Is a 35min 10k decent?

SitUbuSit

Hi all,

I wish this thread were about me, but unfortunately it's not.

A good friend of mine has recently gotten interested in triathlons. He's always been sporty (playing minor intercounty GAA etc) but has never really focused his training.

As part of his triathlon prep, he's been running sub 35min 10ks. This is without any specific or focused training (he's just doing it themselves). He's now thinking maybe he should forget triathlons and focus on running.

What do you think? What's his potential if he joined a club and got specific training?

Cheers,

Séamus

EauRouge79

Im not qualified to say what his potential is, plenty others on here that would be better qualified. Im sure there are plenty variables to consider though age, background, how much time he is willing to dedicate to running etc.....

There are plenty of online calculators also that he could use to gauge his potential.

Having said that 35 min for 10k in vey decent for someone not fully focused on running.
Not elite but a good club runner.

Krusty_Clown

Yeah, it's a decent time, without any specific training, or being a member of a club (he'd probably be in the top 80 of a mass-participation 10k race, like the Great Ireland Run (not sure how many participants, but he'd probably be in the top 1%). If he joined a club and underwent specific training, who knows what he could achieve, but he'd likely be a solid competitive runner.

robinph

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Yeah, it's a decent time, without any specific training, or being a member of a club (he'd probably be in the top 80 of a mass-participation 10k race, like the Great Ireland Run (not sure how many participants, but he'd probably be in the top 1%). If he joined a club and underwent specific training, who knows what he could achieve, but he'd likely be a solid competitive runner.

A mid 36 minute 10km ranks me within in the top 2% of all UK 10km runners as a guide for the last few years of stats.

Were the 10kms that the friend did run as part of a triathlon, or an an actual separate road 10km running race?

SitUbuSit

Hi guys,

Thanks for the feedback so far.

The times were run in individual 10ks. But one of them was set after 6 hours sleep and having run the previous day. He's doing too much running I think. He ran a 10k last Saturday and one on Sunday.

For background, he's 30 and working full-time, but invests most of his spare time to sport, partiucarly running.

rom

robinph wrote: »

A mid 36 minute 10km ranks me within in the top 2% of all UK 10km runners as a guide for the last few years of stats.

Were the 10kms that the friend did run as part of a triathlon, or an an actual separate road 10km running race?

How to a get stats like that on myself ? Need a cheer up after the long weekend.

walshb

It's a brilliant time if the runner isn't a club/pro/elite runner.

For a committed club runner it is a very decent time.

robinph

rom wrote: »

How to a get stats like that on myself ? Need a cheer up after the long weekend.

It's from the runbritainrankings.com website which has all UKA licensed race results listed and give you a handicap score and national leaderboards based on the various distances. They do list a lot of international events as well so you'll probably be able to get a comparative handicap score if you've ever done one the the Phoenix Park series or any marathon. I've just submitted the Mallow 10 results to them so they should be up in a few days as well.

TRR

If its 10k he is running its good going. If its what I like to call a GAA 10k (anywhere from 8.5-9.5k) it may not be as impressive but still good going.

Donelson

Just my two cents here, 35min 10km requires you to be in good shape for running but does not require any talent. For example look at the VO2 Max required and you will see it is very much in the average/normal range.
Now if your friend is 10kg over weight and is running this time then that is a different story!

walshb

Natural talent could be there. But, the OP is clear that this lad isn't a runner. He competes in GAA and recently triathlons. If he dedicated himself to running then that 10 k time could well be a deal lower.

BTW, natural talent in 10 k running is more down to one's engine and their natural physiological makeup. Assuming the lad is in decent shape physically, that he doesn't specifically compete for 10 ks, and that 10 k is not the GAA 10 K;), then he's running a very very good time.

Train him specifically in running, get his body weight to the optimum range, and we could have very low 30s.

digger2d2

TRR wrote: »

If its 10k he is running its good going. If its what I like to call a GAA 10k (anywhere from 8.5-9.5k) it may not be as impressive but still good going.

