i ran 6:20 pace on my run today. did onlookers think i was going 'fast' or 'slow' as i ran by?

I think people with higher back kicks tend to be perceived as faster

I think that's part of it too. My feet don't kick back very high unless I'm really going for it.

I think my turnover is actually pretty normal, almost certainly above 180 at 6:00 pace.

I dunno. Even when I was in sub-17 shape I remember people telling me that it looked like I "wasn't trying" in races. Ha.

congratulations on 6:20 pace, thats really fast

I'd say that the average onlooker does not know if you are fast or not. Two stories for my opinion:

A non-runner said they saw me running on day X and I ask where they saw me. I tell them that was when I was near the end of a tempo and I was breaking down by then. He said it looked like I was just out for a regular run. This was about 5:50 pace.

Once I was warming up around the track and the throwers were cheering me on, clearly thinking a workout was going on, every time I came by. This was about 7:20 pace.

Point being, the average person driving by doesn't really notice the difference whether you are an elite marathoner doing a tempo or a hobby jogger with a fanny pack. Unless they actually see another person pass another

If the onlooker is on a bicycle, and you pass in the same direction, yes, they'll think you're going fast. Lots of cyclists go slower than 10mph.

Almost all non-athlete cyclists go slower than 15mph. If you really want to mess with their heads, throw down a 60-second quarter on the bike path.

I really think it depends. When I watch guys running low 4's and they have a crappy stride it looks slow. When I see guys that have a good stride it looks fast. I coach an 8th grader and when he was running a 4:50 mile, it always looked fast. On the other hand another kid that I coached would come in 10 seconds or so behind him and he looked like he was jogging.

Running 6:20s, you will probably place in the top 3 of 95% of all 5K races run this year. So from that perspective, you were fast.

Once, I was running shirtless at about that pace-and thought I was really cooking. At the time, I was 46 years old, 6 feet tall, 160 lbs or so. My son and his friend were there. My son told me his friend said my man-boobs were bouncing.

Onlookers are not as impressed with you as you are.

depends if you run like asbel kiprop, and are tall.

Look him run races and win, while he just glides past everybody with his enormous strides.

I think it all comes down to form/economy. I've been out running about the same pace as the OP before, and it's pretty amusing when someone on the other side of the road (in the suburbs) tries to race me. As a female, I find it pretty amusing because it's almost always some dumb jock from my high school.

Frank Reynolds wrote:

for me... wrote:

The onlookers did not think about you at all.

^this

^this

A 6:20 pace would drop 80% of the people on this message board.

This is a good thread with a lot of good responses. I won't reiterate the answer to your inquiry - cadence, stride length, etc..

One thing I've tried to do with my own running is make it look as effortless as possible. So 6:00 pace for me looks no different than 9:00 pace (except higher and longer kickback). While this is good for efficiency, like you, I always wonder if people think i'm running slow because i'm making it look so easy.

jam8 wrote:

hard to say, for me, i have no idea. when i see marathoners runner 4;50's i think it looks like a cooldown.

do you have 1 or 2 legs?

I've showed non track fans the Olympic 800. One girl said they looked like they were going slow for the Olympics. Sure, a lot of people could have a burst of speed for 10 meters at that average pace, but maintaining it for two laps simply wasn't possible until that day.

Part of it may also be what another poster said about a smooth stride making paces look slow to the untrained eye.

A year ago last June, I was running on the Nike Campus bark-chip trail, about 7 min. miles. I was passed by a group of Kenyans that were in town for the Prefontaine 10,000 team qualifying race. They were probably running 5:30 miles or faster, but they just looked like they were jogging (which they probably were.) They were wearing full warm-ups with rain gear, hats and gloves (it wasn't raining.) To a non-runner, they would probably not appear to be running very fast, due to their stride economy, speed and ability. A runner with exaggerated arm movement, over-striding and other wasted motions would appear to be running faster. And by the way, the Kenyans were very friendly and polite, unlike a lot of joggers on these trails in town.

The only time I hear people comment on my speed is if I am running sub 7 pace and passing some jogger or cyclist. Today I ran in Seattle and there were tons of cyclists moving along with me around 6:15 pace. I was wearing short shorts and no shirt so I probably seemed more serious, and I got a lot of comments from bikers I would pass.

I'd you blow past some group of joggers running the same direction, youre likely to gain some attention.

But it seems that when actually doing tempo stuff around 5:40s, people never say anything to me, because it's clear that I'm occupied and not in the mood to chat

Downhill running gets some pretty funny looks. I can do that pace for several miles on a long country road that goes downhill significantly. I see some faces in the cars and they usually look worried for me. I try to smile or wave.

Now that I think about it, people look worried when I run uphill too no matter how slow I am. I think I sweat a lot. Thanks, This has been a good learning post.

It depends on the individual. A 7 minute pace for a 12 yr old girl would look really fast, because it is maybe 90% effort for her, and you can see evidence of that in her stride.

When I run 7 minute miles, it looks like I'm walking, because my legs are so used to running faster that my stride looks lazy at that pace lol.

This reminds me of when Tom Hammond commented on how El Guerrouj is just plodding along (even though they were going at just under 5:00 pace during the 2004 Olympic 5000m). See 1:45 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTd1CuKZr1Y

thurston howell 4 wrote:

jam8 wrote:

hard to say, for me, i have no idea. when i see marathoners runner 4;50's i think it looks like a cooldown.

do you have 1 or 2 legs?

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