# Who can run five miles? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 5, 2014, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536 "2014-09-05T01:44:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/61 "2014-09-06T00:58:53Z")
I don’t have to. I’ve got cars and motorcycles. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/62 "2014-09-06T01:02:25Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I am a bit fitness obsessed. For realz?? Had no idea. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/63 "2014-09-06T01:47:26Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I don’t have to. I’ve got cars and motorcycles. Well, me too. Scooters that is. But sometimes you have to get off your butt, no? 😉 I get ya, though. Riding is so much more fun than running. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/64 "2014-09-06T01:56:39Z")
> [@scootergirl](#): > > But sometimes you have to get off your butt, no? 😉 Nah. That’s overrated anyway. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/65 "2014-09-06T03:14:22Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Nah. That’s overrated anyway. 😉 Sorry. I do realize that not all can. I would bet, however, that you are in better shape than me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/66 "2014-09-06T03:39:26Z")
> [@scootergirl](#): > > Sorry. I do realize that not all can. Oh, don’t apologize! 😃 I was only playing. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/67 "2014-09-06T03:57:23Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Oh, don’t apologize! 😃 I was only playing. If I’m ever back in MI, we’re going out for a brew, and then…we’re gonna arm wrestle! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/68 "2014-09-06T04:27:21Z")
I’ve never had the knees for running, but I can walk 20 miles without a problem. I’ve never needed to run more than a quarter mile since execrable high school track and field class. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/69 "2014-09-06T04:28:18Z")
I generally stick to 3 miles a day these days because I’m an old woman (61) and don’t want to wear out my knees, but I could definitely run 5. I like to run. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/70 "2014-09-06T07:30:39Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > So, cyclists, don’t give up on the running - it is good to mix things up with your exercise routine. Just go REAL slow at the beginning. Thanks for the advice, I made the mistake of thinking running was just a time-efficient way to train cardio. A couple of weeks worth of ouch later, I was ready to run short distances. > [@Gatopescado](#): > > I don’t have to. I’ve got cars and motorcycles. [Do you really think that would protect you from rabid baboons?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOrc4Lwneyk) ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/71 "2014-09-06T08:11:25Z")
I walk a lot, most days with the dogs, and sometimes I incorporate some running\* but usually for short bursts during my walks, less than a mile at a time. I can walk briskly for five or more miles without even breaking a sweat. But I don’t think I could run five non-stop miles at this point. Maybe at a very slow trot, I could. I voted no way. \*I like running backwards. It supposedly has some [benefits](http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/running-in-reverse/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0), too. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/72 "2014-09-06T10:09:04Z")
I can’t even run for the bus. I’m pretty fit and active, but running just hurts everything in my body. It even hurts my teeth. I mean _everything_. I regularly skate to my parent’s house and back, which is 6 miles. If the weather is nice I’ll swim 1k when I’m there. I cycle probably between 6k and 10k every day. But I can’t run. Not even for the baboons. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/73 "2014-09-06T12:49:12Z")
I run like a puppet, with my limps flopping around every which way. I’ve tried practicing my technique, but I just can’t get the hang of it. Running doesn’t come naturally to me. I’d rather exercise in a way that feels natural and doesn’t set me up for accidents and injury. And of course, looking halfway dignified is also important to me. So I walk six miles every day. I may not be the fittest person in the world, but I’m fit enough. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/74 "2014-09-06T13:52:53Z")
Exercise-induced asthma. 5 miles won’t happen. The pack of rabid baboons will get me. I used to run shorter distances, but sometimes even struggled with that and had to use my inhaler a lot. This was before long-term preventative inhalers, though. Now that some years have passed, docs don’t like someone over 40 huffing on the rescue inhaler a lot, and I’ve never had full prevention from the preventative inhalers. I miss running. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/75 "2014-09-06T14:11:02Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > Exercise-induced asthma. …[snip]… docs don’t like someone over 40 huffing on the rescue inhaler a lot, and I’ve never had full prevention from the preventative inhalers. > > I miss running. You may want to ask your doc about the approach of taking 2 puffs of your bronchodilator 10 to 15 minutes before running. That’s the standard and those puffs used in that preventative manner do not usually get counted as “rescue puffs.” In any case the goal for asthma care, and a reasonable one, is to not have your activity limited. If you tell your doc you want an approach that allows you to take up running again they can help get you there. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/76 "2014-09-06T16:39:43Z")
Based on anecdotal observation, running is a leisure sport. Where I live, most retired people spent their life ranching or in oil fields, and few people who have worked hard all their lives make it past 65 without a conspicuous infirmity that would absolutely preclude running more than a couple of paces. People who work hard do not run for fun. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/77 "2014-09-06T16:42:26Z")
Disabling shin splints, so I’m out. Evenso, I know from walking and hiking that once I get to about 8-10 miles of walking over the course of a few hours I will get very bad blisters on my feet. I’ve tried different shoes, but they don’t help for either problem. ---
**Author:** ![BigDadWolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@BigDadWolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigDadWolf)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/78 "2014-09-06T18:24:58Z")
I think I could do it if chased by a pack of sufficiently slow pack of rabid baboons. Adding a time limit would help clarify exactly what is meant by “running five miles”. If I had to run file miles in 40 minutes (8 minutes per mile) I would say no way no matter what was chasing me. Five miles in one hour (12 minutes per mile) I could probably do but it would be painful and I would be amazingly sore for days afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/79 "2014-09-06T18:41:39Z")
Five miles in 40 minutes? No way for me. I’ve let myself get out of shape, and I haven’t run/jogged in YEARS. A year ago I trotted, and made it to 5 laps around the track: 1.25 miles. That was the first time in many years, and I haven’t done anything since. For this poll I set a high bar: Yes Definitely. I’ll go out soon (a day or 3 or 4) and give it a try - a shuffle, a recon shuffle or survival shuffle, and see if I make it. Maybe I should’ve answered If Sufficiently Motivated, instead. Or maybe I should’ve answered There’s NFW For Me. 😉 ETA: I said no way for 5 miles in 40 minutes because even in my greatest shape 30 years ago in the Marines, my best-ever time in the PFT was 23:30 (for 3 miles). I was never fast. Strong yes, but not fast. (And the older I get, the better I think I was! ;)) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536/80 "2014-09-06T19:30:49Z")
No, but I can walk the shit out of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-can-run-five-miles/697536.md?page=5)