Rank these popular running goals in order of difficulty

assuming a 30 year old hobby jogger...everything 800m and under is basically unattainable.

Sub 50 in the 400 and Sub 2 in the 800 ain't happenin'

It would depend on the person obviously. This is the order that would impress me most to least:

50 400m

2:00 800m

Big Drop (why are those first two even compared - just make it a 60sec 400m)

1:20 half

12 100m

5:00 mile

3:00 Marathon

40 10k

20 5k

400 is the hardest.

hardest to easiest

sub 50 400, based on natural talent, and even if you could have done it at 20 you cant now unless you could run way faster at 20

sub 2 800, same thing as above but more trainable

sub 12 100, same thing, but not as hard

sub 120 half, good goal, very realistic but not easy

sub 5, hard at age, but your not that old

sub 40/sub 3 good goals

sub 20 5k should be doable if you put in miles

From easiest to most difficult:

(1) sub 20 5k

(2) sub 40 10k

(3) sub 11:20 half

(4) sub 3 full

(5) sub 5 mile

(6) sub 2 800m

(7) sub 12 100

(8) sub 50 400

- sub 12 100 - Never did it (PR 12.5s)
- sub 50 400 - Never did it (PR 52.1s)
- sub 2 800 - Did it after 5 years of training (Age 19) (PR 1:58)
- sub 5 mile - Did it after 10 months of training (Age 14) (PR 4:14)
- sub 20 5k - Did it after 1 year training (Age 14) (PR 15:06)
- sub 40 10k - Did it after 2 years training (Age 15) (PR 30:48)
- sub 1:20 half - Did it after 4 years training (Age 17) (PR 1:12)
- sub 3 full - Never did it (PR 3:16)

Hardest are the 100 and 400. Next hardest is the marathon. The rest are pretty achievable in under 4 years if you are a healthy adult aged 24-30.

based on WA scoring tables:

#1 50s 400 - 858

#2 2:00 800 - 760

#3 12s 100 - 615

#4 1:20 Half - 502

#5 5:00 mile - 464

#6 3 hr thon - 439

#7 40 min 10K- 294

#8 20 min 5K - 160

As a 51-year-old triathlete/duathlete, I can still run a sub 20 5k, but everything else on the list (most of which I did or came close to as a younger man (didn’t do the 100 or 400 time)) is WAY back in my rear view mirror.

Rank the 5k as easiest and go from there.

For a “hobby jogger,” speed goes quickly. The 100, 400 and 800 aren’t happening, and the mile soon follows.

1 - sub 50 400 - By far the hardest
2a - sub 2 800 -
2b - sub 12 100 -

3 - sub 1:20 half
4 - sub 3 full

5 - sub 5 mile

6 - sub 40 10k

7 - sub 20 5k

unless, this HJ is untapped pure speed talent. So the question is hard to answer. But if the question assumes separate people that are predisposed to perform in each of these events? I guess 5k and 10k are easily near the top for ease. You need far far more unique talent to run sub 50 , sub 5 and esp sub 2min than to run sub 20 5k. You dont need any talent to run sub 20 5k. Just be in shape and run a lot.

My guess is sub 50> sub 2>sub 1:20 >sub 12> sub 5>sub 40> sub 20 based on you saying "average".

yes, let's assume under 30, the 800 and < gets very tough after late 20s-early 30s.

- sub 50 400

- sub 2 800

sub 12 100 (although might be impossible for some sub 2 800).

- sub 1:20 half

- sub 5 mile

- sub 3 full

- sub 40 10k

- sub 20 5k

Yeah the first two should be sub 60 400 and sub 2:15 800 then they would be less out of place, as it stands they aren't even in the same universe as the other times. 5k and up I could hit all of those times in the same training run while never sniffing sub 50 in the 400, and sub 2 would be close if really early in a training block.

Looks right for a 30s male. There might be a certain age (45?) where the 5:00 mile and 1:20 half switch.

People are all overrating the difficulty of a sub 12 100m. Yes, it would be completely impossible for some, but fast twitch athletes (a decent percentage of the population) who are only hobby joggers because thats what white people do when they are 30, would be able to achieve this a lot easier than say a 1:20 half. I was a middle distance runner who found running 12 flat way easier than a 50 flat 400, which i would not have been able to do after college but 12 flat was definitely achievable well through my 20s. As a 800/mile runner I was able to run well under 12 in high school, but could only manage a 51 in the 400 (was in 4:30 mile shape at the time). I've never been able to run a 1:20 half. I'd say across my entire college athletic dept, most males (other than the distance runners) would be able to break 12. Even some of our throwers would come close. Not many would ever be able to run close to 6min pace for 13 miles.

1. sub 50

2. sub 2:00

3. sub 1:20:00

4. sub 5:00

5. sub 3:00:00

6. sub 40:00

I think the WA tables get it right.

In high school, I was a mid-level varsity runner for an okay team. When I first broke 5 in the 1600, I had run low 17:00 for 5k cross country the previous Fall and had run a 37-something in a Road 10k the previous Summer.

My 400 pr was barely sub-60 from an indoor 4x400 relay either the previous indoor season or the next one. (Our high school coach liked to mix the better distance guys into an indoor 4x400 at least once a year.)

I can’t remember what my 800 best was, I was a 1600/3200 guy, but it was nowhere near 2:00.

I never ran a 3:00 Marathon, but my weight-graded PR in my mid-40s was close. My sense is that a 1:20 half is a lot harder.

This is a laughably lazy attempt to compare distances. The 400/800 are many orders of magnitude harder than the rest. The 400 time is good enough to qualify you for the final at worlds in the women’s race. The 5k time is something maybe 5000 high school girls do in the USA alone every year. The half marathon is also literally faster per mile than the 5k pace, despite being > 4x as long. So yes, running 6:06 per mile for a half is way harder than running 6:26 for a 5k, regardless of one’s age.

- sub 50 400 - by far the hardest, this is a sub elite performance
- sub 2 800 - prob very good HS runner turns into above avg. college runner
- sub 5 mile - good in HS, reasonable benchmark for 'competitive' adult, still far above avg.
- sub 1:20 half - very hard but more doable for avg runner than the above with training
- sub 3 full -
- sub 12 100 - easier but need to be born with some speed
- sub 40 10k
- sub 20 5k