I was in a heated debate this morning with one of my teammates and would like to take a quick poll...
What range of times would you consider to be great, good, average, bad, and terrible 1500 times for a college runner (D1, 2, or 3)?
Here's what I said:
Great 3:44 and under
Good 3:45 to 3:50
Average 3:51 to 3:57
Bad 3:58 to 4:04
Terrible 4:05 and up
Elitist prick.
3:51 is not "average"
I would have to say
Great: 3:46
Good: 3:56
Average: 4:06
Bad: 4:16
Real bad: 4:26
Great: sub 3:40
Good: sub 3:55
Average: 4:02-4:05
Weak: 4:06-4:20
Terrible: drops out at 800 due to post nasal drip
I agree that "Great" should be categorized as anything under 3:40.
"Good" would be anything from 3:40-3:55.
"Average" 3:55-4:05
"Bad"/"Terrible" 4:05+
Extreme few: 3:45 and under
Great: 3:50 and under (very few people run this, in comparison to the majority of collegiate runners) don't forget that 3:50 is a 4:08 mile.
Good: 4:00 flat, and under. anything between around 4:10 and 4:20 is pretty damn good.
'Typical' of a decent D1 program: 4:01-4:10 or so. anything sub 4:30 usually indicates a serious runner with at least a modicum of talent.
Below average: 4:15 to 4:25, anything under 4:50, your going to be blown away by the shocking number of 'good' and 'typical' runners, but i mean you still got a shot.
And if a guy is running over the equivalent of a 4:50 mile in college, aka a 4:30 1500, he's usually considered bad.
Those of you saying that 3:55 is 'average' have no idea what you're talking about. You have to understand that programs like Georgetown and Wisconsin that have 10 or 15 guys that can run 3:5x low are few and far between. Think of all the major state schools that may be sprinting powerhouses but their top 1500 guy runs 4:00. that's a 4:18 mile, and that's getting you into the milrose mile in high school. i know it's college, but you have to understand just how many collegiate runners there are, and how elite the elite are.
when he says 410-20 he means for the mile
Rather than say "Great, good, average, ...," why not look at where certain times are liable to place you in meets of various importance?
A runner who can run the following time:
3:37 ... can win Division 1 nationals most years
3:40 ... can score at D1 nationals most years
3:42 ... can make D1 nationals and win many conference meets
3:45 ... can score in almost any conference meet
3:47.80 ... qualifies for regionals and can score in most conference meets
After that, I'd guess about a 3:52 makes the traveling squad to most invitational meets at all but a few schools. Obviously, a 3:52 runner would struggle to make the B team 4 x 1,500 at a place that recruited many runners who could do that out of high school, like Arkansas or Michigan, but would probably make the A team at a school that focused mostly on sprints, like TCU or Baylor, or at a smaller school or a non-scholarship school like an Ivy team.
I'm hesitant to draw a line which qualifies a performance as "bad." I think even 4:10 is good enough to warrant plugging away at it through college (even though you probably won't make many teams with a 4:10 unless you're much better at other distances) or recreationally post-college. It does require a reasonably high degree of running talent just to run a 4:10 1,500. But as far as college competitiveness goes, if you still have a PR of 3:55 or slower as a junior or a senior, you'll probably be spending a lot of your Saturdays running JV home meets at most D1 schools.
Billy Beer wrote:
But as far as college competitiveness goes, if you still have a PR of 3:55 or slower as a junior or a senior, you'll probably be spending a lot of your Saturdays running JV home meets at most D1 schools.
"Most" D1 schools? There are about exactly 262 men's division 1 track programs and you're telling me that 3:55 won't get you on the travel school of "most" i.e. at least 131 of them?
You people are so myopic. I'd say there are about 30 programs where a 3:55 guy would not travel everywhere unless it's a meet like Mt. SAC, Stanford, or Penn relays or something.