Running in College When You Aren't Fast Enough to Make the Team

A lot of large D1 schools have club teams for people in your situation. I think the league is called NIRCA

https://clubrunning.org/

There are D3 teams that will take you. Look into the colleges in your area. Check out their past runners times.

I run on a club team in college it’s a good time and there’s definitely a wide range of abilities. There’s a couple sub 16 guys on our club team, a a decent amount of people in the 4:30s-4:50s for the mile, but there are also some people who show up to practice to run 3 miles very slowly just for daily exercise, and also everything in between.

I can’t speak for every college but my school has a nice group of competitive runners on the club team that are serious about training and racing, and we’re running at the national club meet next weekend which should be a lot of fun.

For reference, these were my prs going into college. I’m the 7 on our club xc team, although this is my first season of xc ever since I played soccer in the fall in high school, so I’ve only raced twice, running 32:05 and 30:55 in the 8k.

400 (split): 56

800: 2:14

1000: 2:50

Mile: 4:59

I went to college after a HS career riddled with injuries and COVID getting rid of a good chunk.

Only came out with 2:12 and 4:50

I was so sure that if I worked hard I'd be able to run on the team as a soph or junior. But running alone for some months got me thinking. I could've been on a D3 team with awesome friends just like in High School and been a part of something. Competing and training and making bonds that would last a lifetime.

So I say if you want to run, find a place to run. If you don't want to go to a d3 school or something look at the running clubs. My school has a horrible program so it's not really a suitable fix for not having a team.

Just think of all your options before you decide.

Run club, run road races, keep an eye on your team.

They might have a down year, have some injuries. You never know when you're 'on,' and they need someone.

See if your school has a club team. If not, maybe there's a running club in the city you could link up with. Alternatively, there's nothing at all wrong with just putting full focus on your studies and using running for fitness and stress relief while in college.

A guy I raced a lot in high school had some issues his senior year and took a brief break from running. He went to the D1 university I ran at, but he didn't try to run for the team. His sophomore year of college he got really into running again, he just ran a bunch of road races and trained on his own or with a couple other people in that town who ran a lot. He would occasionally run unattached at some small college races as well. He ran several years like this, continuing on after college and ran some quick times like low 24 8k for a road race, 2:20's marathon, 66 or 67 half marathon. So I'd just recommend running road races and trying to find some other people who still like running a lot and train a lot but aren't on the team. They may be other students, or possibly post-college young adults who live in the college town and still train.

Train hard this spring and see where you are. If you had a recent heart procedure and are on the mend, maybe some substantial improvements are around the corner. At your current level the running club route (school or private) is your best bet to continue improvement. Lots of people run in college who are not on the team. You can always try and walk on in a couple years if you keep improving!

What is strange about your PRs is that your 5k time is a lot better by a long shot than your 2 mile PR. An 18:51 should be worth a 5:32 mile and an 11:46 2 mile, so your track times seem off a bit. Sounds like you had some health issues, but I would take a look at your training and figure out what is going on because you should be faster on the track. Lots of xc courses are short or 3 miles so that could be part of it too.

Yes, that was a 3 mile course I should not have put 5k. My PR has improved this year to 18:33 for 3 miles.

I have been improving steadily. There was a point after the procedure where all my runs were super slow, but that has improved over time. I am back into the shape I was in a year ago, and ready to set some track PRs!

I will try to join a running club in college, since it seems pretty easy to do. I don't really know where to look for that sort of thing, but perhaps I will learn once I start attending (I was accepted to the University I want to go to).

Like others have said, look into a club team, possibly associated with your university but also consider some community ones. There are tons of people in the same situation as you, especially considering how many people have picked up running during the pandemic.

My friend is in the same situation as you (around 18 min for the 5k) although he prefers to train alone. If i wasn't running with my school I would definitely join a club, I find it much more enjoyable to jog/train with other people.

I've seen a lot of people in first year who don't make the team just quit the sport and start partying with the other college students. But there's some who stick it out with running and are sometimes rewarded by making the team in the following years or enjoying the sport with a club team. There's plenty of alternatives. I'd definitely suggest continuing running if you enjoy it and are looking to get more out of the sport.

No way you can succeed when not on a team. How would you get DEXA scans?

My experience is a little akimbo from yours, but maybe you'll take something useful from it. I was a soccer player in HS and did no serious distance running until my junior year at Princeton, when I got hit by the bug. I trained hard--or what I thought of as hard--all summer (probably 40-50 mpw), roomed with guys on the team senior year (including Bruce Bond, who had some very good times), and had the nerve to try to be a walk-on in XC that fall.

Coach Larry Ellis, bless his heart, gave me precisely one practice, watched me finish somewhat behind the team, and said, "I don't think it's gonna work."

I kept running through the fall and winter, on my own. By the spring, I'd run an 18:19 5K in some local road race and was on my way. Spent a year in Berkeley after graduation, ran sub-17, a 1:21 half, a 3:06 marathon. Came back to NYC and within the next three years, training on my own, ran 17:27 / 35:49 / sub-59 10-miler / 2:53:30. I bumped into a couple of the Princeton runners in Central Park during that period and one of them, a strong runner who hadn't kept up his training, I actually made hurt.

I'll always be grateful to Coach Ellis for giving me that shot. It was absurd that I tried. But he saw that I had the bug, and he (briefly!) honored it.

Bottom line: you will, and should, honor the runner you are in whatever way you're able to. Talent is great, when you've got it. If you've got limited talent, as I had, just put in the work and keep growing. You'll surprise yourself--and occasionally you'll even make one of the talented guys hurt.

I should have said sub-60 10-miler. I ran 59:40 or some such. A shade under 6:00 pace.

I also meant sub-18, not sub-17. I never broke 17. Time for another cup of coffee, grandpa!

Thank you for topic!

Also take a look for the local collegiate XC races that allow open entries. I’m not sure what restrictions there are, but I know we see lots of college club team runners in the local JV level collegiate races.

Hope ElGfan is doing okay these days

I graduated at 16, I suddenly realized.