That may be true for larger races but I easily found a New York City area race in 2012 with a winning time of 19:01. New Hope 5K
That may be true for larger races but I easily found a New York City area race in 2012 with a winning time of 19:01.
New Hope 5K
Please tell me there were more than just 20 people in this race. Who puts on 5K's this small?
Even the smallest local ones around here get at least 100 folks with a handful of speedsters.
+1
The winner of this event probably feels a bit sheepish, while the 2nd through 10 finishers are over the moon!
Like LtH wrote, you can't know who might show up but your point is well taken. The winner was the only male in his 20's. Looking at the ages, times, and considering the small field I can't say it was too surprising. 7 minutes is a ton in a 5K but this field doesn't resemble any typical 5K I've run in. Even the smallest local ones around here get at least 100 folks with a handful of speedsters.
Like LtH wrote, you can't know who might show up but your point is well taken.
The winner was the only male in his 20's. Looking at the ages, times, and considering the small field I can't say it was too surprising. 7 minutes is a ton in a 5K but this field doesn't resemble any typical 5K I've run in. Even the smallest local ones around here get at least 100 folks with a handful of speedsters.
I'm not sure why folks in larger metropolitan areas always insist that EVERY race in their area is filled with 16:00 guys. I easily found a winning time of 19:01 within the city limits of New York City. D said the smallest races in Miami had over 1,000 people. Took me about 5 minutes to find several with about 200. I'm fairly sure I could find plenty of races in the DC area with 5K winning times slower than my PR. That's just the nature of the beast when there are 10-15 5K's in a metropolitan area on any given fall or spring weekend. (I'm assuming there are that many because we have gotten to the point that there are 8 or 9 on some weekends even in my little neck of the woods).
Short term goal: 17:59 5K
Mid term goal: 2:54:59 marathon
Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life. (I started running at age 45).
Relax. No where did I insist that every race in a larger metro area is filled with 16:00 guys. Believe what you will but you also don't find a lot of races around here as small as you continually reference. And there are more races with sub 18 winners than you'd believe.
I commented above on the race you found. 20 runners? Could people go out and find these races around here? Sure I guess. I just like more of a challenge and a little more competition.
Skirt Runner
I'll grant that the NYRR races will be very fast but I'm willing to bet that NYRR sponsors fewer than 5% of the total number of 5K's in the greater NYC area.
Yes there are other race organizations.....NYC Runs is one with a lot of races, including the one you found with only 20 finishers (that was all the way out in Jamacia, Queens, so I'm not surprised....the races in Central Park and Prospect Park get much bigger fields). NYC Runs races tend to be a lot smaller than NYRR...generally about 300 people in my experience (I have done 6 of their races in 2012 and 2013), and, yes, not generally as fast as NYRR. And yes, you can always find charities and such putting on races that are independent of major race organizations. And because of that, they tend to be smaller and slower.
PRs: 5K- 28:16 (5/5/13) 10K- 1:00:13 (10/27/13) 4M- 41:43 (9/7/13) 15K- 1:34:25 (8/17/13) 10M- 1:56:30 (4/6/14) HM- 2:20:16 (4/13/14) Full- 5:55:33 (11/1/15)
I started a blog about running :) Check it out if you care to
Are we there, yet?
A lot of the really small races are put on by organizations and charities that have no clue about running and organizing a race for runners. They also often ignore the normal conduits for disseminating race information or get the info out to the running community much too late to attract runners. As a result the race draws only from the organization members, family, and friends. One of the races I've run every year for the past 19 years (except one when injured) is like that. One year it had only 8 runners and about 35 walkers. Rarely has it gotten more than 20 runners plus another 30-40 walkers. It's no wonder that I finished in the top 5 the first 11 years including 2 wins with times over 20 minutes. More typical races in the area will draw 200-500 runners with the winning time often sub-17:00 and occasionally sub 15:00, though I have seen some with winning times as slow as 19 something. There are a few 5Ks that draw over 1000 runners and they also draw the faster runners if there's prize money.
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K 05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour
06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
Labrat
Did you see the 47th place finishers time ? Over 2 hours ?
I did note there was a 48 year old with the same surname. Father/son maybe ?
5K 20:23 (Vdot 48.7) 9/9/17
10K 44:06 (Vdot 46.3) 3/11/17
HM 1:33:48 (Vdot 48.6) 11/11/17
FM 4:13:43 (Vdot 35.4) 3/4/18
Did you see the 47th place finishers time ? Over 2 hours ? I did note there was a 48 year old with the same surname. Father/son maybe ?
I'm guessing data entry error. Probably just over 1 hour.
Drink up moho's!!
This race was held at an elementary school so the field was likely students and parents of the students. @ age 24 Eli might be a teacher there and was just there to support his school.
Dude is fuckin fast as well. Other stats on him from TriStateRacer.com http://www.tristateracer.com/livesearch.php?ln=Gerlach&fn=Eli
Although in looking at the field sizes I would bet many of the course were not certified and either a touch long or short being that his time spread is almost 2 minutes for his 2013 5Ks.