Yes, it is awesome! It is a fantastic achievement. If you have done this, kudos to you. Here are the facts and stats to back up my answer.
Only 18.1 million people in the United States participate in any timed run annually. For starters, at a 26 minute 5k you are absolutely faster than more than 97% of all people who did not participate.
Of the top 3% who did participate in a timed run, a 5k at 26 minutes beat many, many, more than half all participants. Many who enter timed runs only walk.
A 5k at 26 minutes is 2 minutes faster than the required standard for the United States Marine Corp 3 mile run for the boot-camp entrance standard. Just about 3% of active Marines fail to make the minimum speed. You are as fast as a Marine — a peak fitness ideal.
34.41 is the average 5k run for a sample size of 10,000 racers with recorded run times. A 5k at 26 minutes is more than 8.5 minutes faster than average!
Some answers you are going to receive are bound to trouble me. I’ll try not to read them. A few will tell you that a 26 minute 5k is slow, below average, or just barely mediocre. The evidence does not support those answers.
Others will tell you, “it depends,” which is nonsense. A 26 minute 5k is statistically a great time, regardless of variables.
The worst answer you will receive contributes to ageism. You may receive answers about other protected classes of people as a variable. The bias contributes to discouragement. FYI the wheelchair racers almost always finish far ahead of the able-bodied racers. I am particularly sensitive by using age for discouraging achievement.
Please do not listen to those who stealthily talk about age or anything else to discourage your excellence. Kathy Martin at age 65, for example, is among many who defy the culture of “you should be old and slow.” She posted a 19.4 minute 5k run.
My heart is broken every day by patients pointing to their age as the reason to give-up. Our cultural bias has encouraged our older population to believe being frail is normal. You have permission to defy and outrun sarcopenia.
My advice is to take your 26 minutes and run with it. If that is your goal time… congrats on visualizing a great time. If that is your current time…. congrats on achieving a great time. Take my admiration —either way!
It is my theory that running fast has a lot to do with having fun. Running can take place year-round and be tremendously fun.
May your road ahead be even faster in the years to come and your speed be only exceeded by your enjoyment.
Source: Pictures obtained from google image search and presumed to be usable in public domain.
Thanks for Reading 🙏
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