Would You Quit Your Day Job if You Got Paid $20 per Mile to just run?

It's more thank I currently make, so I'm in!

I'd only have to run 40 miles per week to meet my current income. 50 miles per week would net me a meaningful raise.

I'd do it in a heartbeat.

everybody on this website makes 500k. the answer will be a resounding no

Haven't we been over this enough? $20 per mile RUN.

Most I've managed is 3500 miles in a year. $70k is just not going to cut it. Plus no health care or retirement. Even if I could double that, it's still not worth it.

i think many of us would if we was still in our late teens, 20s, or early 30s. once you've reached your masters, i definitely wouldn't invest too much into this as it can be very risky. if you're young and healthy, the easiest way to do this is to run doubles because singles could cause too much strain and fatigue on your legs and triples would end up turning this into a fulltime job which will ultimately kill your motivation to do this for years on end.

for weekdays, you should slowly but surely work your way up to 10 miles per run, twice a day. on saturdays, build yourself up to a 16 mile long run. lets not get too greedy because if you max your mileage on saturday and sunday, you can very well risk fatigue and injury which would jeopardize the whole thing. definitely 5 minutes of stretching after every run and maybe some 6x50m strides on mondays and thursdays to keep your legs snappy. i'd probably try to stay around 8:30 per mile because any more would risk long term, even if i find it easy.

As an experienced runner, I'd make a good living off of this. By maxing out at 80mpw thats $1600/week. Plus getting all the free time to recover is a bonus!!

Week 1:

Mon- AM: 10mi, PM: 5mi

Tues- AM: 6mi, PM: 10mi

Wed- 9mi

Thurs- AM:11mi, PM: 6mi

Fri- 8mi

Sat- 14-16mi

Sun- OFF

Week 2:
Mon-12mi
Tues- AM: 7mi, PM: 5mi
Wed- 9mi
Thurs- AM:11mi, PM: 6mi
Fri- 8mi
Sat- AM:16mi
Sun- 6mi

I'll switch those weeks back and forth and will be good to go!

I’m already running 100 miles per week this week for a marathon build. I’m not “pro” but not far off. I could quit my job and try 150 mile weeks like Mr Cam Levins and make well over $100k plus maybe get some more prize money and a contract. So ya sign me up.

got excited about this and was gonna text the thread to some old hs track friends until I did the math and realized it's a clear no. fun concept, but the dollars per mile needs to be way higher

this concept maxes out at $146,000 a year but even if you make $200,000, there is still a good reason to do this. you gotta understand that the number of hours you run is significantly less than time spent at a fulltime job. at 8 minutes per mile, you only have to run for 2 hours and 40 minutes per day. now if you do this in doubles and consider the time you spend stretching, changing clothes, and shower, maybe this number ends up being 3 hours 30 minutes, but still better than a 6-8 hour job that pays a sizeable fraction more. the best time to take advantage of this is a guy just gradating high school and going into college. if you take your precious time in college which involves taking classes slowly so that you have plenty of time to study, run, and have a social life, you might as well go for a masters degree or phd and do it over 7-12 years so that your life is super chill, easy, and probably still have an extra $50,000 a year after taxes, tuition fees, and living expenses. this is very not bad at all. you'll have half a million dollars by the time you finish school and with a resume that will land you an entry level job that starts at $200,000. you'll be golden

HeII no considering I would have to run around 30-40 miles a day to equal what I make for a living that would be a miserable existence.

You do all of your running in super shoes??? Why? The goal is to run a lot of miles, not make every mile you run as fast as possible. You can run 500 miles without much issue in something like Pegasus, probably more if you needed to.

Most people are approaching this with the wrong mindset. The goal would be to run as easy and slow as possible. 15 minute miles over 4 hours.

Don't the majority of pro runners already do this?? Actually, for far less?

this is also the wrong mindset. the proper way to do this is to run at regular jog speed and split it into doubles. 15 minute miles is just bad form (the best running form is sprinting but obviously you can't sprint for 20 miles a day) and ultimately a waste of time. a guy who can run a 5 minute mile will have no problem jogging at 8:30 pace for any distance that they've trained themselves to run. forcing yourself to run 15 minute pace is probably harder than just jogging at a comfortable pace

the following workout schedule is the safest and easiest way to make bank year round while being realistic and avoiding injuries

Mon: AM: 10 mile jog, PM: 10 mile jog + 6x50m strides
Tue: AM: 10 mile jog, PM: 10 mile jog
Wed: AM: 10 mile jog, PM: 10 mile jog
Thur: AM: 10 mile jog, PM: 10 mile jog + 6x50m strides
Fri: AM: 10 mile jog, PM: 10 mile jog
Sat: AM: 16 mile jog + 30 minutes of yoga
Sun: AM: rest (don't get too greedy now)

this will net you approximately $120,000 a year which is $26,000 less than the maximum limit, but giving yourself some rest will do you better in the long term.

I run most workouts in super shoes as an older runner who really needs the cushioning. I recover noticeably better and faster, allowing me to run every day.

Nah, I get injured too often, and the more miles I run the more often I get injured. Here’s a related story that is true about getting paid to run. In 1986 I worked for Hospital Corporation of American and we had United Healthcare Insurance. They tried out a test plan where they actually paid you to workout with the hope that a staff that works out is healthier and will cost less money to insure. Me and this other guy were laying down 70 miles weeks at 75 Cents per mile. It added up. At the end of the study they did indeed prove costs were lower overall but HCA never continued it, I think due to the overhead of tracking all that data and inability to catch the cheaters. I think the idea of paying people to exercise would be great, but I guess it was too good to be true.

Exactly. Why would I take a 71% pay cut to do this?