At 58, I was injured, and that combined with work and moving states meant I did absolutely nothing for four or five months, and put on about 12lbs.
The first day I started up again I ran a 5k time trial on the track - nuts I know - and ran 19:45.
If a fat out of shape 58-year-old more or less complete de-trained can run 19:45, then 25-year-old generational talent, fit from active farming lifestyle, Bekele runs far, far faster.
My guess is that he'd break 16:00 mins.
He could have been a fat 400 Lb Bekele. 56:00.
If Bekele was a farmer, pretty sure he’d be a GOAT farmer.
I’m pretty sure he would run around 18 minutes flat easy. Then he could race a week after and drop another minute simply based on experience. At the end of a regular high school cross country cycle we would probably see him dip into the 14s. After a few years of serious specific training he’s elite. There’s nothing more annoying than being beaten by pure talent alone, and Bekele would be pulling away from guys who trained for years no problem in a local 5k
people here don't realize how great his talent is compared to their own. sub 15 first try no prob and probably sub 13 within a year or two if he doesn't injury himself or gets demotivated
Sub 17 but it would depend on his age. I read Arturo Barrios (former 10,000 record holder 27:16) ran 17 min 5K in gym class with no training in high school.
probably over 20 minutes
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