I think you're being more charitable than usual there

theboyblunder

In my house its a great time I havent reached yet. In kenya it qualifies you to park in the handicapped spaces [may not be true]

Its a how-long-is-a-piece-of-string question really....

walshb

theboyblunder wrote: »

In my house its a great time I havent reached yet. In kenya it qualifies you to park in the handicapped spaces [may not be true]

Its a how-long-is-a-piece-of-string question really....

The question seems a bit more precise/specific than "how long is a piece of string." The OP did outline the runner's "stats" and level and participance. From my reading I think the guy is very very good.

Get the runner's age, weight, height and we could gauge even more.

Edit: Age is 30.

drquirky

This type of thread makes my head wanna explode :eek:

NiallG4

drquirky wrote: »

This type of thread makes my head wanna explode :eek:

Mine too. It always starts with "my friend ran......." then the middle bit is "he barely trains" and ends with "is this any good".

walshb

Folks just want some advice and feedback. Not everyone posting here is a fan or is into athletics like others may be. I love hearing these stories. If it gets folks discussing athletics I see this as a positive.

NiallG4

walshb wrote: »

Folks just want some advice and feedback. Not everyone posting here is a fan or is into athletics like others may be. I love hearing these stories. If it gets folks discussing athletics I see this as a positive.

Not having a dig. It is just I have seen these threads about friends who can run 53 secs for 400M and others who ran 59.30 for 10 miles and is it any good. No offence meant. I just suspect the friends of these runners know the answers and are just on a wind up.

robinph

NiallG4 wrote: »

Not having a dig. It is just I have seen these threads about friends who can run 53 secs for 400M and others who ran 59.30 for 10 miles and is it any good. No offence meant. I just suspect the friends of these runners know the answers and are just on a wind up.

The person running those times will know perfectly well how good they are in comparison to other runners. Their friends might not believe them which is probably where these threads come about.

PaulieC

NiallG4 wrote: »

Not having a dig. It is just I have seen these threads about friends who can run 53 secs for 400M and others who ran 59.30 for 10 miles and is it any good. No offence meant. I just suspect the friends of these runners know the answers and are just on a wind up.

It's never the people themselves who post. It's always the gaa-playing naïf who is just wanting to know if they are any good at 'de jogging'.

Gavlor

robinph wrote: »

A mid 36 minute 10km ranks me within in the top 2% of all UK 10km runners as a guide for the last few years of stats.

Were the 10kms that the friend did run as part of a triathlon, or an an actual separate road 10km running race?

Nice one! That stat on a t-shirt will be an ideal way for me to lose more friends!!

theboyblunder

drquirky wrote: »

This type of thread makes my head wanna explode :eek:

That was pretty much my first reaction - I should have gone with that as a response

SitUbuSit

Thanks to the people who posted helpful replies.

I'm a bit pissed off at the rest.

I'm a huge athletics and have been all my life, from knowing every WR off by heart from the age of 8 to alot of my childhood memories being linked with athletics events. Being late for my parent's 25th wedding anniversary because I wanted to see the final of the Women's 100m at the Stuggart World Champions in 1993, when I was 11, as an example.

However, besides competing in school level athletics, I haven't done much, and never joined a club. So I don't really have any practical knowledge of training techniques or more normal participation athletics.

I asked what I think was a fair question. My best mate is trying to decide whether to concentrate on athletics and give up training for triathlons. He knows I'm into athletics and asked my advice. I thought the gang here would have more knowledge than I did so I asked for advice, and I provided as much details as I could. Perhaps my title was misleading but there was more to my post than - is this a decent time!

His numerous sub 35 were run in proper 10k road races. This isn't some guy running around a final using his sat-nat to measure, or a GAA 10k as some people mentioned.

Athletics in Ireland needs as much support as it can get. So people talking about it, discussing training, and their performances should be supported and encouraged.

