"Everyone in my unit used to run 7 miles at 6 minute pace"

The issue is that your classifications are pretty stupid. The high school boys 5k record is around 14 right? So, according to that classification, a pretty good time for a high school boy is 15 or faster. I would be surprised if the population of 15 or better accounts for more than 2% of all train male high school xc athletes. You're entitled to your own classifications, but I think most would agree it's pretty dumb to say that only the top 2% of a population is at least "pretty good" at some thing.

my bro's in the air force. he was near the top of his basic training group in the 1.5 mile run and ran something like 9:00. The people in the military who make up times don't know the difference and don't think you won't either. They're just puffing themselves up b/c they're insecure about their masculinity.

I knew a short, fat marine who swore he ran the 5K when in service (or 3 miles) in 13 or 14 minutes and that "everyone" did - like it wasn't a big deal. Obviously he was confused about the time or the distance.

It's obviously a bit insulting if you're a hard-training runner, but there's not much to be done about it. You can't argue with a fool!

derf wrote:

The issue is that your classifications are pretty stupid. The high school boys 5k record is around 14 right? So, according to that classification, a pretty good time for a high school boy is 15 or faster. I would be surprised if the population of 15 or better accounts for more than 2% of all train male high school xc athletes. You're entitled to your own classifications, but I think most would agree it's pretty dumb to say that only the top 2% of a population is at least "pretty good" at some thing.

I understand your value system. It's based on relatives, while mine is based on absolutes. Both are fine, but I think mine is more reliable.

For example, in your value system, you would think that anyone in the top 10 times of that year would be great. Right?

But what if it was a really down year and 1st was around 14 minutes, but 10th was 17 or 18 minutes? Is that 10th nationally-ranked guy really great? Of course not. It's just a weak year.

My value system accounts for situations like that.

What you're saying is similar to saying that the tallest person is 8 ft so I'm going to define anything over 7 ft as pretty tall. Just like since veryvfewbpeople are over 7 ft, very few xc boys can break 15. Thats why no one agrees with you.

No, that's not how I would rank heights.

Do you have any classification besides "pretty good"? I've only got two levels above pretty good so I feel they are appropriately reserved for extreme performances.

How many classifications do you have above "pretty good" and what times would fit into them?

There were only 140 times under 18 for girls on milesplts database, so according to you, only 140 atheletes in the nation or less then three per state are good, fewer than that are even pretty good. Doesn't make much sense.

Also, please answer my question:

In a down year, if the 1st ranked boy ran 14min and the 10th ranked boy ran 18 minutes, would you still call the 10th place boy time great just because he's so highly ranked?

Proctors Brother wrote:

There were only 140 times under 18 for girls on milesplts database, so according to you, only 140 atheletes in the nation or less then three per state are good, fewer than that are even pretty good. Doesn't make much sense.

It does make sense if you read what I wrote. If the 100th girl only ran a 20:00 5k, would you still call her pretty good?

a wooooo wrote:

I'm not talking about the 18:30 girl. I'm talking about the 16:00 time. For 16:00 pace, 2:30 is about half a mile..

Doesn't matter. If a 18:30 runner is a half a mile behind someone, then they are 3:00 back.

Justin91 wrote:

a wooooo wrote:

I'm not talking about the 18:30 girl. I'm talking about the 16:00 time. For 16:00 pace, 2:30 is about half a mile..

Doesn't matter. If a 18:30 runner is a half a mile behind someone, then they are 3:00 back.

What do you get from trolling like this?

I work on an Army base and no, units do not run 6 min miles, not even close. One time I challenged a company of Marines (120 or so) to a 3 mile- gave them all a 2 min head start. I ran 17 flat and beat all but 3. I was over 50.

wddxx wrote:

Also, please answer my question:

In a down year, if the 1st ranked boy ran 14min and the 10th ranked boy ran 18 minutes, would you still call the 10th place boy time great just because he's so highly ranked?

Everything is relative, your value system included. If you were a "pretty good" runner last year, but this year a bunch of newly arrived Kenyans sweep the 20 first places, you don't suddenly cease to be "pretty good".

Nevertheless I tend to agree with you. A runner with average genetics will generally be considered "pretty good" after 5 years of consistent personal training. An averagely talented piano player will after 5 years of practice still be considered a novice. I think we overvalue average runners simply because we're able to judge how much talent or training it demands.

wddxx wrote:

Justin91 wrote:

Doesn't matter. If a 18:30 runner is a half a mile behind someone, then they are 3:00 back.

What do you get from trolling like this?

WTF? This guy isn't trolling. If someone who runs 6 minute/mile pace for a race, any distance, that means to catch up to someone 1/2 a mile in front of them, they would need to run 6 min/mile pace for 3 min.

Follow my math here:

1/2 x 6 = 3 min to run 1/2 a mile. If a girl is done at 16:00, an 18:30 girl would be 2:30 behind which is ~.42 mi. .42 mi is NOT about .5 a mile when in the context of 2:30-3 min. .5 mi is ~129 meters more, which would take about 24-30 seconds to run.

What you originally said, an 18:30 girl is 1/2 a mile behind a top high school runner means that she is 3 min behind. This is because it would take her 3 min to run the 1/2 to the finish line where this girl is. 18:30-3 min = 15:30 which is when that elite girl would've finished.

In other words, go back and take algebra.

wddxx wrote:

Also, please answer my question:

In a down year, if the 1st ranked boy ran 14min and the 10th ranked boy ran 18 minutes, would you still call the 10th place boy time great just because he's so highly ranked?

Are you mild spectrum autistic? (Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that. Just asking for clarification purposes.)

Do you have any reason to believe that this year is a "down" one and not a perfectly representative one for high school girls' running? If not, then why would you introduce such an absurd hypothetical? It is inconceivable, absent some kind of horrible pandemic, that, in any given year, there would be a 4 min spread between the best and the 10th best boy (or girl) nationally. People are unanimously agreeing that 18:30 is "pretty good", or even very good, because it is assumed that there is nothing particularly unusual about this year; that it is pretty representative of the average state of high school girls' running year-to-year.

*I asked about the autism thing because your attachment to your idiosyncratic performance scale, and your belief that it can be used as some kind of common currency, has a touch of Aspergers about it. If you don't have Aspergers, then you are a garden variety f*cking moron. And, come to think of it, you probably don't, because your understanding of simple mathematics isn't good enough.

wddxx wrote:

Justin91 wrote:

Doesn't matter. If a 18:30 runner is a half a mile behind someone, then they are 3:00 back.

What do you get from trolling like this?

In an 18:30 runner is a half mile behind someone, how long do you think it will take them to close the gap? This is not advanced mathematics.

Nonsense. I was in the IDF paratroops as well as their version of Navy Seals. We ra a lot and some runs were faster, but after I became a runner, I realized that we actually ran quite slow. So, he's blowing smoke.

This s**t always happen. Once my coworker was telling me how he used to do 400m intervals at 40 seconds. Just do the math. That's faster than the WR and he wasn't even an elite.

People like saying stuff!

18 min for a hs girl is pretty average. know what else is average? Ron Jeremy\\\\\\\'s Schlong.