After retiring from running, Brian Sell got a masters in Biology and now works on vaccines.
Molly isn't set for life now. She will need to have a couple of years of finishing well at marathon majors to get big sponsor dollar and have a good nest egg when she retires from the sport.
zoomx83 wrote:
Trollminator wrote:
This is a very naive post. Why do people insist on being disillusion about the earning potential of US distance runners? Money wise, it is a dead end sport. We have sub-2:10 caliber runners without ANY contract, that should tell you something about their worth to the sponsors. Unless you come from a country that will support your lifestyle or where you can live off a couple of dollars per day, you better be doing this for the glory. Even then, you are still likely to get robbed by dopers.
My rough estimate is that a 2:09 today is a 2:16 in the early-80s, which was a ho-hum time that might have won a few small town marathons. I didn't know a single 2:16 guy in 1981 that was a running "pro," everyone had full time jobs.
No difference today.
Someone mentioned Osako. Until we have a FEW guys running 2:05, and a FEW women running under 2:18, we're Pop Warner level at best. Since the forecasts are for a "boom" of guys running 2:08 or 2:09 any day now, nothing is really going to change.
Agreed. One thing that has changed is cost of living relative to earning potential. Perhaps there is more life stress today with having to get by with a relatively smaller paycheck... in these fringe sports those with family money can keep trying while the rest eventually have to hang it up for good. As crazy as it sounds, I think competitive running has become less accessible over time.
