I decided to do some training and I gradually built my mileage up over the course of a year to about 35k a week (bit over 20mpw). I ran numerous 5k's in that time and NOT ONCE did I break 22 minutes, my best being 22 flat. And I wasn't taking it easy, after each time I felt like I was going to die. Yep, someone who was 0.03sec off going to the Olympics was getting windburn from 60 year old women and felt like my lungs were going to collapse while doing so. If someone was to post on here that they couldn't break 22 on 20mpw they'd be accused of being obese or a middle aged woman (or both), yet that was my 100% effort pace under 'race' conditions.

I shouldn't need to state the obvious but clearly I do, sprint speed has absolutely no carryover to distance running. A 10.5 runner saying they ran 20min (assuming that is true in the first instance) and implying a 9.77 runner would he able to smoke that is certifiably insane. Even my 10.09 is a universe away from 10.5, and 9.77 is an even bigger step again, trust me when I say that the physiology required to reach such speeds and the training involved, particularly for an athlete who is still very much active over that distance, is totally incompatible with even being able to jog a 5k at any speed, nevermind being able to knock out an 18 min run.

I will bet every last dollar I have that I have that Omurwa did not run 18 minutes. Either it was a guesstimate like someone else suggested, the course was short by a couple of K or he is just flat out lying. I'd go with option A. In fact, if anyone can provide verifiable proof that he did run 18 I'll make a $1000 donation to the charity of your chouce.

Love this post

Boggled wrote:

Not often I'm surprised at LR, least of all enough to comment on it.

But this is exactly what I had thought it was going to say -maybe 15ish - and that due to the fact it was being treated as noteworthy. I'd certainly have thought that someone of that standard would have a realistic shot at breaking 17 with a good base block normally, and so if this was remarkable, i thought maybe I'd read 15.

Absolutely irrelevant regards the majority breaking 19. How about the majority of those who play competitive sport at a level that would be seen at the Olympics? You're (rojo) talking about a sub-10 sprinter? Would it surprise you if someone like Stewy McSweyn could run a 3:15 marathon with training?

PS top 10% of what? USA male open category distance runners? adults in the northern hemisphere? western nations ? global population? internet users? Absolutely delusional. LR is full of people who are quite fond of running and have time on their hands online, due to sitting at a PC/laptop at work or a good smartphone. That's about it.