C'mon guys.

Krusty_Clown

Hi Seamus, I don't think anybody has meant anything disrespectful in the replies. Some of the comments, which may seem on the surface to be unsupportive, are actually requests for additional information, which you have supplied in your second post (like: is he performing in race conditions? Are the 10k races of a verifiable length? etc).

The real answer is that if he enjoys triathlon more he should continue with triathlons. If he enjoys running more, then that should be his chosen direction. As many on the triathlon forum will testify, there's also room to pursue both disciplines at the same time, as triathlons tend to have a finite season, while running races takes place year round. As I mentioned, he is already performing at top 1% level in mass participation races, without structured training/environment, so given this type of support.training he should see significant gains.

Will he benefit from a club environment and dedicated training? Absolutely.
How much will he benefit? How much will he improve? Impossible to predict.

drquirky

seamuscarey wrote: »

Thanks to the people who posted helpful replies.

I'm a bit pissed off at the rest.

I'm a huge athletics and have been all my life, from knowing every WR off by heart from the age of 8 to alot of my childhood memories being linked with athletics events. Being late for my parent's 25th wedding anniversary because I wanted to see the final of the Women's 100m at the Stuggart World Champions in 1993, when I was 11, as an example.

However, besides competing in school level athletics, I haven't done much, and never joined a club. So I don't really have any practical knowledge of training techniques or more normal participation athletics.

I asked what I think was a fair question. My best mate is trying to decide whether to concentrate on athletics and give up training for triathlons. He knows I'm into athletics and asked my advice. I thought the gang here would have more knowledge than I did so I asked for advice, and I provided as much details as I could. Perhaps my title was misleading but there was more to my post than - is this a decent time!

His numerous sub 35 were run in proper 10k road races. This isn't some guy running around a final using his sat-nat to measure, or a GAA 10k as some people mentioned.

Athletics in Ireland needs as much support as it can get. So people talking about it, discussing training, and their performances should be supported and encouraged.

C'mon guys.

Honestly I don';t even know what you are asking. You are "into athletics" and can't asses whether 35 min for 10k is decent?.... ok is 52 secs for 400 m decent? How bout a 6m Pole Vault? Point is its all relative. The elite times are there for all to see- check them and see how far your mate is. Far. Very far. Thats right in the grand scheme of things his time completely sucks. He is around 7 or 8 minutes off the road race WR of 26:44. Does that mean his 35 mins is "decent" maybe by some standards but it certainly isn't impressive when put up against the good club runners in Ireland who routinely run 32/33 mins....other people would strive their whole running careers to hit a time like 35 mins it all depends

Point is this kind of question does nothing to advance debate- these kind of posts come up in this forum all the time- its always someones "mate" (for the life of me can't figure out why they don't just post themselves) and it just gets tedious reading it over and over again- use the search function maybe? Here is my answer for your particular "mate" I think he should stay in Tri. Rant over.

SitUbuSit

That's fine. Your answer to my initial post is it's all relative and impossible to predict his potential.

That's a hell of a lot more helpful and nicer than "this thread makes my head want to explode"

I think a 35min 10k for someone not doing specific and focused training is great and shows he has potential. I was hoping that would be backed up by people here that I could pass on as some words of encouragement. I think the majority of the comments here support that, so I'm going to suggest to my mate to join a club, get a focused training programme and see how he gets on.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

rom

@seamuscarey: I detect from your posts that you think it would be a waste that this guy didn't become a runner due to this times. Now your only 31 yourself. There is no reason why your couldn't be running similar times like that in a few years with consistant structured training. Don't use the excuse of I didn't do it when I was younger to put you off. As you say you have great interest in the sport then why not learn more about training and join a club.

Kurt Godel

What are his 1500m swim and 40k bike times? 35min for a 10km run is decent, can he swim around 20mins and bike the hour-ish? More info needed, he might be more suited to Tri. (35min 10km run is a hotter prospect in Tri than straight running).