Slow and Steady Wins the Race

This old adage from that Great Sage, the Tortoise is, in my estimation, categorically false. Let's look for a moment at what the experts have to say about the length of time a 5K should take.

Kilometer Chart

Kilometers	Miles	Fast	Moderate	Easy
1	0.62	7 min.	10 min.	12.5 min.
2	1.24	14 min.	20 min.	25 min.
3	1.86	21 min.	30 min.	37.5 min.
4	2.48	28 min.	40 min.	50 min.
5	3.11	35 min.	50 min.	62.5 min.
6	3.73	42 min.	60 min.	75 min.
7	4.35	49 min.	70 min.	87.5 min.
8	4.97	56 min.	80 min.	100 min.

The list goes on up to marathon lengths, but since I'm not there yet, I didn't see the point in pasting all of it in this post. Take the link if you're interested.

If you look at the 5K, you will see that it is a 3.11 mile jaunt that should take 50 minutes if you are walking at a moderate pace. After i got home this morning, I took the car's odometer out for a spin to see how far I went (I've extended my course to Downey, Florence, Woodruff and Firestone). That particular route is 3.7 miles. This 3.7 miles took me approximately 60 minutes to run this morning.

Now, understand that I'm not complaining that it took me the same amount of time to complete this at a run as it would take someone who was walking at a moderate pace. However, I am using this fact to illustrate my profound disagreance with the title of my post. I don't care who you are; you are not going to win a 3.11 mile 5K by running at a walker's pace. It's not going to happen. I'm happy to be able to complete it at my own pace of running. For me, it's an accomplishment and I'm proud of it. But I'm not going to win. No way. No how. Unless no one else shows up but a fat man with a short-legged poodle.


FYI, there was a different photo of the tortoise and the hare that I wanted to post, but thought it might be inappropriate. So if you are easily offended, don't take this link.