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Jessica Hampton's avatar

Wow, that is just absolutely appallingly fast. I’m a runner and I like math, so this was an interesting post. I run for zen and scenery, about a 9 minute pace at max distance of 10 miles. Puts me pretty solidly in the middle of the pack for my age range and gender on this one event I just started doing yearly. So it takes me an hour and a half to run much less than half the distance of a marathon. Basically like standing still next to these people, my goodness. They are like actual gods.

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Walter Rhein's avatar

A 9 mile pace is not easy at all. Actually a 10 minute pace is really hard for most people. At my absolute best when I was 24 or so, I could manage a 7 minute mile. I never did anything shorter than a 5 k. These days, a 7 minute mile would win most local events. The world's top marathoners are so much better than average, everyday people that it's almost incomprehensible. If you get a watch that shows your pace, you can't even run that fast going downhill. I'm serious, I've tried it :)

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Jessica Hampton's avatar

Yeah, not a chance. Not even on my youngest, fastest day. Not even for 1 mile, let alone 26.5

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Walter Rhein's avatar

The amazing thing is we can't maintain their pace for even 5 seconds! They look so smooth too!

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Laura Jeffries's avatar

Jessica — same, except I am slower than you are. Still “a runner” though! I had not really thought about the sheer FACT of “13 miles an hour” until reading this, though I’ve been running for years. Gobsmacking. I love reality.

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Walter Rhein's avatar

In fairness, the media is usually pretty disrespectful about the athleticism of endurance athletes. But all you have to do is try one of those events and it's stunning to recognize what people can achieve.

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Kathy Minicozzi's avatar

I can't imagine any human being running that fast!

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David Perlmutter's avatar

"Ridiculously fast, super-human fast."

I know that kind of fast. I write about people who are that kind of fast.

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Alene N.'s avatar

I’m cracking up. This is so funny to me. First “despite the fact that no one on social media can be bothered to think logically about anything for two consecutive seconds, they all consider themselves total experts on everything in the world.” You nailed it there.

The other part I find funny is the perception of elite runners. As a former front of the mid pack/back of the elite pack runner myself(some 30 years ago) I experienced those people firsthand. We used to call them “blue bayou runners”, as in I blew by you! Being a woman I often experienced this by men who thought it would be easy to beat a woman. They didn’t count on my being able to pace myself…

Checked out your hardware collection- all those upper Midwest races, good job!

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Walter Rhein's avatar

I call them my participation trophies because I think that term is unfairly vilified. I've always been slow, but a marathon is a nice way to spend the day. I've done around 25. Even a 7 minute mile is almost faster than anyone can believe. I've trained with men and women who were Olympic athletes... they're FAST! ;) thanks for the comment.

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Alene N.'s avatar

You’re giving me some ideas to revive some of my old ultra blogposts. I used to rant about some of these things myself… My husband ran for Reebok for nearly a decade, he was the real deal, people acted so weird around him. They practically worshipped him instead of treating him as a normal person. He could never have a regular conversation with runners, he preferred to hang out with non runners for that reason. He was one of those 4:40 a mile runners, one of the top distance runners in the US in the 80s and early 90s. He went to the World X-C Championships on the US team. Even now, 25+ years later, the few people who remember his running career still ask him what he’s training for. He is forever cemented in their minds as the elite runner he was.

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Walter Rhein's avatar

It sounds to me like he inspired people, but I see the kind of frustration with not having other parts of your identity recognized. That's a fascinating story! Running seems to have really trailed off from what it used to be in the 80s and 90s. I guess people are more sedentary now. I have some friends who are still really good cross-country skiiers even though they're in their 60s now. It's a big part of their identity, and when you chat with them it's all about training. I guess they've made peace with it. Or maybe it's just that they didn't develop other parts of themselves. Excellent topic!

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