Is there a point to just say, OK, maybe I should just focus my talents on school and just take on running as a hobby?
Background to this question:
Today my brother set a PR in the mile at 5:11. He is a junior. For 3 years he has worked his ass off to earn that PR as well as a 10:42 2 mile pr and an 18:20 5k pr. When we got back from the meet I noticed two college Logos on his wall, both of lower level d1 schools. When I asked him about it, he said it was his goal to run there. Trying to avoid offending, I asked, "are you sure you want to run in college? Have you thought about just putting your focus towards a degree?" He responded, "I want to be able to say I ran in college, I want to be able to say I was a D1 athlete". This left me questioning him. I understand people love the sport, they love running, but is there a point where you have to realize, committing 20+ hours a week, isn't going to take you anywhere?
Being a division 1 athlete myself, I had posted prs of 4:17(mile), 9:11(two mile) and 15:56(xc 5k), and even with multiple D1, D2 and D3 offers I had multiple talks with my parents regarding whether I would pursue running in college. Now while it is rare for guys even my level to go far in the sport, it isn't completely out of bounds.(Erik Jenkins only ran 9:24 as a senior in HS) So I Committed to a school. This commitment led me to pros(The ability to continue the sport I love, and compete at a high level), and cons(inability to join academic clubs, late nights, cramming work and sometimes not doing it to the best of my ability cause I just wanted some damn chill time). In my first couple years I've dealt with injuries, but still see a the goal of competing for team and individual conference championships, and the long term goal of qualifying for NCAA's as a team. So to me, sticking with the sport, still has potential accomplishments that are worth me sticking to it. However, through my progression I see other runners at schools(like the one my brother is looking at, who come to meets(both regular season and championship) and consistently placing in the bottom 10 - 5 - 3 people in a race. I've seen teammates at a Track conference championship run 40 and 42 minutes for 10K, 18 minutes for 5k and 2:13 for 800. Is it really still worth the time commitment, the sacrifice of academic and career events for accomplishments like breaking 18 for 5k, or breaking 2:10 in an 800?
I guess at the end of the day Im trying to figure out whether I should support my brothers decision to try to run in college, or if I should encourage him to focus on athletics and join a club team or just find a running group instead?
Also, I apologize If I offended anyone with this thread. I have been blessed with my success thus far in my career and am just trying to put myself in other peoples shoes