Forums >Racing>Holy Grail Time for Women's Marathon?
Breaking 3 hours in the marathon is a huge milestone - I have read threads here about training for and accomplishing a sub-3.
But for a female age grouper like me - I am curious about what you think the equivalent accomplishment is?
I have put a 2:59:59 (30 year old male) into this calculator - and it says the equivalent time is 3:24 for a 30 year old female.
That's all well and good - My question is - what do you think the milestone should be? If you were a 45 year old woman with only a few more fast years in you - what would be the time you would want to break??
MTA: There should be a 4th option to the poll - -
Suck it up buttercup - 3:00 is the holy grail for both male and female.
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Interesting question. I want to believe I have some more fast years in me as a 40-something. 3:30 would be pretty f*n awesome. 3:20 for a younger lady.
TaraC - out of curiosity, what is your answer to your question?
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From the fast young women in my running club, I would say sub 3:10
For 45 year old wimmen, 3:20
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Well to confound things I find running a sub 3 as a (almost) 45-year-old dude way easier than I did as a 32 year old. So there's that.
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THE Holy Grail? 2:15:25.
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I'm not sure what you're asking. What do you mean by Holy Grail? Is it obtainable or not?
Because there are certainly master's women running sub-3s. But, I'm thinking sub-2:50 would be exceedingly difficult to achieve for most 45 year old women.
Now, if you're talking about a time that would impress most people, I think the standard is still the BQ. For a 45 year old woman, that's 3:55, which isn't on your list, though.
My guess is 3:20 would place for a masters or 40-49 AG award for most marathons in my area. So, that was my vote. If I'm running that in two years, I'll be thrilled. If I was running faster than that, I'd be okay with that, too.
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Sorry if the question is too vague - I guess when I hear that some guy whether he's 35 or 45 has run a sub-3 - I think - damn that's serious.
Not a time that is unattainable - just something that is a bit badass.
So what is the equivalent for a 35 - 45 year old woman - - In my opinion it's in the vicinity of 3:15 -
And I know the numbers are arbitrary - But before I die I'd like to post a time that starts with a 3 followed and is followed by a teen :-)
I think I still disagree. Maybe I'm hanging with a fast crowd, but I feel like I could put on a blindfold and throw a dart in my running club and hit a sub-3 guy. But, would need to direct my aim to hit the one sub-3:15 (actually sub-3) master's woman. (Not that I want to hit anyone with a dart. Just sayin' for effect).
But, I think your goal is a noble one. Go for it!
Edited because I can't spell.
Are we there, yet?
My immediate reaction on reading the thread title was 2:20, then I read the actual original post and realized that I jumped to conclusions about what the thread was about. As a rough estimate I'd say BQ-5 would be the equivalent to a 3:00 for open men since 3:00 is BQ-5 for open men.
BTW it is interesting to note that once women were allowed official entry to Boston, initially they were required to meet the same time standard (3:30) for qualifying as the men. It wasn't until 1977, 5 years later when the BQ for open men was lowered to 3:00, that women and masters men had a different BQ. The BQ of 3:30 remained the same for them rather than been lowered along with that for the open men.
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I'm torn between 3:15 and 3:20. I know more sub-3 male marathoners than sub 3:20 female marathoners though so I went with that. (Even though I know just as many female marathoners as male)
Very encouraging - I have only run two marathons - more than 20 years apart - the races were similar times and similar experiences....but my older body takes much more maintenance to get through the training :-)
Amen.
I guess a holy grail for mere mortals was my intention.....
Amen. I guess a holy grail for mere mortals was my intention.....
Well, for master's, I was going to bring up that Joanie ran a 2:47 at the age of 52, but she may be even less mortal than Radcliffe.
Mortal women? Sub-3. Always.