I know someone with a 2.25pb but they say its not that special. So im asking assuming good training conditions long career and good health what time is the limit for a mediocre athlete and what times take special talent to acheive??
I know someone with a 2.25pb but they say its not that special. So im asking assuming good training conditions long career and good health what time is the limit for a mediocre athlete and what times take special talent to acheive??
Oly trials qualification time (2:18?) is the only thing that matters.
The truly mediocre athlete will struggle to break 3:00. As a rule of thumb, a "special" time is a PR that is 5-10 minutes faster than your own.
The only reason 2:25 isn't considered special is all the time, energy and pain that others have put into running even faster. It's special and would have been the world record until 52 when Jim Peters came along and blew the doors off everyone.
Over 8 hours is special. Everyone will be amazed you managed to "run" over 8 hours.
No marathon time is special to the general public. Everyone knows someone who has 'run' a marathon (usually in around 4:30) but most people have absolutely no concept of what a good time is. If you told most people the world record was 3:15 they would probably believe you.
jumanji wrote:
I know someone with a 2.25pb but they say its not that special. So im asking assuming good training conditions long career and good health what time is the limit for a mediocre athlete and what times take special talent to acheive??
.
A 2:25 marathon is a great performance. It's not going to be "special" in the Olympics of course. But very few runners can reach that level.
Generally, if you can do something better than 99% of people who do it, I think we can say, special talent is required. A 2:25 would make that cutoff...easily.
Anything under 2:03:00 would have to be considered pretty special.
flagjr wrote:
The truly mediocre athlete will struggle to break 3:00. As a rule of thumb, a "special" time is a PR that is 5-10 minutes faster than your own.
this^^ the vast majority of us runners who work and run for a hobby will never see 2:20- so if it is whatever is "special" to you. For me, a 15:30 5K is "special" because on the local scene that is "fast" and will win you most races in the area.
For USA males we say the traditional BQ 3:05 is the benchmark for the gen pop and USA trials Q (c. 2:18) starts sub-elite in the 'racers' category.
2:15 the start of International class with 2:10 sub-elite and 2:08:30 elite. About 30 nations have a marathon NR of 2:08:30 or shorter.
Lots of asterisks to add to "special time". There's a sliding scale.
A special time for a guy right out of college is different for a 40 or 50yr old.
A special time for a guy with a full time job is different for someone that gets paid to run.
It's about context.
For me I'll use the BQ times. Anyone that can hit those has put in some degree of work.
I am special, and in my olympics everyone gets a medal regardless of how well we do. If you want to know which of us is the most special, look to see who is crossing his midline, striking himself in the chest and biting his own ear off.