A Good 1500m time is 4 mins 04 sec for men & 4min 37 sec for women.
The 1500m has produced some of the greatest performances to watch. With the mix of speed, endurance & tactics, the 1500m can always produce a shock, with one of the underdogs coming out on top.
With the various ways of running the 1500m, it can take a while to get it right and run the time you are capable of.
So you might wonder how you stack up against others, or if you’re a beginner, you may want to see what you’ll have to run to get an above-average time.
Table of Contents
Average 1500m time by age
Men
| Age | Time |
|---|---|
| 15-17 | 4 mins 40 sec |
| 17-20 | 4 mins 22 sec |
| 20-23 | 4 mins 01 sec |
| 23-35 | 4 mins 04 sec |
| 35-40 | 4 mins 41 sec |
| 40-45 | 4mins 47 sec |
| 45-50 | 4min 51 sec |
| 50-55 | 5min 12 sec |
| 55+ | 5min 34 sec |
Women
| Age | Time |
|---|---|
| 15-17 | 5 mins 09 sec |
| 17-20 | 4 mins 55 sec |
| 20-23 | 4 mins 46 sec |
| 23-35 | 4 mins 37 sec |
| 35-40 | 4 mins 41 sec |
| 40-45 | 5mins 40 sec |
| 45-50 | 5min 47 sec |
| 50-55 | 5min 58 sec |
| 55+ | 6min 30 sec |
Factors which can impact your 1500m time
Play committee outdoor sporting events. The weather can play a significant impact on your overall time. There are two factors to this, one being the temperature and the other being the wind.
With the temperature, if you’re running at either end of the spectrum, if you’re on a cold day or an extremely hot day, they will zap your energy and make it harder to run a quick time.
As you ultimately run around in a circle, he will have the wind against you and with you, but on highly windy days running into the wind will impede you more than any benefits you get by running with it.
The ideal weather conditions for the 1500m would be 20°c to 23°c (68F to 73F), with little to no wind.
Common mistakes that athletes make
I spoke about external factors that are out of your control which can impact your time, but here is a list of things the athlete may accidentally do that can also affect your time.
- Overtraining
- Not paying attention to diet
- Neglecting strength training
- Not pacing properly
- Not properly tapering before a race
- Ignoring injury symptoms
- Not having a race strategy
- Getting too nervous or anxious
- Comparing oneself to others too much.
1500m world records
Mens
Hicham EL GUERROUJ set the men’s world record in a time of 3:26.00 back on the 14th JUL 1998.
Womens
Genzebe DIBABA hold the women’s 1500m World Record in a time of
3:50.07, which was set on the 17th JUL 2015.