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average running time in a 5K for a 49 year old woman (Read 28240 times)

Pajacon


    Hi, I'm trying to get some idea of what the average running time should be for a 49 year old woman in a 5 K race. I know that it's hard to generalize but I need SOME idea and something to shoot for. I haven't yet run a race and I am just breaking the 2.5 mile mark of my running. Your fedback would be appreciated... thanks, Claudia
    Wingz


    Professional Noob

      Hi, Claudia. You're right - it is hard to generalize. However, my best answer to you would be to have as your goal for this race to be... finishing. Yep. That's it. Finishing. Having a good time would also be a worthwhile goal. There will be lots of time later to worry about getting faster. Take your time now and just enjoy the race experience itself. Good luck!

      Roads were made for journeys...

      JakeKnight


        Not a clue what the "average" time might be, but here's a link to our local running group's list of nearby race results. Thanks to Nashville heat and humidity, they might be a little slower than whatever that "average" is, but you can follow the links and look through the 5-k's and get an idea of the range: http://www.nashvillestriders.com/RaceResults.htm Just for fun, here's your age group at the last 5-k I ran last Memorial Day. The race had 293 overall entrants, and here's the female 45-49 finishers (and in a year, you get to run with a slower group - which is why runners are the only people excited to get older ...!)
        FEMALE AGE GROUP: 45 - 49 GUN CHIP PLACE O'ALL NAME AGE TIME TIME PACE CITY STATE ===== ===== =================== === ======= ======= ===== 1 109 LYNNE NEELEY 49 24:59 24:59 8:04 Nashville TN 2 122 DIANA BIBEAU 46 25:33 25:33 8:15 3 125 TAMMY RICE 45 25:47 25:47 8:19 Lebanon TN 4 156 CINDY MOWREY 46 27:16 27:16 8:48 5 178 C JONES 45 28:56 28:56 9:20 6 208 MARILYN HOLDER 49 30:57 30:57 9:59 7 260 KAREN ROSE 46 37:41 37:41 12:10 8 270 CINDY EDWARDS 47 40:19 40:19 13:01 Nashville TN
        Hope that helps Smile

        E-mail: eric.fuller.mail@gmail.com
        -----------------------------


        Dog-Love

          I am an average runner who is allmost 49 years old and I aim for under 26.5 minutes. Sometimes I am faster and sometimes I am slower. I hope to next year run our annual Beat the Odds 5 K in 25 minutes. It could happen
          Run like you are on fire! 5K goal 24:00 or less (PR 24:34) 10K goal 50:00 or less (PR 52:45) HM goal 1:55:00 or less (PR 2:03:02) Marathon Goal...Less than my PR (PR 4:33:23)
          Wingz


          Professional Noob

            I am an average runner who is allmost 49 years old and I aim for under 26.5 minutes. Sometimes I am faster and sometimes I am slower. I hope to next year run our annual Beat the Odds 5 K in 25 minutes. It could happen
            My impression from the original post was that she was new to running. Since all we know from the post is that she's 49 and hasn't run more than 2.5 miles at a time, that leaves a really wide range of possible times open. She could be slower than "yours truly." My first 5K at age 33 was over 44 minutes. I would have been bitterly disappointed if I were shooting for 26.5 minutes that first time! She could be speedy like you. Wink From the info given, we can't really tell, but IMO, the fact still remains that the first race you run in is something special and should be cherished for the experience itself, not for any particular race time. Claudia, the best way to find out what you're capable of at your first race would be to go and run that race and find out. You can then realistically adjust your goals from there. Pretty much everyone sees a nice drop in times during their first year of racing, so even if your first race is slower than you'd hoped, chances are good that you'll be faster the next time around. Keep running and training well, and the times should continue to go down. Do you have your race picked out already? That can be a lot of fun. And if you pick one out and send in the money to register, it works well as a motivating factor to keep on training for it. Which is a good thing. Everybody wins. Smile

            Roads were made for journeys...

