Favorite Racing Distance
MinimalistShoeAddict
Posts: 1,946 Member
What is your favorite distance to race any why?
Since I have started running about a year ago I have ran:
2 one mile races (3 if you count my recent beer mile race)
4 5k races
2 10k races
1 15k race
1 half marathon
1 25k race
1 marathon
I am undecided on which distance I like the best. Some days I like the 1 mile or 5k and on other days I look forward to my my second marathon and first ultra next year.
Since I have started running about a year ago I have ran:
2 one mile races (3 if you count my recent beer mile race)
4 5k races
2 10k races
1 15k race
1 half marathon
1 25k race
1 marathon
I am undecided on which distance I like the best. Some days I like the 1 mile or 5k and on other days I look forward to my my second marathon and first ultra next year.
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Replies
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5k
because it's over fast, and I was stuck at a certain time for over a year. Now, I break that time easily, and it still makes me happy ! 0 -
My favorite race distance is the half marathon. I can go all out & it's over before I'm sore. I also love the marathon because it takes strategy, pacing, training, and resolve. I hate 5k's because I would have to run 3.1 mi to get warmed up & I'm still not fast enough. And I'm definitely thinking of my first ultra. But it won't be for a while yet. I have a 100 miler planned in my mind for January of 2016.0
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I would have to say the mile and the marathon are equal favorites. The mile because you get to haul @ss, the marathon because it is such a wonderful journey to get to the starting line and the race itself is both tactical and strategic.
My least favorite is the 5K. It just hurts worse and longer than any other distance.0 -
I have to agree with the sentiments about the half-marathon, because I am definitely longer distance, but haven't figured out the marathon quite yet.
I also have to agree about the 5k, but it's the distance I've raced the most and with the most success, so I have to love it.0 -
I'm probably best at the 5K but I think I might like the half-marathon more. I enjoy the speed and success I get in the 5K but the half is a more challenging, strategic race.
Marathons, though I love them too, are just too painful to be my favorite. I also don't like the fact that they take so long to train for and recover from. If you just don't have it on that particular day, it's another 6 months before you can reasonably try again.0 -
I have done a few 1 mile, tons of 5k and 10k and several halfs. Halfs are my favourite by far.0
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I've done 5 5Ks, 2 10Ks, 2 Half marathons, and 3 mud runs.
The Half marathon is definitely my favorite so far. I have a hard time figuring out how fast to run in a 5K. I either burn out too fast or have too much left in the tank at the end. I guess that's part of the learning process but there's no margin for error. I enjoy 10Ks more because there is a little more time to fix something you did wrong early on but I just don't feel like I've been running long enough. The half marathon so far has been the perfect mix of challenging but not balls out dead in 5 minutes running and I'm still feeling good the next day. I don't really count the mud runs as anything but just having fun. Given the choice I'd rather do a regular race.
I have another half scheduled for this coming February. I'm planning to run a full marathon in February 2015 and have a plan tentatively in place to be well enough trained that I enjoy the race. The guy with whom I do my long runs on weekends predicts that I will end up loving marathons (he doesn't really enjoy anything shorter than a half marathon). I am REALLY looking forward to running a full marathon and depending how that goes would like to take a shot at a 50 miler.0 -
Whoa...am I the first to say 10K?! I love that distance--done in about 45 minutes. It's perfect. Second favorite would be the half.
I've never done a mile race, done a bunch of 5Ks (last one I came in 27th out of 955 runners, 5th female, 1st in my age group), a few 10Ks, a couple of half marathons, and a marathon.0 -
I think the half marathon is a great distance. It's long enough to be a challenge (I'm more intrigued by distance rather than speed), but not so long that it takes over your life like a marathon can.0
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So far I love both the half and full. For the half, I can really push myself hard with less sacrifice and less option to fail since it is the shorter distance, so it is easier to go for a better time.
For the marathon, I love the long journey, the challenge, the people you meet, the whole thing is usually a great experience. If all you take away from it is pain and an accomplishment of running 26.2, you failed. It is much more than that, and that is why I love its challenge, both physical, emotional, and more!0 -
I'm a half marathon guy. Half the distance, twice the fun 0
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I love the half because the training required is just enough to get me out the door and in shape but not so much that it takes over my life and messes with my mom duties.0
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Anything over a 10k is good.... I've decided that I'm just too slow to run shorter distances...0
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Just started doing 50K...and really kinda digging the distance. It's just that little extra work past the marathon that makes the distance. Other than that it's a toss up. Those middle distances, 10K, 10 mile, half, they seem to be pretty fun and pretty easy to jump right in on. But I think my favorite there would be the 10 miler.
Most of the time for me it's the atmosphere and location that actually make a race, not so much the distance.0 -
13.1/the half marathon. (You get a double-dose in a full marathon).Love the full marathon distance too but it is more complicated and requires more effort/more training.0
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Just started doing 50K...and really kinda digging the distance. It's just that little extra work past the marathon that makes the distance. Other than that it's a toss up. Those middle distances, 10K, 10 mile, half, they seem to be pretty fun and pretty easy to jump right in on. But I think my favorite there would be the 10 miler.
