Writing Article on Running: Need Help

I don't kow where you will find stats like that. I mean the 10k is one of the more popular race distances (usually read: someone can finish it without putting in too much training) so I imagine it's quite a number and why anyone would average all the times of all the runners...geez...

Maybe you would be better off looking at a bunch of race results and finding times in the middle of the results.

You could break it down by saying how fast it is per mile. For example, you could say "...to run a 27:49 10K you have to be able to run six 4:27 miles in a row..." Many ppl understand a fast time in the mile so this will mean something to them. You could also say how only 3 runners max from each country are allowed to compete at the World Champs. That sounds impressive also.

There are some statistics here on participation trends, demographics, etc., but not times. Don't know if that helps at all.

http://www.runningusa.org/cgi/index_largest_races.pl

Go down to your local high school track and see it you can run a mile in 4:22. If you can do that ...

You're probably writing to lots of walkers, so you might want to put something in those terms. A lot of those people walk around the local track, so you might want to mention how fast they'd have to do a lap.

Another suggestion is to give a number of how many miles per week those average runners ran. I don't know where you'd get those stats, maybe take a poll at the RW site. Non runners always ask, "How far do you run?" I always say, "Usually, about 70 miles per week." They're jaws always hit the floor.

People's eyes glaze over when you start citing stats. Save those for an article on trends in housing.

Why not describe the athelete as he runs a workout, how effortless he looks in full flight. In that context mention his training - these tough workouts and miles per week -then mention how fast each lap has to be for him to qualify ( I think that sugesstion has been the best.) Seamless is what we're after. And Joe Jogger will get it without needless stats.

Agree that stat-ing it up may be a marginalizer...depends ont he ciontext of course. Miles per hour may not work, as the numbers will be too slow compared to say Armstrong on the bike.

Assuming it's for a Philadelphia-area paper, maybe check where his target mile pace would place in the Pennsylvania HS state meet, or Philadelphia city championship, or something.

Thanks for the thoughtful suggestions. Assuming the article gets published (my article will be competing for space against such important sports news as Eagles training camp and the Phillies' slump) , I'll try to get it posted on LetsRun or mensracing.com. Happy trails.

Sometimes the best way to convey a thought is through the words of others. When I cover local road races I tend to go heavy on quotes. I'll write a little about how the race unfolded and total time and pace. Then I find it's best to get the runner's thoughts on how they felt or what their tactics were because even the most runners think about that sort of stuff at one level or another during a race. They can relate to that.

A local 10K I covered a few weeks ago was won by a guy who is going to the marathon trials. He ran a conservative race but still won by about a minute. Afterwards he talked about how tough the race was because it was hot and humid and he was a bit out of shape. He had finished third in the Green Bay Marathon three weeks before, but hadn't trained since because he had gotten married and had a lot of other commitments (he's a lawyer, too). I think his comments and his thoughts seemed to make him look a little more relative to everyone else, and the things he said were things that everyone goes through at one level or another. I felt it kind of took that "elite" type aura off of him and made him just another runner who just happens to be better than everyone else. He is definitely a regular guy, and that's the type of reflection I wanted people to see in the story.

Good luck with your story. Please post it when it's available.

Why don't you just say... of all the 250 million people in America, of all the 1 million who will attempt the distance, less than 5 (?) (NOT 5%, just 5 individuals, all male) will run this fast for 10k this year.

That means something like 0.000002% of all the people in America can run this time.

Or imagine you dropped your 5 house keys/car keys into a huge hopper containing 250 MILLION keys... how long would it take you to find your 5 ??? Be better off saying f*** it and sell the house and move to another town....

Here's one idea. Find the median time at Peachtree and note that "at the famed Peachtree Road Race in hot-as-f*** Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. - the world's largest 10K road race - the median finishing time was..." Problem with this is that it seems they only time the first 5,000 people out of the 50,000(?) or so that clog the streets that day, so you might have to contact the ATC directly rather than just scan the results on its Web site. (For the record, 5,000th place, gun time, was 59:59.)

Alternatively, take the biggest 10K in the coverage area of your newspaper and list the winning and average times of that event instead.

You might be able to get exactly what you need from USA Long Distance Running (www.usaldr.org) via e-mail, but I don't know that for sure.