Was a great mid-d runner in college (although was never part of our XC NCAA squad) when I enlisted my junior year. At Parris Island boot camp, 1st Bat A Co, we did a 2-mile run as part of a short fitness test just a few days after we got there. All former Marines out there know that at that point they've let you get zero sleep while processing you through admin, gear and medical. Ran 8:42 and of course dusted everyone, the course felt a little short.. did poorly on pull-ups though.
Over the next 2 1/2 mths there was a lot of strength training, I had strong arms when I arrived but couldn't do pull-ups properly. Sleep was always scarce and we definitely did not run enough... I'm convinced anyone running 20m/wk prior would lose running fitness there. With that said I was a monster on the pull-ups by the end and had lost a lot of endurance due to little running. By the time final PFT came around, we were getting a lot more rest and people stopped getting sick. Sit ups were first, you had to be a real fat body not to get 100pts on that. Next were pull ups. A guy in another company did 52 or 53, which at the time was just above the record. I did 22 (20 gave you 100 points). I'd say 20% could do all 20. The run was next. Let's clarify, it's not a 5k, it's a 3-mile run.. 18min = 100points. Sounds easy, but the running we did there was definitely not adequate to improve the avg recruit's time by much. I ran 14:19 on the hottest and muggiest day of August, it was prob one of the hardest runs of my life. We did not have watches and of course they did not give us splits.. but I know I must have run the first mile in mid4:20s and the second in around 4:30. I blew up badly on the last mile but held on. 5K PR was 13:57 outdoors at the time. Another guy broke 18 but that was it. Someone mentioned the ironman award goes to someone who does it multiple times, that's bogus. Whoever scores highest in their graduation class gets it, I got it with a perfect score of 300 of course. During one of the last few days I was told I had broken the 2-mile record during the earlier test, including San Diego. I still don't know if I got the 3 mile record, when I joined I heard it was low 14:20s by a former HS state champ. Unfortunately, they really don't track this kind of stuff, it's all unsubstantiated rumors. I remembering finishing the 3-mile and one DI looked at his watch and wrote it down on a pad.. who knows if and how they file that stuff. I got a nice handshake from a gunny, who told me he was a runner... someone appreciated the effort.