Rachael is running a 5-kilometer race with 200 participants. She knows she can complete 1kilometer in 7.5 minutes, and she plans to keep that pace for the whole race. However, she wants to give herself some extra time to take a water break at the halfway point between each kilometer marker. Her goal is to complete the race in 38.75 minutes, and she needs to figure out how much time she can take for each water break.

Question

What can Rachael assume to be true when calculating her time for each water break?
Responses
The planned route for the race is exactly 5
kilometers.
.
The other participants are faster than her.

She will not need to take any water breaks.

Her speed will be faster because she is competing.

Answer 1

When calculating her time for each water break, Rachael can assume the following to be true:

The planned route for the race is exactly 5 kilometers.

This is a basic assumption for any race, as the distance is a known and fixed quantity. The other responses either suggest assumptions that are unfounded or not relevant to her planning for water breaks.

• The statement about other participants being faster than her doesn't impact her own planning for water breaks.
• The option stating she will not need to take any water breaks contradicts her plan to take breaks.
• The assumption that her speed will be faster because she is competing is also not valid, as she is planning to maintain her known pace.

Therefore, the only reasonable assumption in this context is that the race will indeed be 5 kilometers long.