Marines have to do 3 miles in 18 minutes

That is funny, because most marines I ran with are considerably slower than that.

18 minutes is what you need to run to get max points in the run portion. You don't need to run this fast to pass.

From the article:

Although true comparison is not possible because the events vary, here's what a 22-year-old man and woman must do to "max" (get a perfect score of 300) the physical fitness test in each service.

Marine men must do 20 pull-ups, 100 sit-ups and run three miles in 18 minutes. Women Marines must hold the flexed-arm hang for 70 seconds, do 100 sit-ups and run three miles in 21 minutes.

F***... 100 sit-ups would take around 4 minutes, the pull-ups about one minute too.

That can hardly be right.

(Unless I read that post wrong and it actually means that the situps and pull ups aren't part of the 18 minute time limit. Which I think I did)

There is a two minute time limit for the situps. If you can do 100 in two minutes you get max points.

The pullups are untimed. You go until you cannot do another one.

The run is timed. 18 minutes for just the run will get you max points.

The pushups and pullups are not hard once you train for them.

To max the Air Force PT Test, an 18-24 year old male needs to do:

62 pushups in 1 minute

55 situps in 1 minute

<9:36 in the 1.5 mile run

My last test I scored:

79 pushups in 1 minute

69 situps in 1 minute

7:31 1.5 mile run

You test in that order, 1 min pushups...3 minute break....1 min situps....3 minute break....1.5 mile run

I'm 23 years old 2Lt. 6'2, 170 lbs, ex-runner. I would wager that no more than 10 people Air Force wide have a better overall score than me (in field training they gave you 1 extra point for every pushup and situp you did over the max, and gave you 1 extra point for every 5 seconds you beat the max run time by)

Are you serious? 100 situps takes 4 minutes?

In MIDDLE SCHOOL, for the presidential fitness test, you have one minute to do as many situps as possible...many guys got over 60, almost every guy got over 50. It would take 2 and a half minutes, at most, if you tired out.

79 pushups in a minute? I can do 79 pushups but I don't think I could do them anywhere near that rapidly, even for 20 seconds.

when I joined two years ago, I was able to do 49 pushups in a minute, but I could run 7:17 for the 1.5 mile run. I made some comprimises on my run time (Everyone already thinks I'm some freak of nature for the 7:30) and decided to work on the other events. You'd be amazed at how easily you can do them if you pump out 300-500 pushups everyday.

During TV commercials, i'll knock out 50 or so. If I'm bored at home, or wanna kill some time at work, just drop down and do some. During the test, without fail, I'm ALWAYS at 45 pushups at the 30 second mark, it's the last 30 seconds that determine how many I will get. Proper form is just going down to a 90 degree bend in the arms, you don't have to touch the ground or anything.

The Marines do crunches, not sit ups. It is very easy to do the 100 crunches. By far the easiest of the events.

18 min is to max the 3 mile run which is usually run on the flatest course possible. Most of the Marines I trained with were in the 19-20 min range, with a majority having done no significant training prior. There were a couple guys at OCS who were distance runners in college, and ran some pretty fast times. The instructors kept talking about one guy who ran in the 14:30's about a year and a half ago. Still trying to figure out who that was...

As mentioned above, if you train for the events, it is not to difficult to max out. I would say it is possible for everyone to max out if they put the work into it. For example I used to be incredibly weak. I went from not being able to do a pushup to doing 15 dead hang pullups in about 2 months.

Of the 3 requirements to get 100 pts (each) in the USMC "Physical Fitness Test" (PFT), the run poses the largest challenge for the average Marine. 18:00 = 100 pts, but it is not a "requirement". I think over 24:00 might have been a "Unsatisfacory" for youngest age bracket, can't remember, but there was a lower limit.

Many, if not most, would get 100 pts for the sit-ups during boot camp or OCS; many came close or achieved the 20 pull-ups, a strong kid can do with practice. As troops and officers get out to the "Fleet" and away from boot camp, the scores and maintained fitness levels go way down and the importance can get a little muddled until promotion time. My experience was that Officers (college) far outscored enlisted in the run.

In OCS, 18:00 was still pretty rare, MAYBE 10%, but I may be way off. By the time I got to the squadron, it was usually only myself and a couple running buddies of mine who would go sub 18. I always

scored "300" for every PFT, it was easy because I ran.

300 PFT in the Marines is considered impressive, especially as you age, but obviously if you are a for real runner, it is nothing. I was actually surprised at how few made it when I initially went to OCS, but the Marines are in general, a fit and exceptionally motivated population, but not necessarilly a group of super talented athletes, and it takes some athleticism to run or train to 5:59 pace.

My recollections include the crazy variety of PFT 3 mile courses, most were flat, paved, out-back runs which seemed about right distance. Some were way short, but what cracked me up is that all the different units would paint there own start/finish lines in different places on the road, obviously not trusting the other unit's measurement system or choice of starting line.

USAF_run wrote:

I'm 23 years old 2Lt. 6'2, 170 lbs, ex-runner. I would wager that no more than 10 people Air Force wide have a better overall score than me (in field training they gave you 1 extra point for every pushup and situp you did over the max, and gave you 1 extra point for every 5 seconds you beat the max run time by)

Well hooray for you then.

Do any of you think you could do all three things: 20 pull-ups 100 sit-ups and 3 miles in 18 minutes total?

HS girls run this fast on XC courses all the time.

HAHAHA.

not me. I think you would have to be about a mid 14 5k runner to knock that out. So you could run 15 flat 3 mile and still have enough energy for 3 minutes of pull/sit-ups

Webbshairpiece wrote:

HS girls run this fast on XC courses all the time.

HAHAHA.

HS boys too

but don't forget runners are scrawny and weak compared to most Marines

I was hanging out with a couple friends who are Marine Officers this weekend and one of them mentioned how he saw an enlisted Marine max all 3 events in under 18 minutes. Was trying to think what kind of run time that would imply - around 15:00-15:30? I'm guessing he does the crunches in 1:00-1:20 and the pullups in maybe 30 seconds-45 seconds assuming he can get to 20 without having to pause and rep out at all. I assume you can do the crunches and pullups in pretty much the same spot when trying to do this and you'd start the run real close to where the crunches and pullups are done. That would give you maybe 30 or so seconds of transition time total between all the events. Maybe you could get away with a 16:00 3 mile, but without any rest between events you'd already be breathing pretty hard at the start of the run.

Sounds doable (but of course very difficult) for someone who ran in college. Only those with a strong competitive running background would even have a chance. The other crucial (and very difficult) part would be not just doing 20 pullups but being able to get there so easily that you could continuously pump them all the way to 20 with no pausing.

Has anyone else seen someone max the entire test in under 18 minutes? Would be curious to see how the event splits broke down.

I did that but it was 5 and a half years ago; 2nd PFT 1434. I'm not sure how I ran faster on the second one since you don't run all that much at OCS.

yea, i don't get why its such a big deal. so add pushups and crunches at the end. who gives a crap? stupid marines.

I don't think you could