If Bekele was a farmer and didn't train a single time in his life, what would his 5k time be?

This thread continues. I have pointed out a 10 year old girl who ran 18 minutes. How about Eli Krahn who ran 4:09 and 8:58 as a freshmen in high school? Those would have been world records in recent history. That is what modern tracks and shoes add to the equation. He didn't have 20 years of training. Thousands of untrained 14 year olds run 18 minutes for 5k. Hundreds run 16 minutes. A few run under 16 minutes. These are kids who have not lived at elevation nor covered more than 20 feet to their video gaming system. I have made several posts about my own 17 minute 5k overweight and untrained. The criteria is that he would be at race weight and a farmer at elevation who many have said requires 10 miles per day of running and walking. Yes, I can run 17 minutes on no miles per week and overweight but I could beat him at race weight and 70 MPW? Most of you should be banned for a year after making some of the posts that have been made.

Totaly agree, let's put the numbers down to make it clear:

Me - 5:20/1500m at 14 years, 21:00/5k untrained as adult vs. 16:30/5k and 4:15/1500m trained

You - 4:55/1600m at 12-13 years, 17:10/5k untrained as adult vs. 14:30/5k and 4:15/1600m trained

Bekele - ??? vs 12:37/5k and 3:32/1500m trained

It is huge egos of people who refuse to admit that somebody else is so much gifted than they are.

I also know :

15 years old : 23 min 5k untrained and 3 years later, 18 yo : 15:14 trained.

But I generally agree. It just depends of the people. For some it takes more hard work, others less hard work etc.

Starno wrote:

I also know :

15 years old : 23 min 5k untrained and 3 years later, 18 yo : 15:14 trained.

Your untrained time would have been better if you were a farmer at altitude.

In Ethiopia and Kenya, admission to school requires at least sub-20’ ability. You get a farmer’s license only if you are sub-15’, so of course even untrained farmers can run sub-15’ there.

If someone drove him down to sea level, he'd break 16 for sure.

All these posters saying that he wouldn't break 25 minutes; jesus christ.

5:00/km pace wouldn't even register as a run for most able-bodied Ethiopians, let alone the most naturally gifted runner on the planet.

Let's also remember that he'd be doing backbreaking manual labour at 3,000m of altitude; chasing animals around and traveling via foot for many hours a day has got to count for some kind of aerobic base in these conditions.

That's me and i've never acomplished anything on a nationnal scale. Even less on an internationnal one.

I suspect bekele with 0 training but some physical activity from farming would run 15'30-16. Sub 15 in a month and 13'30-14' after a year of training.

To run sub 13:30 he would need more than a year for the EPO to build up in his system.

My friend was a very good hs xc runner. Years later in his 20s, on no runs in months, maybe years, he ran a 1730 or so.

No doubt he easily could have run sub 15. After one year of serious training, deeply sub 14.

Talent is a real thing. Case in point - I made a post about a guy who was 3rd at state and 6th at regional xc in only his second year of running. I'd say Bekele would run around 15 minutes with only a month of training.

So would a 15 minute runner have been able to run 17 minutes after only one month of training?

I hope you're not a coach.

A month of training is vastly different than no training. Think guys like Ryun who went from like a 5:30 miler to a 4:10 guy in like 7 months. If he isn't doing running (training, soccer,...) I think people are crazy to think he is breaking 16. But the improvement curve from some training would be crazy.

We do have the stories of adults who started running later in life. Most start off good (think 18 min 5ks) and have crazy improvements over those first 24 months.

I recently ran 16:45 after not running at all for almost 2 years which makes me have a hard time believing Bekele would run anything slower than low 15s in this scenario. I know tons and tons of people that had never run before and ran under 18 in their first go and obviously none of them were as talented as Bekele

He ran 8:09 in a tactical 3000m at the World Youth Champs in 1999, at theage of 17. This was done off bugger all training.

If Grant Fisher was a farmer and didn’t run a single day in his life, what would his 5K be?

23:44 gun time 23:21 chip

Sub 13.

Whoever said 17 mins or slower was an idiot. The one who said probably over 25 mins was a lost cause.

Keywords here are "being a farmer" and "not overweight". He's not your obese Americans who do nothing but downing chips and burgers and being a farmer in an African country means a lot of physical work and being fit. He's gonna run far below 17 mins with someone pushing him or his life depended on it.