Many people run/walk a marathon at around 10 mins/mile. I think our bodies are better suited to doing that. Most good beginner running programs start with run 1

Many people run/walk a marathon at around 10 mins/mile. I think our bodies are better suited to doing that. Most good beginner running programs start with run 1 minute, walk 2 minutes and build you up from there. Running is incredibly hard on the body and most of the work is just building up your muscles, tendons and bones to handle the strain of constant running. The benefits are awesome. Tests have shown that people who have run at least 10 years in their life have 30% more calcium in their spines when they die [Tim Noakes, The Lore of Running - aka. The Bible] There is absolutely nothing wrong with walk/running a marathon and if you're starting running, that's the only way to build yourself up. My personal goal is to average under 8 minutes per mile on my daily runs. I've met one real runner. The guy at my local running shoe shop runs a 4:10 mile for University of Oregon.