I agree. I ran mid 16s in 8th grade, and was in the 14s in high school, with the only training being whatever we did in gym class. But I do also look at the sheer number of overweight kids these days and figured, well maybe mid-16s is actually a reasonable average point.

Oh it is. At a typical large high school making the team puts you in the top 1% or better of athletic ability compared to the population at large.

At my peak, I finished the NYC Marathon in the top 2%. I still finished 45 minutes behind the winner.

It feels like elite athletes aren’t even competing in the same sport.