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running 1500m and 5km, what is a good time?

So, I used to be pretty fit ( gym about three times a week ) but last year I had to cancel my gym membership after they hiked the price up. Since then I have become the most sedentry person imaginable. BUT recently I decided to take advantage of the sunny weather and started running again, and as the type of person who has to set herself arbitrary goals all the time, I want to set myself a time target for running both 1500m and 5km. Last year I could run the 1500 in just under 7 mins, but I've never timed a 5km. So my questions is, what would you say is an impressive time to run each distance in? I know I'm never going to be a great runner, but I would like to run each distance in a time that is fairly decent. Any ideas? :smile:
Reply 1
5km? for me? week - week and a half
Umm I'd say under 25 mins is decent for 5k. Not sure about 1500m, I tend to run 1.5 miles for shorter distances and for 1.5 miles under 12 mins isn't bad. Not exactly the most terrific times, but much better than the average joe.

If you want to aim for better times, I'd say 15-20 mins for 5k and 8-10 mins for 1.5 miles.

Also if you've been running mostly on a treadmill before, running outside is much better. But was much harder for me, the rougher terrain and unpredictable graidents is just soo much more work. The scenery and fresh air makes up for it though.
1500m is a metric mile. A 1 mile time of 6 minutes outdoors is very good for a fit person, 7 minutes is good for an active fit person. For someone who trains at amateur level in track and field then 5 minutes is decent and sub 5 minutes is excellent. Elite athletes can run it in 4 minutes (although no woman has ever done this for an actual mile), in fact some hardcore college kids can do this too but they get coaching (YouTube vids).

Bear in mind most people would probably run a mile in 8-12 minutes, that's a starting point. If you can do it sub 7 minutes I'd say that's decent (but not special).
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 4
Original post by silent ninja
1500m is a metric mile. A 1 mile time of 6 minutes outdoors is very good for a fit person, 7 minutes is good for an active fit person. For someone who trains at amateur level in track and field then 5 minutes is decent and sub 5 minutes is excellent. Elite athletes can run it in 4 minutes (although no woman has ever done this for an actual mile), in fact some hardcore college kids can do this too but they get coaching (YouTube vids).

Bear in mind most people would probably run a mile in 8-12 minutes, that's a starting point. If you can do it sub 7 minutes I'd say that's decent (but not special).



Err, 1500m is NOT a metric mile. A mile is about 1600m.
Original post by Capros
Err, 1500m is NOT a metric mile. A mile is about 1600m.


in sports it is.
Reply 6
Original post by silent ninja
in sports it is.


I run distance, and I'm pretty sure when I run a 5k, it's 3.1~miles, which, ta da, is 1600m to the mile. The marathon is 42.19~km, or, when divided by 1.6, roughly 26miles! If we were to divide 42.19 by 1.5, as you suggest, we get 28miles! Now, I'm pretty sure in the Olympic marathon, they ran 26miles, not 28.
Original post by Capros
I run distance, and I'm pretty sure when I run a 5k, it's 3.1~miles, which, ta da, is 1600m to the mile. The marathon is 42.19~km, or, when divided by 1.6, roughly 26miles! If we were to divide 42.19 by 1.5, as you suggest, we get 28miles! Now, I'm pretty sure in the Olympic marathon, they ran 26miles, not 28.


I'm not talking about that. The 1500m is called the metric mile in track and field. There's no sense in dividing other figures by it. I'm surprised you haven't come across it. Google.
Reply 8
Original post by HopefullyMedic
So, I used to be pretty fit ( gym about three times a week ) but last year I had to cancel my gym membership after they hiked the price up. Since then I have become the most sedentry person imaginable. BUT recently I decided to take advantage of the sunny weather and started running again, and as the type of person who has to set herself arbitrary goals all the time, I want to set myself a time target for running both 1500m and 5km. Last year I could run the 1500 in just under 7 mins, but I've never timed a 5km. So my questions is, what would you say is an impressive time to run each distance in? I know I'm never going to be a great runner, but I would like to run each distance in a time that is fairly decent. Any ideas? :smile:


If you're serious about taking it up regularly, a time of around 20mins is probably a not unrealistic time to aim for after a few months for 5k.
Reply 9
Original post by silent ninja
I'm not talking about that. The 1500m is called the metric mile in track and field. There's no sense in dividing other figures by it. I'm surprised you haven't come across it. Google.


Yes the 1500m is definitely the "metric mile" in track and field circles. Just ask any running club coaches and Google, of course as have already been mentioned.;-)
Reply 10
Yes 1500m is definitely the metric mile in track and field terms. Ask any sports journalist, commentator and Google. Lol
For a good club runner, 5 minutes and 20 minutes respectively are the milestones.

For a relatively active woman, 6-7 and 23-24 minutes is good.
I know this isn't exactly answering your questions, but I'll say it anyway. Don't worry about beating certain times to begin with, just run the distances frequently. At least three times per week should suffice, if that is possible. Time yourself on each occasion and begin to notice the progression take shape after a few weeks. Your motivation can be to try to beat your previous time.

Your times will be erratic, especially at the beginning, but you should notice a general trend. I followed this method, for 3km, and I was knocking about 15 seconds off my time each week. However, as time passed by, I found it more and more difficult to shave seconds off my time. Once this has happened, I began to compare the time that I was consistently running, but not really beating, to what other keen runners were managing to achieve over the same distance.

The important thing, which I'm not successfully managing to succinctly articulate, is that it is a progression over a long time. I don't know what you are capable of right now, but I imagine it would be quite a long way off what you want to achieve in the long run?

If you could manage 7 minutes in the 1500m now, but are aiming for 6 minutes in the long run, do not go out in your first fun aiming to beat 6 minutes. That will only result in you losing time. Pace and energy management is really responsible for about 25% of your time in middle-distance running. Experienced runners always say nobody should ever set off to beat a time they've never achieved.
Original post by silent ninja
1500m is a metric mile. A 1 mile time of 6 minutes outdoors is very good for a fit person, 7 minutes is good for an active fit person. For someone who trains at amateur level in track and field then 5 minutes is decent and sub 5 minutes is excellent. Elite athletes can run it in 4 minutes (although no woman has ever done this for an actual mile), in fact some hardcore college kids can do this too but they get coaching (YouTube vids).

Bear in mind most people would probably run a mile in 8-12 minutes, that's a starting point. If you can do it sub 7 minutes I'd say that's decent (but not special).


Sorry about this but I've got OCD so it annoyed me- a mile is just under 1610m.
Original post by RockGirl19
Sorry about this but I've got OCD so it annoyed me- a mile is just under 1610m.


*sigh* If you're going to resurrect a year old thread at least read it all the way through.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/metric_mile
A mile is 1609m, a metric mile in track running is 1500m.
Original post by SummerAnthems
*sigh* If you're going to resurrect a year old thread at least read it all the way through.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/metric_mile
A mile is 1609m, a metric mile in track running is 1500m.


sorry again, replied before I read everything else and instantly felt really stupid.
Yes

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