Which is more rare, a sub 5 1600 or a sub 4 marathon?

CopperRunner wrote:

A sub 5:00 mile is equal to about a 3:10 marathon skill wise is it not?

For guys I'd say 4:59 mile, 16:59 5K, 35:59 10K, 2:59 marathon,

I checked the IAAF scoring tables and a 4:59.90 mile is worth 465 points which is equivalent to a 2:57:45 marathon time for men.

For women, a 4:59.90 mile is worth 914 points which is equivalent to a 2:53:25 marathon.

I think we are missing the question. Its a complete hypothetical. Of course sub 5 requires more talent and fewer ppl have run a marathon than a mile.

My understanding from OP is given these two, which has occured less. Just a fun hypothetical with minimal reasoning. Not telling a sub 4 hour marathoner they are equal to a trained sub 5 miler.

The interesting thing, is that I’d reckon 4:5x milers that aren’t running on pure talent are probably putting down more mileage and consistency than a 4:00 marathoner.

As much as letsrun will disagree with this statement, a sub 5:00 mile is pretty advanced. Believe it or not, most high schoolers never sub 5:00. I had a team of 35ish distance kids and we had 5 run sub 5:00. Out of my class of 16 boys, 4 of us broke 5:00 by graduation. We were the definition of an average team. Always 3rd place out of 6 teams at regions, etc.

I’d say most in somewhat good shape males that seriously train for a marathon will break 4:00

Although more people have ran a mile than a marathon, I think more people have ran a 4:00 marathon than a 4:59 mile. I could be wrong though.

Sub 5 in the 1600 is infinitely better than a sub 4 marathon. No comparison. The only thing that makes a 4 hour marathon difficult is the sheer amount of time spent plodding along.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are more sub 4 marathoners every year than there are sub 5 milers in a decade.

A sub-5 mile isn't easy...a sub 4 marathon is.

Look, I am as untalented as they come and I ran a sub-5 mile on about 2 to 3 weeks training when I was a senior in HS. I joined track for fun half way through the season my senior year after gaining 20 lbs post wrestling season. I guess I was in wrestling shape at the time, but really I have never been fast at any distance at any point in my life.

very untalented wrote:

Look, I am as untalented as they come and I ran a sub-5 mile on about 2 to 3 weeks training when I was a senior in HS.

You would have been able to run a sub 4 marathon on about 0 days of training at that time, like this guy:

I don't think anyone disputes that a sub 4 marathon is easier than a sub 5 1600/mile. The only question left is whether the low number of people who attempt a marathon would make a sub 4 less common than a sub 5 1600/mile.