Why do so many old people run road races?

We're allowed to stop??????

tjm wrote:

We're allowed to stop??????

Classic.

because once you're out of college, it's easier to train for 10ks thru the marathon, esp. if you train on your own and work, than it is to train for shorter track races and the speed work and track work that requires. For example: which is easier? You come home from work at 5:45pm. It's dark out. 1)going out and running 10 miles or 2) going to a track and doing 12 x 400m ?

Knower of things wrote:

Rufus T Dowd wrote:

A better question is what is the cause for the lack of runners in their 20's and 30's in these races.

That's easy.They are all too good to lower themselves to be associated with these events.

They feel the can serve the world better by passing their prodigious talent to people here and defending the honor of Div 2,3 & NAIA runners when they are called "baby nationals".

whats wrong with div 2,3 and NAIA???

easy one.. wrote:

For example: which is easier? You come home from work at 5:45pm. It's dark out. 1)going out and running 10 miles or 2) going to a track and doing 12 x 400m ?

For me 12x400m. I like the track and I don't mind the dark at all. Though it is a little discouraging to see the times for repeats and know how much easier it all used to be.

Exactly. I run workouts with the team I coach during the season, but for the other 9 months, I just run. One hour, 1.5, 2, whatever, just run, enter a few marathons, a half marathon, good to go. I'm not big on paying people to run 5Ks and 10Ks, but whatever floats your boat.

I think that it's just the typical career pattern of competitive runners that causes the decreased participation of 20-30 year olds and increased participation of 40+ year olds. People are running competitively through high school or college, so they're running track and xc meets rather than road races. After the last season of competitive running, whether it's high school or college level, most runners are ready for a break. Even if they stay in decent shape, most will avoid racing simply because there is no way that they'll touch their old times, which makes racing a setup for disappointment. So most guys will keep running a bit, but only a few will keep racing with any regularity.

A lot of guys just won't be able to stay away from it for good and they'll start coming back in their 30s once they've accepted the fact that they'll never be as good as they once where and they just decide to have a good time with it rather than setting high goals and trying to set PRs.

Career patterns probably have something to do with it as well. It depends on the industry, but for a lot of jobs, it's tougher to find time for hobbies in the first few years. You're a whole lot more likely to be working 50-60 hours a week as a first or second year guy than you are to be working the same hours once you have 20 years in.

Why do so many old people run road races?

Because we can't run college invitationals anymore.