Mid 30's hobby jogger here (19:30 5k)...question for the college fast guys..

JasonBidal wrote:

What do you really think of people like me at races?

Do you guys respect me cause I'm a decade older and still running and staying in somewhat good shape??

Do you think that you will still be running when your my age?

What are your honest thoughts. When you see me. 35, running in tank and short shorts, about 175 pounds and 6 ft tall. And I run a 19:30 5k.

What are your thoughts?

If we are at the same race, you are in the stands cheering for us. We aren't both running.

To put it simply: what do we think of you? We don't.

The previous poster summed it up pretty well. Track athletes have disdain for recreational runners but somehow they wonder why track isn't a more popular sport.

Well when I was a college aged stud I probably wouldn't even think anything when I seen you. I wasn't concerned with anyone except the faster (sub 17 guys) really. Unless you made a scene somehow or projected yourself really narcissistic like a crossfit attention whore, then I'd think, "I can't wait to smoke this idiot." But now that I'm older and semi retired from running I can appreciate what you do for sure. Even more so if you were faster. Especially guys who hold down a family and work hard too.

I was never all that fast, but I was a sub-17 high school runner.

I can tell you with 100% confidence that it was easier to go sub-17 in high school than it is to go sub-19 as a 40 year old with a job and kids.

As someone who doesn't run many races, I can say I respect you a lot. I can empathize with your situation. When I see people at a race, unless they run slower than like 27 minutes and are high-fiving at the finish, I have respect for them and wish that more people would run. However, this might be because I'm a freshman and most people would consider me ignorant. I run a 16:44 which is faster than most and I can say the only thing that makes me mad is when I'm going to run and an older guy (like maybe 40-55) starts talking to me how if I can continue running it will "teach me discipline in life" and how "even though I won't go pro it is a good sport" or the "my son ran and was the state champion" then hell yeah I'm going to throw down a sub 17 and put your little jimmy to rest.

I'm a mid 30's hobby jogger, and while I respect the guys my age that can still break 20 min in a 5k, there are tons of guys our age (myself included) that would kill you in a race. I know the kind of running you need to do to maintain a 19:30, but I also know what you need to do to maintain a 18:00. I also see what other guys do to maintain 17's. Yes, you have something under the hood - but even with age, life issues, kids, all factored in - there's still plenty of room to be better.

19:30 is hardly a "hobby jogger" pace. Ok it's not a competitive time for high school or college track runners but for mid 30s, if you're breaking 20min, and just a "hobby jogger", then you have some talent.

I started running at 40 at 40-50mpw with speed workouts every week by my 2nd year. My best Half Marathon pace was 7:06 in my 4th year. I doubt I'd be able to run a 19:30 5K but I'd be ecstatic if I did even in my mid 30s.

I'm a 35 year old male. Ran my first 10km at the age of 18 off absolutely no training, and finished in a time of 67 minutes. Ran a tougher 10km the next week in 72 minutes. Ran 20 minutes a day, every day, on the treadmill for about 8 years, and went from 84kg down to 60kg in about 10 months.

Now I comfortably run 10km tempos in about 41 - 42 minutes, sometimes on back-to-back days. I run about 120km a week. I've never actually raced a 5km, but if i did, I'm sure i'd be about a 19min 5km runner. I'll probably run close to a 90 minute half, and will target a 3:15 marathon in October this year

I don't care what stronger and faster college runners think about my slower times relative to theirs. I don't run for them, I run for myself, for my own enjoyment. Chances are i'll never see you again, so why would I care about what you think about me.

When i'm done running, I go home to a loving wife and 2 beautiful children. That's what it's about

I don't think about hobby joggers. You are invisible to me.

As a mid 40's 16:30 guy, I think you're probably a nice fella, and if running makes you happy, keep doing it and don't care what the hell anyone else thinks.

To be honest, and it's not a bad thing, but I don't think about the people who finish behind me at all when I do organized runs open to everyone. You look for people you know and people who you think can beat you, and that's about it.

When you do a 5k do you think about the people finishing in 30 minutes? You likely don't. It's the same thing.

47yroldrunna wrote:

19:30 is hardly a "hobby jogger" pace. Ok it's not a competitive time for high school or college track runners but for mid 30s, if you're breaking 20min, and just a "hobby jogger", then you have some talent.

I started running at 40 at 40-50mpw with speed workouts every week by my 2nd year. My best Half Marathon pace was 7:06 in my 4th year. I doubt I'd be able to run a 19:30 5K but I'd be ecstatic if I did even in my mid 30s.

Okay lets not be using 19:30 and talent in the same sentence.

not a fan wrote:

The previous poster summed it up pretty well. Track athletes have disdain for recreational runners but somehow they wonder why track isn't a more popular sport.

yup. Thee's nothing more smug than a sub-elite.

Been on both sides of this fence...was a college runner, now a hobby jogger. When I was a college guy, I didn't think about "old" joggers much at all. If I did, I was dismissive. I never thought I'd be one of them...because I couldn't imagine ever getting old and slow. Mid 30s may as well have been a hundred years in the future.

Now that I'm old and slow, I really enjoy hobby jogging. It's very different from college running, but it's a lot of fun. Imagine lining up to run a race and actually looking forward to it, instead of being so tense you're about to throw up!

There, fixed. wrote:

JasonBidal wrote:

What do you really think of people like me at races?

Do you guys respect me cause I'm a decade older and still running and staying in somewhat good shape??

Do you think that you will still be running when your my age?

What are your honest thoughts. When you see me. 35, running in tank and short shorts, about 175 pounds and 6 ft tall. And I run a 19:30 5k.

What are your thoughts?

If we are at the same race, you are in the stands cheering for us. We aren't both running.

To put it simply: what do we think of you? We don't.

Get real, nobody is cheering for you at track meets. Maybe your Mom. Your Dad probably doesn't waste his time going.

you stup wrote:

There, fixed. wrote:

If we are at the same race, you are in the stands cheering for us. We aren't both running.

To put it simply: what do we think of you? We don't.

Get real, nobody is cheering for you at track meets. Maybe your Mom. Your Dad probably doesn't waste his time going.

Ha ha, truth! College track has MCI fans...friends and family.

And I do realize today's college kids don't remember MCI.

And it never changes. I remember running in stadiums that looked like ghost towns.

I wonder what all of those former college runners who aren't fast enough to make a living off it professionally think of me when I walk into Whole Foods with my beautiful wife and kids while they are bagging my groceries. They probably wonder what someone like me, who makes 500k and is a millionaire at 40 with a beautiful family, thinks of them making close to minimum wage and living at home.

Elite runners and hobby joggers generally don't care about each other. At all.

I'm 40 and probably in sub 19:00 shape right now. I look at everyone with respect. If you showed up to run, even if you're walking a bit then you are doing better than the couch potatoes whom will never get off their ass. Who cares about the time you run. Some people train harder to run a 22 min 5k than some do when they run it in 18 min, so it also depends on your genes/age and talent level. Does someone with more talent than you deserve more praise?