              You said you're just starting to run over 2.5 miles. What's your pace now? If it's a comfortable pace why not for shits & giggles shave 5 seconds off that pace & make that your goal pace. Your first (of many hopefully) race should be a fun experience. Enjoy the scene, plenty of time to worry about time later.
                I agree with everyone else. For your first race, shoot for finishing. Smile I don't think there is any way to generalize. I'm in the 40-44 age group. My first 5K last Spring was over 30 minutes. The one I ran 2 weeks ago was right at 25 minutes. My friend who is the same age was the overall women's winner with a sub 20:00 and there were several 20- and 30-something runners who finished over 45 minutes. One of the things I like about running is that I'm not really competing against all those other runners. I'm competing against myself. Constantly trying to improve what *I* can do. I've also found that times can vary considerably depending on where the race is held. I travel around a bit to race and some areas have more active running clubs and faster times. Others may not even have a running club and lots of walkers take part and the times are slower. One 10K race I ran this summer I was totally left behind and ended up coming in second to last. The one I ran last weekend, I got 1st place for my age group. Granted, I did get faster over the summer but mainly it's a difference in the crowd. The first race had a lot of high school and college athletes. The second had 3 times as many runners of varying degrees of ability. If it's something you want to know, check online for past results from the race you want to run. Good luck! Smile Teresa
                  You can find times for your age group from various race results. You know your current pace . epending on how much time you have before your first race is you can set a more or less ambitious goal. There is nothing in the book about adjusting your goals as you train and see how well you are progressing. I would say a lot depends on a kind of person you are. If you get discouraged by not achieving your goals, don't aim too high for your first race, but if a defeat only challenges you to work even harder then aim for something really ambitious. Only note that as you look at the race results first 5-10 fastest times are achieved by people who either have trained for a long long time or have great running talents (which you might possess too). Good luck to you and happy running.
                  I would rather wear out than rust out. - Helen Klein You create your own universe as you go along. - Winston Churchill
                  Montamat


                    To put this into perspective, I just started out this week and am trying to work UP TO 2 miles.  This week I've run a half mile twice.  The first time I took 6 min and 30 sec.  and this morning I did it in 5 min 50 sec.  Gotta start somewhere.  I'm planning to do a mini triathalon in May that ends with a 2 mile run and want to do that portion 13 minutes or less.  I'm 45 years old.

                      Hi, I'm trying to get some idea of what the average running time should be for a 49 year old woman in a 5 K race. I know that it's hard to generalize but I need SOME idea and something to shoot for. I haven't yet run a race and I am just breaking the 2.5 mile mark of my running. Your fedback would be appreciated... thanks, Claudia

                       

                      Everyone is very different. Particularly if you're starting out you just don't know how you're going to do until you give it a go. One of the hard things when you don't know what you're capable of is that you don't know how hard to go out at the start. Novices often get excited at races and go out too fast and then suffer at the end. Weight also makes a huge difference... if you're carry a few extra pounds it's much harder to compete with lean people.

                       

                      The thing to remember is we all have limits that training will allow us to improve within, but some of us are never going to compete with the fastest, however much we train. But until you train you can't know how you'll get on.

                       

                      For a 49 year old woman 16.xx would be a world class performance. 23.xx would be OK for someone who runs a decent milage weekly regularly. 

                      And then slower that that depend on how little you run.

                       

                      My wife is 48 and does a 5k some weeks... she does little running, but is generally fit and healthy. She doesn't really try to go flat out and typically does 27 or 28 mins.

                        This is a thread from November of 2006.

                         

                        November of 2006. 

                         

                        MTA - But Montamat, you might be better off developing your aerobic capacity with something like the C25K program than trying to run short distances faster and faster. 

                        "Because in the end, you won't remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn.  Climb that goddamn mountain."

                        Jack Kerouac


                        Loves the outdoors

                          So I wonder what the average running time for a 5K is for a 53 year old...

                          One day I decided I wanted to become a runner, so I did.

                          xor


                            So I wonder what the average running time for a 5K is for a 53 year old...

                             

                            +5 for Hufflepuff.

                             

                            RunAsics


                            The Limping Jogger

                              I guess we can call a 50% age graded time as "average".   For a 49 y/o female that's a 32:40 5k, which lines up with the results for this division from my local turkey trot.  Age group winners were 23 -25 mins.   Where you fall in the age graded table doesn't mean much now.  Just finish the race then figure out how to improve.

                              "Only a few more laps to go and then the action will begin, unless this is the action, which it is."

                                I guess we can call a 50% age graded time as "average".   For a 49 y/o female that's a 32:40 5k, which lines up with the results for this division from my local turkey trot.  Age group winners were 23 -25 mins.   Where you fall in the age graded table doesn't mean much now.  Just finish the race then figure out how to improve.

                                 

                                For 5k races there are some interesting statistics via parkrun. This is an organisation here in the UK that organised weekly 5k races all around the country. Participation is encouraged from people all across the spectrum, from quite zippy club runners to first time runners. And there's a large range of ages. 

                                 

                                The website collects results and it's interesting to browse through them if you're interested in this sort of thing. So for 49 year old women we can look at the rankings for the female 45-49 category at my local event. Seems like mid to hi 20s is typical amongst those who do the event regularly - there's a tail of slower people, but that tends to be people who one have only one or two attendances. And of course a few faster people.

                                 

                                FWIW I think that 50% is probably quite a low age grading for someone who's been running for some time and runs regularly - although I guess whether it's "average" is maybe a different question. My wife manages around 60% doing very little running other than a the 5k parkrun every couple of weeks. I manage around 70% off quite a bit of running (although most of it marathon training, rather than middle distance training.)

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