Carlos Villarreal Retires

Dang! Feels out of nowhere. Good luck Carlos!

Here is his statement in case you don't have instagram.

It’s been a hell of a ride!

So these past few years I’ve been dealing with a bad foot injury that really hindered my running. It was damn near impossible to run without pain. It began to frustrate me BAD. It got to the point where I became resentful of running. Hated it for a while. Didn’t want anything to do with it. It was hard wanting something so bad and not be able to get even relatively close to it. But luckily, I had a great team to rally with that picked me up when I was feeling down. Not to mention their performances were inspiring to me as that helped me get through all the endless cross training and rehab. Shoutout to them and my friends for pulling me up when I was so down. Although dealing with an injury like this for so long takes it’s toll. I still knew I couldn’t train properly like this so I slowly came to terms that maybe it’s best to just move on. And move on I did. With that being said, I’m hanging up my spikes and retiring from competitive running.

The memories of reppin the Rio Rico Hawks in HS, the Arizona Wildcats in college, Mexico on the international stage, and OAC on the pro level I will cherish for the rest of my life! I want to thank everyone that has made these past 8 years truly unforgettable.

Thank you to Coach Schadler to putting up with my crap in HS. If it weren’t for you, there’s no way I could have made it as far as I did. Coach Li and Coach Riley gave me the chance the represent my dream school and never gave up on me when the chips were down. They made me believe I could toe the line with anyone with zero fear. Finally thank you to On Running, Ray Flynn, and Dathan for given me the chance to live the pro dream! Starting the OAC is something I will brag to my kids someday despite not contributing much on the performance side. (It’s like getting an A on a project you do zero work in). Also shoutout to the GOAT Jason Ross who without him who I probably wouldn’t have even been able to take a step without my legs falling apart. My man NEVER gave up on me even when I had already given up on myself. So thank you Jason, you’re the man! But yeah I’m so grateful for all of you!

Now time for the next chapter!

Carlos out! ✌🏽

SOme of his best come from behind races

He should never have been coached by Dathan, Mileage whores!

Wow. Only 24. Hard to believe there was no chance to recover from the foot injury, but he knows himself best.

Who?

If you didn’t know know about athletics, he beat Johnny Gregorek in the 1500m at the 2019 Pan American games.

That’s the point, he’s only 24. He can still get an entry level corporate job and not be behind his peer group. Alternatively, he could gamble on getting healthy and maybe making the Mexico team for Paris in a few years but realistically the income situation between now and then is not ideal. This a good decision that a lot of guys refuse to make until they’re basically 30. They “hang it up” and look around to see all their peers in middle management roles and they have basically zero professional work experience so they start a running newsletter or commentate races, not exactly a good move if you want to build a stable financial foundation for the rest of your life.

He had some good pb's including 3:37 and 7:52 (indoors).

We wish him luck in his future endeavors.

worldathletics.org

Carlos VILLAREAL | Profile | World Athletics

Open link

If you make good acquaintances and connections, you can stay in the sport until 30 and still manage to find a good starting point outside of your sport if you so desire.

Anyhow, regarding Carlos - it was fun watching him develop from a decent 400m runner as a sophomore in HS to an absolute legend in the state of Arizona, stay close to home in a program that probably played to his talents well, and make a nice collegiate and pro career out of the sport. Always very friendly and engaging. Nothing but the best for him in his future endeavors.

Amazing.