I know...
But it's worth bearing in mind that these are the MINIMUM standards. 1.5 miles in 10.5 minutes is a 7 minute mile. Paula Radcliffe ran her best marathon averaging 5.2 minutes per mile. Obviously it's unfair comparing the man on the street to her, but I think it shows that the army standard is actually fairly basic.
(Bernard Bernoulli, Thu 9 Jul 2009, 20:54, 1 reply)

A 40 minute 10km is a lot harder to hit than a 10 minute 1.5 miler
I do a fair bit of running, and go to the gym 4 times a week to boot. I managed for the first time in january to run a sub 39 min 10km and then ran the FLM in April. Which takes a fair bit of training.

I'd be surprised if a casual runner could do a sub 40 minute 10km without a bit of training.

Join a proper running club with proper coaches, that's the best advice I can give, it encourages you to go, and the sessions should be structured to get the best out of you.
( Moonraker isn't the droid you were looking for, Thu 9 Jul 2009, 22:08, closed)

This is true
It's occurred to me that I've asked everyone to run their 1.5 mile pace, but for four times as far. I think it would be more appropriate to revise the 10k time down to 45 minutes or thereabouts and leave the 1.5 mile time as it is: It's a time that should be pretty attainable to most people with some effort and training.

I definitely agree with what you say about joining a running club. I ran track and x-country when I was in my teens and the fitness stayed with me through several years of university on the beer-and-kebabs diet.
(Bernard Bernoulli, Thu 9 Jul 2009, 23:54, closed)