Is it really worth being a professional distance runner in the USA??

canadeh wrote:

European wrote:

Was looking for an example of a fireman but could not find one...

Jeff Scheibler (13.13 /27.36 still CR in the former).

Rick Robirds is a fireman...

Trex123 wrote:

I also said American runners...

Here is what 3 olympics, one decent Oly finish, multiple US championships, and a whisper away from the AR several times gets you:

Can you run with the Ethiopians and Kenyans, and are you a clutch athlete who could win a medal at a major championship such as Worlds or the Olympics? Then yes, otherwise fuhgettaboutit because if you are slow and cannot run against the worlds best then there is no money in it.

This is easy...just work while you train! Get up for an 8 miler before work, go to work, 10 miler after work. I know of a few semi-pro distance runners who have done it this way.

Why should they let go? If they like what they're doing, if they are happy, then why not keep doing it? The only reason I can come up with is that it makes people who have made the choice to quit running feel uncomfortable. I'm glad you have no regrets about leaving the sport, so apparently you made the right decision for you. But don't call someone who made a different choice "pathetic." That person may be looking at you thinking you gave up, and are therefore pathetic. To each his own.

Trex123 wrote:

I like how you assume these guys make lavish earnings. If we were in Ethiopia I would be totally convinced if you were talking about Hali Geb because he's actually made tons of money. But we're in the USA and Ryan hasn't won many races.

I didn't say that they are making lavish earnings. I said that guys like Hall are probably making more as athletes in their first few years out of college than they would have made as entry level workers.

You ignore my main point, which is that these people are adults who are capable of making their own decisions. You ask if it is worth it to be a professional distance runner. Obviously it is worth it to those people who are doing so. If it was not worth it, they wouldn't do it. To the extent that they are making sacrifices to pursue their running careers, they are doing so by their own choice with full understanding of the trade-off that they are making.

It's simple. In the U.S., lots of people go back to graduate school, law school or med. school after working for a few years after college. So the professional runner does the same thing when his running career is over, comes out in a few years with a shiny new degree and is on equal footing with all the other new degree holders with a few years experience in a nonrelated field. Same as any other working stiff after that except that he got to live the dream for a few years. Or he can go the coaching/media/running store owner route if those are open to him.

European wrote:

My opinion that being involved in distance running at that levels will help you more than hinder you.. You develop good skills, travel the world and finish being satisfied that you gave it your best shot - (I am sure there are plenty on this board who have regrets about not sticking at it long enough)

My dad has had a "successful life" working in an office with substantial pay and what not. But he told me that if he could do it all over again, he would be more like his friend. His friend who may only make 20 dollars an hour now, but traveled the all over the world, made friends who would take a bullet for him, enjoyed every moment, and did/does what he is passionate about. If you ask these ex-pros who "live in gutters" if they would change everything if they could, what do you think they would say? I have a hunch that even the Adam Goucher types would be glad to have had their best go and been a part of something, even if a very small part.

This is an interesting question. But one could as easily ask why do something you love, in which your chances of success are relatively meager but the potential payoff in terms of job satisfaction and/or monetary remuneration is high; rather than playing it safe, accepting the first "good job" than you find out of college, and settling down with the wife and 1.5 kids?

High risk is just the nature of so-called "lottery professions" - and by that I mean a profession in which random chance and small differences in ability (for instance, seconds in a 1500m race) translate into large differences in outcome. Lottery professions abound in our society in as wide-ranging fields as politics, professional sports, music, film, academia, art, college coaching, etc. The economics nearly never make sense: i.e., unless you're Kobe Bryant you can hardly "plan" on an NBA career as a 9th grader starting high school. But I think that for most people in these professions there is no "choice." They do what they are passionate about until the world proves otherwise.

I'm with you here all the way. I can't believe how many people can't seem to wait to get old, have a corner office and a house. What about enjoying life and having a few adventures? If you could get paid for doing something you love I can't imagine not thinking it was worth doing just so you can get a house sooner. I hate having a house.

And how can so many people be naive enough to think they can spend their early 20s setting their lives up for the next thirty years? Loads and loads of people change jobs in their thirties and forties. Become a school teacher or civil servant at 35 and you still retire with a full pension at 65.

What I think is going on here is that most everyone really wishes they could run professionally, isn't good enough, and is doing the "sour grapes" schtick.

most of these kids run their way through college. its not that difficult to find a job when you have a degree and a resume that demonstrates your diligence, commitment, work ethic, ambition, and determination among many other core competencies that both yield success in this sport and are highly desirable to employers. they're not straight to the upper rungs of corporate america, but they're not going hungry, either

Yes. But not for the money.

i would love to be able to sit down at an interview and be able to say that i:

"dedicated everything for the past 10-15 years to my dreams and was able to compete on the world stage against some of the best athletes on the planet"

throw in a few mba/masters classes to show some "effort" and i don't think that's a combination that many recruiters could say no to. (assuming elite status... some crafting would be necessary for the rest of us)

What is wrong with balancing a real career with running? I'm not even close to making a splash on the national scene, but I have won over 2000 dollars in prize money from races. However, I refuse to let running dominate my life. I am about to start my 2nd year of medical school, and running is just something that I do to keep my sanity. I still train pretty hard, but I would feel really selfish if I devoted an entire day to training.

The answer is YES if you have any goals of succeeding in this sport. Try having to earn enough money to support yourself and a family and then go try running 140 miles a week, doing workouts, doing drills, taking naps, eating proper food, and doing all the other small things it takes to succeed. You wouldn't last a week.

Being a pro runner isn't about setting up the rest of your life financially, its about getting enough support where the only thing you need to think about is, "How can I get faster?"

[quote]Trex123 wrote:

I mean even for the top runners what can you hope to make annually after you retire??

At $250K per year (at least), I would think so. It's not 1975 anymore.

No. Excluding the fact that as a distance runner you have better cardiopulmonary function that non-runners.

[quote]Trex123 wrote:

I feel bad for guys like Ryan Hall, Adam Goucher, or Jorge Torres because unless these guys come from a rich family or have wives who have great jobs, what can these guys hope to live on into their 50's?[quote]

Ryan hall made 1 million last year. Im sure he'll be just fine.

Personally, I wouldn't care. If I had the chance to be a pro-runner, I'd think that'd just be so sick I wouldn't care to much about what I'd be doing afterwards. I mean anyone can go to college, get a boring job and whatnot, but only such a select few can live the dream like that. I guess they could always go back to school or something, but if they have a college degree, they'll probably be alright, even if they don't go into politics or something. They may not be superstars after retirement but I don't think to many will starve.