physical fitness

Running a mile has long been viewed as a barometer of fitness, particularly in American schools. For decades, students had to a run the mile as part of the annual Presidential Physical Fitness Test, and some schools still incorporate how long it takes a student to run a mile into their P.E. grade.

For kids who are natural runners or who play sports that involve a lot of running, jogging a mile isn't that difficult. For those who aren't and don't, it can feel like torture. Struggling to run a mile, especially when it's being used as a measure of your fitness, can make you feel like like an out-of-shape failure.

That is, until you find out that the obviously in-shape Olympic track star Gabby Thomas also struggles to run a full mile.

In an interview talking about her training, Thomas explained that she only runs a mile once a year and it's tough for her.

"The furthest I will run is one mile," Thomas shared in an interview on the TODAY Show. "We do a mile in the fall. It's a gut check. So we do it to tap into your mental side—can you finish a mile? And I know it's funny because for you guys, you're like, 'Oh, a mile.' No, it's really difficult for us."

Let's let that sink in. This woman is a professional runner. She ran her way to three gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Not only does Gabby Thomas only run a full mile once a year, but it's literally a physical and mental test for her to do it.

She's also not alone. Usain Bolt's agent shared that the famous Jamaican who has held the "fastest man alive" title for 15 years has never run a mile all at once. Arguably the most famous track star of a generation, and he's never run a mile? Incredible.

Does this put a whole new spin on the middle school shame some of us felt at not being able to run the whole mile, or what? Like maybe running a mile is not a great way to evaluate fitness for everyone? Maybe it's possible to be in peak physical condition and still struggle to run a mile?

Not that most of us are in Gabby Thomas's shape either, of course, but the point stands that there are many different ways to be fit. Sprinting is basically HIIT (high-intensity interval training) exercise—exerting fully for short bursts rather than keeping your exertion at a moderate level for a longer period of time—which has become all the rage in the fitness world. The idea that someone should be able to run steadily for any specific distance in a certain amount of time is an awfully narrow box to put people into.

In fact, I'd argue that running a mile is as arbitrary as expecting someone to be able to bend over and put your hands flat on the ground or be able to dunk a basketball or other feats that some people can naturally do easily while others can't. Yes, most people can train to run a mile, but why do that if it's not something you actually want to do and when there are so many other ways to be fit? Our bodies are not the same, the ways we use our bodies are not the same, and using any specific ability to evaluate of physically healthy someone is will always miss the mark for many.

Imagine how many kids who had a hard time running the mile in school told themselves they just weren't runners or weren't athletic? How many internalized the message that their bodies weren't capable when they might have been quick sprinters or agile tennis players or powerful shot putters or good dancers? The point of physical fitness is to move your body, and there are so many ways to do that that don't involve running a mile or more.

If even Olympic medalist runners struggle to run a mile, it can't be that important. Take that, middle school gym class.