AFP recommends reduction of distance for military running tests

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 25): AFP recommends reduction of distance for military running tests

In a bid to ensure that all its physical endurance training are within international safety standards, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Wednesday announced that it has recommended lowering the distance for its running tests from 3.2 kilometers to just 2 kilometers.

The process is now on its transition, AFP public affairs office chief Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala said.

Running tests are conducted every semester.

"Right now the AFP is having a transition in its conduct of the physical fitness test primarily by lowering the test for running from 3.2 kilometers to 2 kilometers, there is a technical working group that was established and this technical working group studied five Asian militaries within the region and the study showed that (on the) average, the average length for physical fitness test during runs are 2 kilometers," he added.

This is 1.2 kilometers less than what the AFP is using.

Zagala said that the tests run for the Singaporean military is at 1.8 kilometers while 2.4 kilometers for Indonesia.

While the three other countries, which he did not specify, do not exceed 2 kilometers in their conduct of running tests.

He added that this findings formed part of the report of the technical working group.

Aside from these studies, Zagala said that AFP technical working group also consulted various sports medicine consultants and military medical professionals who stated that once runners reached or completed the 2-kilometer run there will be a point that severe exhaustion will be reached and trigger illness on those taking the exams.

" These two factors have been considered and are now under study by the AFP special services upon the direction of our chief-of-staff, after this transition they will now make a recommendation if we will continue to use the 2-kilometer test run. (And I would like to point out that) the United States Air Force uses just the 2 kilometer running tests," he added.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=656732