I really respect any man or woman running 2:40/3:00 range who has a full time job & other responsibilities. It *usually* means they're logging 60-100+ mpw, putting in some serious work to run a time that, like someone else said, is a top-1% time but still so far away from being elite. I'm not into the bragging about it because I think most people know how far away they are if they're putting in the work to run a time like that.
I honestly feel like talent is a big factor here. If you run 100mpw & tap out around 2:40 I pretty much think you just didn't hit the gene lottery. You're training the way someone in the 2:20s to 2:35 range might be but just can't get there. I'm super inspired by someone who does eventually make it into that next tier because it might take a 5-10 year progression to do so. Hopefully they're better about it than the original person being referred to because I think it takes a lot of time/dedication to make that improvement. It's usually people like that that inspire me more than elites.