What are equivalent performances to a 2:30 marathon?

I have a friend who just recently ran 2:30. His PRs are 8:58, 15:45, and 32:40. Not sure about the mile but I think it's safe to say he hasn't broken 4:30.

Hope this helps.

McMillan calculator says 2:30 is equal to 31:58 10K and 15:23 5K, which is very close to accurate in my experience.

http://www.letsrun.com/2008/mensmarathonlist.php

In 2008, there were 361 men in the USA who broke 2:30:00 in the marathon. There were lists for 2006 and 2007 as well. Haven't seen one since 2008, though. It takes a lot of work to compile, and I think mcgato got sick of the complaints and corrections.

Daniels has a 2:30:36 equal to a 15:42 5k, a 32:35 10k, and a 1:11:56 half. And for fun, a 4:33 mile.

I missed the half marathon: 1:11:07 on McMillan

I'll be the first to say what is bound to be said: there's no real way to compare. I ran a flat and probably accurate 10k in 31:50 the other year when it would have been very difficult for me at that moment to run 2:30. I ran one marathon in 2:31, and the limiter was strength at the end, while I could have surely run faster 5k and 10ks than those listed by the calculators.

Not that the comparisons aren't interesting. How are they made?

common wrote:

In 2008, there were 361 men in the USA who broke 2:30:00 in the marathon. There were lists for 2006 and 2007 as well. Haven't seen one since 2008, though. It takes a lot of work to compile, and I think mcgato got sick of the complaints and corrections.

Thanks for the link - that's cool to look through.

Unless I'm interpreting the list incorrectly, it looks like in 2008 there were 361 sub 2:30 performances, but only 283 individuals sub 2:30. Some had more than one.

Yes, there are multiple performances by some of the same individuals. I only looked at the first column...my bad.

5:45 mile 11:30 2 mile 17:45 5k 35:30 10k 1:15 half.

Hope that helps

Female pornstar - her and 4 guys. Impressive, but not the max.

Road PRs at time of first sub-2:30 (2:26:52) -- 15:25, 32:03, 1:11:01

KMB wrote:

Road PRs at time of first sub-2:30 (2:26:52) -- 15:25, 32:03, 1:11:01

Was your training significantly different between the 15:25/32:03 and the 2:26:52? They seem worlds apart from my perspective (15:27/31:48/1:11:38/2:30:34). I was in the shape of my life, and had a great, even split, fast finish marathon race, but couldn't get under 2:30.

Or, maybe you were in 31:15 shape and just didn't have a chance to race a 10K?

My PRs

Marathon PR 2:32

10k = 32:20

5k = 15:23

Mile = 4:22

My Half Marathon PR is 1:12:02, ran en-route to the 2:32 PR. Second fastest half is a 1:12:45 en-route to a 2:35. I'm pretty sure my potential is faster than 2:32, but too stubborn to slow down the first half.

common wrote:

Was your training significantly different between the 15:25/32:03 and the 2:26:52? They seem worlds apart from my perspective (15:27/31:48/1:11:38/2:30:34). I was in the shape of my life, and had a great, even split, fast finish marathon race, but couldn't get under 2:30.

Or, maybe you were in 31:15 shape and just didn't have a chance to race a 10K?

The 2:26:52 was in 1999, two years after a 2:30:52, two months before which I ran that 32:03. The 15:25 was in 1994 (I did run an indoor 15:22 in maybe 1998, and a few high 15:20s in the late 1990s). I ran the 1:11:01 the weekend before the 2:26:52, so I held a little back.

When I ran 1:08:29 for a half in 2000, that 10K PR was still 32:03. I haven't run a lot of 10Ks -- fastest time is 31:44 and I went through 10K close to that fast in three subsequent longer races. I also eventually went under 15 for 5K after I wound up with a marathon PR of 2:24:17.

Short version -- my previous post was a little misleading, but I've always been slanted toward the longer stuff regardless.

I thought you probably had some faster 5K/10K times in you to be able to hit the 2:24/2:26 range. Good to know, though that does give me one less glitter-encrusted, shimmering data point to give me the hope that I will ever get under 2:30. I'm an old man running out of time!

Thanks for the info. Thanks for the book, too, by the way!

a 2:23 40-kilometer time trial would equate to a 2:30 full marathon!!

5K 15:11

10K 31:50

Half-marathon 1:11:05

Marathon 2:29:46

At the time easily more than 1000 were running sub-2:30 (this was a ways back), now maybe 300 in US.

KMB wrote:

Road PRs at time of first sub-2:30 (2:26:52) -- 15:25, 32:03, 1:11:01

These are all very close to my bests too.

Man, I suck at half and full marathoning compared to everyone else here.

3k: 8:44

5k: 14:53

8k: 25:22 (cross country)

Half:1:14:35

Full: 2:38:46

Guess I need to run another.

common wrote:

I thought you probably had some faster 5K/10K times in you to be able to hit the 2:24/2:26 range. Good to know, though that does give me one less glitter-encrusted, shimmering data point to give me the hope that I will ever get under 2:30. I'm an old man running out of time!

Thanks for the info. Thanks for the book, too, by the way!

One thing I didn't mention. I ran then-road PRs at the marathon, 10K, and 5K in a 17-day span (Boston Marathon, 31:44 at the James Joyce Ramble 13 days later, 15:23 CMS 5K three days after JJR; the former two still stand). So those in theory represent comparable efforts in terms of fitness, although I suppose I wasn't all that rested for the races so soon after a marathon (yet Mike Wardian could probably run all three of those times in the same long weekend). The 1:08 was the previous autumn. I ran 15:26 nine days before Boston, 48:56 for 15K the weekend before that, and 1:50:33 for 20 miles the weekend before that. If you want to see the training that fed all of this, you can see it at

.

I like to think anyone who can run 32-flat without going much under 15:30 has a great shot at 2:30.

As far as the book, thank Rubio, JK, McMillan and Jack Youngren especially as well as the others who actually wrote chapters. If I deserve any credit for Run Strong it lies in choosing authors wisely.