Most of the time for me it's the atmosphere and location that actually make a race, not so much the distance.
I agree with the atmosphere part.. but how can you enjoy anything in a 5k or less??0 -
I love the 15k. Right now it's the perfect "go all out" distance without being super sore the next day. 0
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I really like running half marathons because I can push hard but I'm not used up afterwards. That said, if an event is offering a half and full option I will go with the full every time.0
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5ks ARE the best!0
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I have only run the half once but I am pretty convinced it will be my favorite. I do not run competitively as far as speed goes and I can't dedicate enough time to try to do anything longer. My exercise runs are generally 6-10 miles.0
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Half marathons for sure!
5K = not my preferred brand of pain, no margin for error (one bad split and you're toast)
10K = almost all the pain of a 5K, but twice the distance...
half marathon = yes please!
marathon = having run 26 of them, I'm still trying figure out if I like them (I'm thinking not so much)0 -
Whoa...am I the first to say 10K?! I love that distance--done in about 45 minutes. It's perfect. Second favorite would be the half.
I've never done a mile race, done a bunch of 5Ks (last one I came in 27th out of 955 runners, 5th female, 1st in my age group), a few 10Ks, a couple of half marathons, and a marathon.
Only two of us with love for the 10K? I like it because it is a real distance, but it is fast.
It is interesting, our local newspaper interviewed all the notable, local runners in town a while back and it asked them what their favorite race was. A couple of these people were known for their marathons, and one was even trying to qualify for the Olympic team.
So, I assumed, looking at the article, that these people would say, mostly, that they liked the marathon.
Almost to a man (and woman), they said they liked the half marathon. They said it was a real race, in that it was long, but did not beat you up the way the marathon does.0 -
I will definitely be joining the 10k people--it's not a long enough race to be too expensive or nerve-wracking, but it's long enough to actually feel like a workout. I have only done one so far (limited budget), but I'm definitely on the look-out for another!0
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Before October 13th, I would have said the half marathon. But now after my 3rd half (4th is in November) I'm starting to think that maybe I don't like racing at all.
After my next race if I still hate racing, I'm going to switch over to 10ks as my first choice for distance because gennerally in a half marathon it's at the 10k mark that I've had enough and want to walk off the course. And I could still do my 15 and 16 mile long runs for 10k training because I love 15 and 16 mile training runs.
So I'd say 10k is my favorite because I find it the most tolerable, least painful both physically and mentally.0 -
FWIW - the best thing that ever happened to my half marathons was marathon training. I also remember shattering my 10K PR while training for my first marathon (I rarely race that distance)
You can't effectively race the distance on a Higdon type schedule. One or two 11 or 12 mile long runs is not far enough to run your best half marathon. 15 -16 milers are more like it. 12, 13, 14 needs to be an easy distance, not a survival/gut it out distance.0 -
FWIW - the best thing that ever happened to my half marathons was marathon training. I also remember shattering my 10K PR while training for my first marathon (I rarely race that distance)
You can't effectively race the distance on a Higdon type schedule. One or two 11 or 12 mile long runs is not far enough to run your best half marathon. 15 -16 milers are more like it. 12, 13, 14 needs to be an easy distance, not a survival/gut it out distance.
Amen brother.0 -
Agree with the above. My pace has started to really scream since I've picked up >35MPW and hitting 15+mile runs (which get easier each time). I'm slowly easing more, but I have been seeing great results with the simplest effort.0
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I've done 5 5Ks, 2 10Ks, 2 Half marathons, and 3 mud runs.
The Half marathon is definitely my favorite so far. I have a hard time figuring out how fast to run in a 5K. I either burn out too fast or have too much left in the tank at the end. I guess that's part of the learning process but there's no margin for error. I enjoy 10Ks more because there is a little more time to fix something you did wrong early on but I just don't feel like I've been running long enough. The half marathon so far has been the perfect mix of challenging but not balls out dead in 5 minutes running and I'm still feeling good the next day. I don't really count the mud runs as anything but just having fun. Given the choice I'd rather do a regular race.
I have another half scheduled for this coming February. I'm planning to run a full marathon in February 2015 and have a plan tentatively in place to be well enough trained that I enjoy the race. The guy with whom I do my long runs on weekends predicts that I will end up loving marathons (he doesn't really enjoy anything shorter than a half marathon). I am REALLY looking forward to running a full marathon and depending how that goes would like to take a shot at a 50 miler.
The bolded is what I am struggling with right now. Actually all of this is how I feel.0 -
Try taking a PR from a good race and plugging it into the McMillan calculator. You can at least get a rough estimate and work around it. I'm finding it more difficult to figure out what my MP should be - the short distances figure themselves out, but the long hauls seem to have more variables - mental and physical.0
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So far I think the half is my favourite but I haven't done a full or a one mile yet.0
