Video proof: Pro soccer players struggle to run 5 minute miles

I stopped at AFC Bournemouth.

They ran on grass with soccer spikes that's got to be worth at least like 15 seconds maybe more compared to a top quality track with top quality running gear

It's the start of the season and obviously they're not in peak conditioning

Also they're doing this at the start of a full day of soccer training and not as a race where they're trying to run as fast as they can and then they're done for the day

If a lot of these guys spent a full year of training to just run the fastest mile they could they could easily run sub 430 and probably sub 420

With a few years of training some of these guys would probably be pushing low 4 minutes... Maybe not these specific guys as I have no idea of their overall ability but I'm just saying some of the top soccer players if they focused on running they could definitely come close to 4 minute miles

It's the same for basketball or football or any other professional sport they don't train for this distance and they're not in peak-shaped to run a fast mile but they obviously have potential

I've seen basketball guys break 440 off just basketball training and not even really focused on going all out

Also the guy who finished first ran like a 458 and he didn't look that winded and again if you take into account the circumstances I think that guy could probably run 440 on the track right now

And finally you have to look at the context cuz again they're doing this at the start of a day of soccer training and they're not focused on getting the best performance and they're doing it wearing soccer spikes on grass

I mean looks like they were running on grass on tight turns. But not terrible for guys that probably run less than 10 miles per week. Soccer games average out to a brisk walking pace (15 minute miles) for 90 minutes, which consist mostly of repeated sprints and sometimes standing still (PKs, etc).

5-5:30 sounds about right for elite level players in ball sports that aren't American football.

Bournemouth are going back down at the end of the season, so to call them a “Prem” team is generous.

Their main job is to dribble and kick a ball in the net, or prevent the other team from doing so. Bursts of speed are more useful than running a 5:30 mile.

Agreed! Some of these guys are more sprinters, some would be better middle distance, but they're doing this as part of a day of soccer training and considering the circumstances this isn't a bad showing! I would agree that on a track and with a little bit of training these guys would be running 30 seconds faster or maybe even more!

Put them on a track with a pair of running spikes and a few weeks of training and these guys will beat 99% of the posters on the boards

Soccer players tend to run their best at 400m to 800m off of just soccer training.

My highschool had a regular top 4 in state soccer team and the varsity boys would come out to XC and run 17:30-18:00, but could all drop sub 2:10 800s in trainers during time trials.

5:00-5:30 isn’t super impressive if you’re training like a miler, but I think it’s really solid for anyone who isn’t.

And for what it’s worth, whenever I had to run 1.5 miles for PE on a soccer field with 90 degree turns like that, I had a very hard time even hitting 5k pace.

Full agree, though it looked like a XC course - not a UK XC but a US would be comparable

So we're making fun of professional athletes who with a little bit of work could be breaking 4:30 in the mile!!! This has to be the dumbest thing ever I mean these are non-runners who with just a little bit of training could be running some pretty fast times

No intention of making fun of the cherries just thought it was interesting that they were so gassed after. As a former bad soccer player myself, I always found the mile and 800 were my best events after soccer and assumed the pros would be naturally faster.

Yep. that's right. Almost nobody breaks a 5 minute mile without having either a track background, or at least doing some track-type training. And, on average, soccer players are built for 400 or maybe 800 meters, not longer distances.

That's actually not bad at all. They are running on grass and they are not giving their 100% as more training follows afterwards.
I'd be interested to see if basketball and NFL teams are better at running, i doubt they are.

Ha ha! First ran a 5 min. mile as a 15-year old on half-a** training in cheap shoes on an asphalt track with potholes. PS: during training runs we’d sneak over to our friends to eat donuts. And watch tv.

Then you must REALLY suck. They'd whip you, but not me.

I prefer to make fun of soccer players falling down and writhing around grabbing their knee when someone lightly brushes against them (or doesn't even touch them) during a match. I don't really care how fast they can run a 1600. They give me plenty of other material to ridicule them.

They don’t struggle at stealing yo girl though.

^^ This . Op is taking entirely the wrong conclusion from this. Probably half that team have the potential to threaten sub 4 minutes with several years of serious training.

Think about that.

Bournemouth are one of the lesser teams in the Premier league. But just suppose that was an average indication of 1500m ability/potential of top flight footballers. 5 or 6 with close to sub 4 potential. There are 20 (I think) teams in the Premier league, so that would be over 100 Premiership footballers with that potential. It would be the same with the other European leagues, so that's at least 500 top league footballers in Europe who could likely have been world class milers. That's not including footballers from the lower leagues.

And of course, 800m is probably a more natural event for professional footballers.

Have you been fast-forwarding over the track-writhing during these world champs?