Summary:
Roommate of mine and I ran at a mid-tier D-1 school in the Midwest in a major conference. Both collected some hardware on the conference and regional level, but narrowly missed out on all-America honors. Both graduated with honors, and are pursuing graduate degrees in our respective areas (biology and engineering). We've continued to train and hit the road scene since finishing up eligibility last spring. One of us has hit standard, the other has run damn close. We have no sponsors, not even discounted shoes from the local running shop. We coach ourselves for the most part, and run fairly high miles while balancing course work and research/teaching responsibilities.
Are we blue collar? Does anyone care? Do we have the respect of LRC?