Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

In the world of marathons, I sometimes forget that 5K and 10K races are also considered long distance races. Here is a classic picture from the Library of Congress of Hannes Kolehmainen. He won the Olympic gold medal for the 5K and 10K in the 1912 Olympics.

Sometimes I forget that these races are so old. Almost one hundred years ago, this man ran that familiar 3.1 miles of a 5K. He ran it in 14:36.6 minutes, which is slower than the usual winner of the Salt Lake 5K by a couple of minutes, but twice as fast as my best time. Are we faster now than they were back then? Are we slower? There certainly are more people competing in races.

Sometimes I wonder what it was like to run in 1912. No digital chronographs. No heart rate monitors. No Nike+ telling me when I’ve finished my run, however inaccurately it may judge it, I’m sure it’s more accurate than I could have done in 1912. Is it more convenient to run now? Yeah, I think it is. That’s why we’re able to beat the Olympic time at little 5K races in my hometown.

From the look on his face, however, running is just as hard now as it was back then.