I can't work out why people think a 20min 5k is fast either.It might be a great goal for beginners to strive for or a good time for the oldies but it 'aint fast ,although these days everyone seems to think a 12hr Ironman is fast as well.I guess the bar has been lowered a bit.
the course is also a big factor. For some people, breaking 20’ on their home course with a few hills might be a big deal compared to someone who lives near the shore and races a pancake flat route.
FWIW, I looked up the results of a local 5K. 25 out of 384 people broke 20 minutes. 20 minutes puts you in the top 7-8% of the population who would consider running a 5K. That’s pretty good.
I guess BarryP was thinking along the same line…I looked up a couple of 5k and 4 mile races. It’s pretty consecutive…7 to 8% of the finishers are at or under a 6:45 pace.
what everyone else said. Nice round number. 3 miles at well under 7 min pace qualifies you as a pretty decent runner, not just a ‘jogger’.
and if you extrapolate the pace out to 10k…a 40 min 10k is pretty fast at most olympic distance tris.
In Kenya, it’s probably 25 out of 384 haven’t broken 20minutes for 5km…and they are in the 80+ age group 
.
“I run a sub 20 5k” or “I run a sub 40 10k” just have a nice ring to them.
But as you get there, “I run a sub 18 5k” and “I run a sub 36 10k” just sound better … 
You were supposed to run backward. Did you not get the memo? Sorry.
A twenty minute five k pace is a decent training pace when you’re 26 and a good racing pace when you’re 50+. Hang around the sport awhile and you’ll see what I mean.
few years ago i did a local 10km run. The distance was prtty much dead on accurate. I did a 39:10 -ish and it was a PB at the time. I came in 197th. go figure.
this might sound dumb, but it’s because we have 10 fingers.
well, because 5k is a popular distance, and because we use base ten math. really, btwn a 22 minute 5k, a 20 minute 5k, and an 18 minute 5, or even a 20:37 or a 18:16, it’s all what you choose. But it’s like how the speed limit is sometimes 35, sometimes 65, 15 where there’s a school, but never 29 or 57. we like round numbers. and since we’re running this wierd hybrid of a metric distance and an english pace (6:26/mile, instead of just 4:00/kilometer) we stick with the round results.
Ditto
It depends on where you look at it - for a pro, its slow; for a recreational racer (which is most of them in local events), its pretty decent. I looked up a few local duathlons and a 20min 5k, especially the second one - would put you in the top 5-10% of the field; so I wouldn’t call it pedestrian by any means, however I don’t think anyone will think its pro level either.
Back when I was in college or before, I couldn’t understand how anyone could get so out of shape that a 7min/mile pace for a 5k wasn’t possible - then I got caught up in the 60-80hr/week sedentary society most call the work force and a decade or so later, I found myself in the 15min/mile pack. These days a 22min/5k is doing quite well for me for running, but a >47min 30k bike is an off day (generally puts me in the top 5% for the bike at local duathlons) - and yet I know that isn’t anywhere near pro level, heck the top elites entered in the same races beat me by ~4-6minutes regularly. So, its all about the perspective that you look at it with.
As a data point – at the Bolder Boulder 10k, running a 40 min race would mean there were about 550 people faster than you. From that perspective, it might not seem like much of an accomplishment. On the other hand, there would be about 50,000 people slower than you. It’s a matter of perspective. Things rarely seem very fast when you consider who’s ahead of you, but they often seem quite fast when you consider who’s behind you – and especially if you add all the people who are not fit enough to even enter.
In the whole country??? Nah.
The low landers aren’t particularly fast people from what I understand. I was surprised when I met some Kenyans a couple of years ago. I told them they didn’t look like Kenyans and they laughed. “You must be thinking of the people who live up in teh mountains.”
What are the two big Kenayan tribes? Kip and something else.
There is always someone faster, stronger, richer, smarter, better looking or with a hotter wife around the corner. Personally, I think 20 min/5k is a damn fine time!
Francois,
In Kenya you either run sub 14 or you don’t run. There are no recreational or fun runners in Kenya. Many can’t afford the time or the energy to devote to something like that - seriously. Per capita income in Kenya is about $500/year!!
You and Rahaung are going to be perfect for Slowtwitch. You both just got off the couch, you haven’t done anything yet and you’re telling us how easy it is. You’re perfect. Stop admiring yourself in the mirror, go do some training, then some races, then post something after you at least have some experience. Please!
You and Rahaung are going to be perfect for Slowtwitch. You both just got off the couch, you haven’t done anything yet and you’re telling us how easy it is. You’re perfect. Stop admiring yourself in the mirror, go do some training, then some races, then post something after you at least have some experience. Please!
What are you talking about? We’re having a conversation regarding something that relates to our experiences. Nobody was saying the sport of Tri as a whole is easy. We’re just discussing one small aspect of training, 20km in 5min. And yes, perhaps it might seem a bit easy, most of the subsequent posters have agreed. You don’t need to have hundreds of hours of training, and years of competing under your belt to discuss a training benchmark. To think so is just silly.
I think when I was competing in girls hs cross country we thought that running under 20 mins for 5k in cross was pretty good.
As an adult, I have never heard anyone make a big deal about it.
18:30 5k------then you turn 40ish , then you add a really hard swim and a fast bike ( this is a sprint tri) Now 20 flat may be pretty fast.
Maybe equal to a 1:40 per 100 swim------22mph average bike
I disagree on your “equivalent” of an 18:30, or even a 20:00, 5k time with a 1:40/100 swim pace. Those run times take a little work. That swim pace you can pretty much be doggie paddling.