1% of adults can run a mile

[BaddieThePirate]

One of the running group last night pointed out that only about 1% of adults are capable of running a mile. Welcome to a very exclusive club everyone!🏃🏃🏼‍♀️🏃🏼‍♀️

[SleepyAsh]

That's a scary figure! Though until very very recently I was one of the ones that couldn't.

[Goforitmama Graduate]

Yay! I’ll be a member of that club thanks.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

I’m in a 1% club? Wow. Cool!

[Ang33333 Graduate]

I like being in that club!

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate in reply to Ang33333]

Agree with you Ang33333, as I say we all joined that club on week 5 of C25K, I thought it was a bit more than 1%, but who can argue with the experts.

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate]

1 mile is to be exact:-1.60934 kilometres, just more than a kilometre and a half. That means that once anyone here doing C25K runs week 5 day 2, certainly the 3rd run of week 5, they are among that 1% of adults who are capable of running a mile.

[Languid_Lil Graduate in reply to AlMorr]

That's me! Me! I could run a mile! I might have actually run a mile! I have just started crying at this revelation.

[BaddieThePirate Graduate in reply to Languid_Lil]

I didn't mean to make you cry, but I know what you mean.

[Crawlhome Graduate]

Hmmm really? It seems a low number? Judging by the amount of people I see running, clubs, parkrun, races and all those people in gyms it seems like it would be more.

Do you have any source? Sorry to be cynical, I'd love to be one of the 1%! 😁

[BaddieThePirate Graduate in reply to Crawlhome]

No source I'm afraid, just hearsay. But judging from the number of people in the office who could run a mile I bet it is a small percentage.

[Mayanow]

Incredible! I NEVER EVER thought i'd stand on THIS side!! Thank you for making me feel proud again!

[Jelon Graduate]

Love it I’m in 😊

[Robert_IS_a_Runner Graduate]

That's interesting. I was in the 99% until this summer too. It's been a revelation to run 3 times a week and feel my health just keep improving.

I wonder how many people have graduated since the forum was launched. Does anyone keep a record?

[Robert_IS_a_Runner Graduate]

Can't find the stat but found this. m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/amp/...

[cheryl_couch_tatty Graduate]

1%.....wow, just wow!

[theoldfellow]

This may be 1% of American adults. Probably about the same percentage in Europe. But I'll lay a pretty big bet that more than 1% of Africans can run a mile. It's a lifestyle thing, not a race thing.

It's my contention that Humans evolved as pack-running killer-apes. It's in our genes. The whole clan (young, old, male, female) runs down an antelope by attrition, that's why we all can run long distance, then the young males do the actual killing - which is why young men are better at sprinting. Not a perfect exposition of my theory, but it'll do for one paragraph.

Being a runner shouldn't be an exclusive club. Everyone here is proof.

[Hidden]

Some days when I review my thoughts and look at some of my posts, I feel like some weird proselytizer. this has just been such a life-changing experience for me, I want more people to experience it.

So my first reaction to this is: let's get that percentage up!

Unfortunately while my enthusiasm is high, my sphere of influence isn't large. Haha. Mostly I've been too shy to really tell people what I've been up to.

[Runningnut in reply to Hidden]

Maybe these stats are just for the UK and explain why we suck at sports and can’t win any of our own sports or athletics like the yanks

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate in reply to Runningnut]

Look at the shape of some of the non-athletes in North America, all those burger bars they have at every street corner, I think the percentage of males and females in the USA who are over 20 stone is more than here in the UK. As far as that 1% statistic of the population that can run for a mile is a bit questionable, the number of people who participate in park-runs, 5k, 10k, 10 miles, half and full marathons, I would think would surely be more than 1% of the population of the UK. Even BaddyThePirate who started this interesting discussion admits it was only hearsay, my guess about the number of people in the UK that can run a mile is 2%.

[Runningnut in reply to AlMorr]

I think the yanks over do everything there fat people must just be fatter and more of them just like their elite athletes-a bit off topic but we all know it is the richest country in the world and has more millionaires per capita then any other country, considering it’s relatively small population count in comparison to places like India 🇮🇳 or China could be a reflection of those stats, and why the the rack up so many medals and golds. The last Olympics I watched 3-4 Olympics ago I think the UK got 1-3 gold medals a few silver and a few bronze whilst the yanks racked up around 300 can’t remember exactly if it was 300 gold medals or a collection of the top three but still, maybe it’s cause their athletics programmes are out of this world 🌍, certainly when I look at the Nike plus running apps running programmes I am blown away

[BaddieThePirate Graduate in reply to Hidden]

I've told everyone, but only a couple of people have said they might give it a go...

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate in reply to BaddieThePirate]

That is true Baddie, unless you know anyone who is a member of an athletic club or is a keen jogger, it is unlikely that any of them can run for a mile or more, unless of course, they have participated on the C25K program.