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5K distance variation (Read 1826 times)

Trent


Good Bad & The Monkey

    Much like a marathon doesn't have a specific number of monkeys, it has some statistical distribution of monkeys -- it may be very likely to have no monkeys, and less likely to have one monkey, and so forth -- and perhaps some other race is very likely to have a herd of about 200 monkeys...
    I am so disappointed I didn't get to run with you last week.


    Imminent Catastrophe

      I can loan you my 5000m measuring tape if you want but it's only accurate at 15°C. I have another that's 26.2 miles. BTW I'm pretty sure those are macaques.

      "Able to function despite imminent catastrophe"

       "To obtain the air that angels breathe you must come to Tahoe"--Mark Twain

      "The most common question from potential entrants is 'I do not know if I can do this' to which I usually answer, 'that's the whole point'.--Paul Charteris, Tarawera Ultramarathon RD.

       

      √ Javelina Jundred Jalloween 2015

      Cruel Jewel 50 mile May 2016

      Western States 100 June 2016

        did you guys ever think that you may be nerds?
        For message board success, follow these three easy steps in the correct order: 1) Read, 2) Comprehend, 3) Post.


        Menace to Sobriety

          I can loan you my 5000m measuring tape if you want but it's only accurate at 15°C. I have another that's 26.2 miles. BTW I'm pretty sure those are macaques.
          Who measured your measuring tapes?

          Janie, today I quit my job. And then I told my boss to go f*** himself, and then I blackmailed him for almost sixty thousand dollars. Pass the asparagus.

            If you want it exact run a track? Even then are you running the inside of the track or the outside... O well I tried... I know we are in the 21 century but we still aren't exact!
            This is a very interesting thread.I have always wondered how much further an athlete runs a 5k on a track. They cannot possibly run on the inside lane so perhaps a foot every lap is added to the totals. Sometimes they pass on the outside of runners adding another few feet to the final tally. Being in land surveying I know there is survey equpiment that uses lasers that could get you within a tenth of a foot of 5000 meters. But usually these devices are only showing you horizontal distance. If a course has hills that adds alot more distance as you are running on a hypotenuse if you will. A mile on the earth's surface is alot more than a mile if you run up a 45 degree slope. So it seems like they measure 5k courses with bike wheels or wheeling devices.that do not have the same accuracy as land surveying lasers. Anyhow if you are not running alone chances are in a 5k you cannot run the tangents and will probably run a hundred feet or more further than 5k distance by going around runners/obstacles.
            jEfFgObLuE


            I've got a fever...

              I know that I contributed one of the dorkiest posts in RA history midway through this thread (though I'm still extremely proud of my magnum opus -- I flipped Lank Yes ), but now that this thread is strangely resurrected, I'm just gonna say this: Quit f*****g worrying about how g*ddamn short or long the course is and try to beat the guy (or gal) in front of you. It's a race.

              On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office.  But you will wish that you'd spent more time running.  Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.


              On My Horse

                Quit f*****g worrying about how g*ddamn short or long the course is and try to beat the guy (or gal) in front of you. It's a race.
                That deserves to be quoted. 5ks are a complete and total crapshoot, with a race that short you need to go out there and compete.

                "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies with in us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

                AmoresPerros


                Options,Account, Forums

                  Ya, 5Ks are a complete and total crapshoot. With a race that long and varied, you just gotta go with what you feel. Not like a 1600m on the track at all -- now that's a race. And yeah, you wanna run on the inside lane...

                  It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.

                  Mr R


                    Actually, it's not that hard to run on the inside on a track 5k. It mostly depends on what kind of race it is. In non-championship race, when everyone's going for time, the race gets strung out, and people try to just draft off of each other. When you see wide packs of runners going around the turns, chances are you're watching a championship race, in which nobody wants to be the one to push the pace. Everyone ends up bunched together, and because you're running at a fairly comfortable pace, it's often better to be off the rail, so it's easy to make a move when someone breaks. By the way, tracks are measured 20 cm from the inside line, or 30 cm from the line if the track has a rail (most major tracks do). When you want an exact distance, run on a track. They are far more accurately measured than road courses. You'll run faster too. Also, as some have pointed out, road courses can be certified, but improperly set-up. If someone puts the finish line in the wrong place, then a "certified" course can be short. If you're suspicious, you can go the the USATF website and look up the pdf of the course. It's easy to see when a course has been set up inconsistently with the actual certification. If you want a really accurate road race, go to Japan, where courses are often measured with chains, assuring the straightest possible tangents.

                    What was the secret, they wanted to know; in a thousand different ways they wanted to know The Secret. And not one of them was prepared, truly prepared to believe that it had not so much to do with chemicals and zippy mental tricks as with that most unprofound and sometimes heart-rending process of removing, molecule by molecule, the very tough rubber that comprised the bottoms of his training shoes. The Trial of Miles, Miles of Trials. How could they be expected to understand that? -John Parker

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