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

If money is all you care about go to Wall Street, manage hedge funds, and make a 10 millions a year. It makes "economic sense" right??

There is a lot more to life then money, seriously, you just sound like an embittered person who gave up on running. Shut up, no one wants to listen to you whine. You are just trying to convince other people of the decision you made so you can validate it to yourself.

Not having some company short change you? Good luck with that.

jfkjfjfjffjhf wrote:

If money is all you care about go to Wall Street, manage hedge funds, and make a 10 millions a year. It makes "economic sense" right??

There is a lot more to life then money, seriously, you just sound like an embittered person who gave up on running. Shut up, no one wants to listen to you whine. You are just trying to convince other people of the decision you made so you can validate it to yourself.

Ok I never said make lavish amounts of money. I was talking about a decent livable wage. If you're an adult you would know what I mean.

* The business of Personal Trainers are exploding, isn't it?

* Assuming you're not a jerk to begin with you'll get nationwide and maybe even international friends and contacts that can help you with jobs in the future.

The combination of ability to high performance and ability to full-on commitment is a merit all in itself, to employers and schools (looking abroad the most meriting business school in Stockholm Sweden has made a policy of this, if you've been a world class athlete in a world wide sport and you wanna go there, then you're in, no matter what your previous grades or academic merits, on commitment/performance merits alone).

Reversing the question: How many totally jobless down and out former pros do you see out there (after counting away those who developed various drug-problems, post-career alcoholism and/or a megalomaniac selfimagery unableing them do deal with the real world once they're no longer top notch)?

Gabe Jennings went to laws school.

So really its never to late to go back and get a grad degree.

USA pros or World?

I ask because the original post was concerning pros who are good, but don't make a livable wage.

On my deathbed there will no doubt be certain things that I regret, but spending more time in the office will certainly not be one of them.

What astonishes me about Trex123 is his complete inability to understand that different people might have different priorities and values from him!

Just as there are some people in this world who are into opera, others are into folk-dancing, others value synchronised swimming and still others place a premium on crime fiction. None of that stuff interests me, but I wouldn't dream of telling other people not to value it! (Those people are different from me.)

Trex123 is obviously the kind of person who wouldn't be happy unless he had a "decent wage" a car and lots of holidays in his fifties.

Personally I would be happy with a lot less than that - I just naturally have frugal tastes and enjoy the simple pleasures of life. I spent lots of my 20s travelling and won't need to do that when I'm old.

So it totally makes sense for Trex to get his ass into an office as soon as possible, but for someone like me it's no such priority.

I actually don't have the talent to be a pro runner of any description, but if I did have that talent I would definitely have pursued it and that pusuit would have made me happy.

I wonder if Trex knows people who have those things he speaks of, houses, cars and wealth, and yet are still unhappy? I know plenty.

And does he know people without those things, who are happy? Again, I know plenty.

P.S. I forgot to mention I think the posts of people like HRE etc have been right on the money.

Oh, ok. I'll just do that then. Because becoming a hedge fund manager is soooooo much easier than running under 4 in the mile.

jfkjfjfjffjhf wrote:

If money is all you care about go to Wall Street, manage hedge funds, and make a 10 millions a year. It makes "economic sense" right??

Yea who wants holidays when you're 55 who wants to actually make it to the next pay check? I mean I spent my 20's having fun, but like any good runner I planned my life out so I don't have to eat crap for dinner. I mean just like anyone else in this world plans do always follow through, but I still came close and still managed to earn a living and enjoy my 20's and my 30's and will probably enjoy my 40's just as much. I ran well and still enjoy doing it. What some of you don't realize is that you can throw all the chips in the pot in your 20's and still work and build your lifelong resume.

Oh i meant "don't follow through 100% of the time" not "do"

Suzy Favor Hamilton - Motivational Speaking and running camps

Going back to my original post from 2 years ago addressing what happens to runners after their professional careers are over.

Someone posted that Suzy Favor Hamilton made a successful career being a motivational speaker when it more seemed like she made a successful career banging around.

Not to mention she seems to live more off her lawyer husband than anyone else.

its not about getting started with life, making money, or any of the other points that have been made in this thread.

however it does have to do with economics and our professional relationship with society. how can you feel ok not pursuing something with the ability to contribute and help others. running is a wholly selfish endeavor.

i could agree that it is acceptable to take advantage of natures gifts for a few years post college and if you make it great. top guys like geb do have the ability to reach others with their running. if you don't make it you should continue to run for enjoyment and focus on more meaningful work.

trex123 wrote:

Suzy Favor Hamilton - Motivational Speaking and running camps

Going back to my original post from 2 years ago addressing what happens to runners after their professional careers are over.

Someone posted that Suzy Favor Hamilton made a successful career being a motivational speaker when it more seemed like she made a successful career banging around.

Not to mention she seems to live more off her lawyer husband than anyone else.

Reading through your posts I see two possibilities: either you're lying about your age and are no older than 24, or you're a total loser with very little going on in his life.

Which is it?

It's not about the money.

It's about the "bike".

trex123 wrote:

Suzy Favor Hamilton - Motivational Speaking and running camps

Going back to my original post from 2 years ago addressing what happens to runners after their professional careers are over.

Someone posted that Suzy Favor Hamilton made a successful career being a motivational speaker when it more seemed like she made a successful career banging around.

Not to mention she seems to live more off her lawyer husband than anyone else.

I think your missing the point. The point is some people are okay with having a meager, scraped together life in their 40s,50s, 60s, etc. if in return they got to chase the dream of maxing their potential and seeing how good they could be.

It's also not as bleak as you paint it. Even if your doing everything, your still likely only doing running related stuff for 4-5 hours out of the day. There is plenty of time to continue to take graduate courses or such things as you train, which puts you in a position to do things like enter med school, law school, etc. when you decide to stop running.

A bachelor's may not get you anywhere, but if you've continued education and such as you train and have graduate level education your is a position where you'll be able to find jobs or go to med/law/dental schools.

I like how you ask people this question, and everything they say, you fire back and say it's wrong. My high school coach was a professional runner for about three to five years, and once he decided to hang up the spikes (to focus more on his young family), he became a teacher and a coach, and is well know at my high school for being the best and most loved teacher there. He didn't have any other work experience outside of running, but he went out there and did that, and had a life experience that not a whole lot of people can say they have had. That makes him unique. Being unique will get you a job.

And if you say you love running, then you'd never say it's a waste of time. Obviously you're bitter about something involving this subject, or else you wouldn't be so crabby about it. Did someone get their dreams crushed and now they have to knock it down so they can feel good about themselves?