Why a 5K Is So Important for (Almost) Everyone

With fall winding into focus, almost half a million high school students will lace up their running shoes for the cross-country season. Another 3 million adults in the US will participate in at least one 5K this year. If you haven’t yet considered joining them, allow me to provide some additional encouragement, reasoning and resources:

The single, most accurate assessment currently available to indicate overall health & wellbeing is VO2 Max, the maximum rate of oxygen our body can utilize to produce energy. For high level athletes, it’s a valuable means to measure current fitness capacity. For the rest of us, it’s a (relative) crystal ball into our future healthspan and cognition. Healthspan goes beyond simply measuring the number of years we are breathing (“lifespan”) and instead considers the quality of those years (we interviewed Dr. LaRocca, head of the Healthspan Lab here). It goes beyond the length of our lives and considers the number of years we are truly living. VO2 Max and Healthspan go hand in hand. Additionally, VO2 Max is also associated with enhanced cognition over time related to dementia. There are far too many variables in life to predict the future, but if we had to point to a single assessment that comes closest to doing so, it would be VO2 Max.

Wait – why did we highlight the 5K and then shift into a somewhat advanced lab test called VO2 Max? Because your 5K result tells us your VO2 Max. For most of us, it’s a simple, inexpensive way to peek into that crystal ball. Pick a local 5K, sign up, prepare (plenty of “couch to 5K” programs freely available online), walk/jog/run and then plug in result into any number of online calculators (here’s one) to get your VO2 Max. If you’d like to see how you stack up next to those in your age range, here is an overview from the Mayo Clinic. You may notice mention of a 10%/decade (or 1% annual) decrease in VO2 Max after age 40 mentioned. We’ve discussed in the past (3 min video on the subject avail here) and the fact that the 1%/year is based on “all things being equal.” You have the choice not to follow the “all things being equal” path. Yes, age does matter, but our choices matter even more (e.g., at age 58, it’s unlikely I’ll run the 16:25 5K from my 20’s, but I’m still hanging around 17:40 with the right preparation).

That’s where the (at least) annual 5K can play such a valuable role for (almost) everyone. Our friends and family have a local event on the calendar each October. Same course, generally same weather, same time of year provides an annual checkup of our VO2 Max. Not only do we benefit from the assessment itself, but knowing it’s coming changes our eating patterns, our general fitness plans, and more. As a bonus, you’ll be amazed at the incredible encouragement and support that is a part of EVERY 5K event on the planet. VO2 Max aside, your heart will get a lift from joining in the fun.

Want to join us this year? There are 40,000 different 5Ks in the US each year. I’m not aware of any called the “Crystal Ball 5K” but now you know the secret!