I am a 15 year old freshman boy and I run a 5:34 mile ? Should I try out for cross country?

Question

I never really ever run and on top of that have never trained in my life

Answer 1

Definitely! It sounds like you have a natural gift for running. With a bit of coaching you could be a star!

Answer 2

Absolutely, I ran a 5:38 mile as a freshman, now I run a 5:20 which is ok I was hoping for better, but CC has been the best experience of my life. There are great personalities, amazing runners, and always spots open on the team...if you can't make Varsity (which isn't likely with a 5:34 mile) then you can run JV, that is what I am doing still and I have run CC for 4 years. Next year I'll be varsity, but it'll be tough, you gotta run 5:30 miles for 3.1 miles, it's not just a four lap race! Going off of that, track is boring all you do is run in ovals, in CC you might do a loop twice, but generally we don't even do that, you run up and down hills, through mud, puddles, grass, pavement, anything in your way I even saw a kid try and run through a tree once and my friend tried to run through a sign...both incidents turned out badly :-) anyway CC is awsome, teams rarely cut people, and everyone gets really energized. Junior or Senior year you could be varsity depending on the size of your school. Every year we get a team of about 100-110 people, about 60 boys and 40 girls. Next year both our teams with be pretty bad, but we'll work hard and play a lot of dodgeball after practice, eventually we'll improve and when I am a senior two years from now we'll go to state as a team since we have some up and coming runners...also later in the season it gets a little chilly so bring sweats and definately do CC.

BEST SPORT EVER
and great experiences too

Answer 3

That's a real good start. I'm a freshman and just ran a 5:16 Tuesday and I'm pretty good at cross country. With good training you could become an excellent runner. At 5:34 per mile you could be running a 20:00 flat by the end of cross country season. A really skilled (meaning winning meets) cross country runner in 12th grade can run about the varsity cross country course in 16:00 to 16:30. Good luck with it.

Answer 4

YES!!! When I was 15, I ran a 5:21 mile. By the time that I was a senior in HS, I got my time down to 4:48. If you can run a 5:34 mile and want to get under 5:00, which will put you in very good company, then XC will only make you better. Plus, I feel that XC is more fun than track anyway and the longer distances will give you more stamina that you will need for the mile race.

Answer 5

A nine minute mile and you're second? I run like a 7 minute mile and I'm 3rd... But I'm just a good runner so I guess you should run about an 8 minute mile. I'm only about 3 inches taller than you and in 8th grade so there isn't really that much of a difference. edit: 10k does sound like a little much... But 9 minutes is good when you're running non stop like 7 miled, 10k.

Answer 6

Yea if you can run it 5:34 man im 15 years old to and play basketball and can barely make it in 7:00

Answer 7

Yes, because running is a good lifelong sport that you can do alone or with others, and one that can help you stay healthy. It will teach you a lot about goal-setting and self-discipline. In other words, running may help you live longer and become more successful and happier.

No one can say whether you have much talent for running until you give it a try. Good luck!

Answer 8

definitly try out for cross country. you are blessed to have the gift of running!! who knows it might be something that you really love and are good at. And training is just a small factor.. they have coaches to teach you how to train. Good luck!

Answer 9

Ya I have a friend wjos 15 and just started he runs a 5.20 mile

Answer 10

Uh, yes. Five and a half minutes on a mile is amazing.