Outside Magazine: Five-minute mile

Did he run downhill, wind-aided, with springy shoes, to do it?

He ran it on a track.

Bet he ran 1600m...not a full mile. Hopefully Willis made sure he did the full mile.

IndyJ wrote:

I can't find a link to it online, so maybe it is just in the print magazine for now. But there's a story in Outside this month by a 22:00/4-hour hobby jogger who decided to try to break five minutes in the mile. SPOILER ALERT:

He did it, in 4:59.4.

It's not a story that's going to win any Pulitzer prizes in journalism or revolutionize training, but it's kind of interesting in light of all the, "Can an average Joe run a x.xx (blank), given a year to train?" that get started around here.

As I recall, it took the writer about five or six months from just a general level of decent aerobic fitness to pull it off, but he worked his tail off.

I am actually pretty impressed without knowing any background (i.e. he was a 4:30 guy in HS, current age,....). A 5 min mile isn't blistering by any means but it is a decent time. We had numerous kids who ran 4 years of track in HS, doing decent mileage (40-60 during track season/XC. Who knows about the summer) who got stuck in the 5:10 range. And that is with tons of racing sharpness.

I think the writer is 35 years old. I'll retrieve the magazine when I get home from work tonight and supply some more details.

It's a good time but let's be real anyone who ever ran a 4:30 mile and than got some of there previous form back shouldn't be labeled a hobby jogger. The hobby jogger that run 4 hour marathon are the types that never ran a full mile below 6;30 minutes or so. This guy was an athlete that life(Family/Career) got in the way of and decided to get back in shape. How many of you sub 5 minute milers in high school could do it again if you peeled away your present life's responsibilities? Hey there was just that article on Let's Run about that previous distance champion that now weighs 206 pounds and bet his friends that he can break 16 for 5k by end of year. Is he considered a hobby jogger as well?

bulldog35 wrote:

It's a good time but let's be real anyone who ever ran a 4:30 mile and than got some of there previous form back shouldn't be labeled a hobby jogger. The hobby jogger that run 4 hour marathon are the types that never ran a full mile below 6;30 minutes or so. This guy was an athlete that life(Family/Career) got in the way of and decided to get back in shape. How many of you sub 5 minute milers in high school could do it again if you peeled away your present life's responsibilities? Hey there was just that article on Let's Run about that previous distance champion that now weighs 206 pounds and bet his friends that he can break 16 for 5k by end of year. Is he considered a hobby jogger as well?

I don't recall the part about him being a 4:30 miler previously. I just remembered his 5K and marathon times.

He wasn't a 4:30 miler. Read it again.

That's actually pretty surprising/impressive, I still doubt that very many people could do it.

I see. I didn't read article just this other poster " am actually pretty impressed without knowing any background (i.e. he was a 4:30 guy in HS, current age,....)

Read more:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=8101903#ixzz4bEsmzVya

bulldog35 wrote:

I see. I didn't read article just this other poster " am actually pretty impressed without knowing any background (i.e. he was a 4:30 guy in HS, current age,....)

Read more:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=8101903#ixzz4bEsmzVya

apparently you didn't read the part right before that "without knowing any background"

They include a brief box in the story that gives some tips if you want to try to shoot for a competitive goal like that, including running up to 70 miles a week. I actually found it refreshing to read a fitness/running piece in magazine that tells readers they have to actually work at something. If the same piece ran in "Runner's World," it would be about breaking an eight-minute mile, and the centerpiece advice would be that you don't have to wear yourself out training. Just take it easy!

readingcomp101 wrote:

bulldog35 wrote:

I see. I didn't read article just this other poster " am actually pretty impressed without knowing any background (i.e. he was a 4:30 guy in HS, current age,....)

Read more:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=8101903#ixzz4bEsmzVya

apparently you didn't read the part right before that "without knowing any background"

Just tried to list a couple of facts that would adjust my opinion on how hard it was. Thought that was pretty darn clear. Ryan Hall getting back in shape and running a 5 min mile is one thing. Bob who never ran a competitive mile and who is now 50, and weighs 210 is another. Who knows where on the scale the writer was.

Pretty interesting, I would love to read the article.

damn now I feel pretty bad about myself. been running 3 years of dedicated hobby-joggerness [w/occasional injury] and mile PR is 6:00 [a couple ticks over 40 also, not overweight either], no running background

The writer is Charles Bethea, who is 35 years old, 6-foot-3, and wrote this piece in which he interviewed the founders of this site:

http://www.newyorker.com/news/sporting-scene/how-fast-would-usain-bolt-run-the-mile

His no-training mile time was 6:19.

IndyJ wrote:

The writer is Charles Bethea, who is 35 years old, 6-foot-3, and wrote this piece in which he interviewed the founders of this site:

http://www.newyorker.com/news/sporting-scene/how-fast-would-usain-bolt-run-the-mile

His no-training mile time was 6:19.

Not a bad time to run without training. Maybe he was fit because of other sports.

IndyJ wrote:

They include a brief box in the story that gives some tips if you want to try to shoot for a competitive goal like that, including running up to 70 miles a week. I actually found it refreshing to read a fitness/running piece in magazine that tells readers they have to actually work at something. If the same piece ran in "Runner's World," it would be about breaking an eight-minute mile, and the centerpiece advice would be that you don't have to wear yourself out training. Just take it easy!

It is refreshing. It can be contrasted with a recent Men's Journal online series where one of their editors (who actually seems like an okay guy) goes on a quest to run a four hour marathon. In the first installment, he discusses "finding time for the 20, 25, 35 miles per week that marathon training demands." I won't spoil the ending.

IndyJ wrote:

They include a brief box in the story that gives some tips if you want to try to shoot for a competitive goal like that, including running up to 70 miles a week. I actually found it refreshing to read a fitness/running piece in magazine that tells readers they have to actually work at something. If the same piece ran in "Runner's World," it would be about breaking an eight-minute mile, and the centerpiece advice would be that you don't have to wear yourself out training. Just take it easy!

Totally agree about the 70 mpw bit - not often you see that in a large scale publication like Outside.