Do "elite" hs runners have jobs?

Jets Pizza you a Michigander?

Where I'm from getting a part time job isn't even an option for high school kids. Grown adults in need of full-time work weren't always finding jobs, so getting work when I was in high school several years ago was pretty much out of the question. I am jealous of these people who are apparently from places where you can find a place to work at the drop of a hat. My 16 year-old self would've loved the spending money lmao.

I guess that's just the difference in living in a small town.

In college I was a good runner not great but at a good level. My goal was PRO, PRO, and did I mention going PRO. It consumed me. I transferred from a large Division 1 college to a smaller liberal arts college because the coach had history in the development of champions. I transferred as a sophomore with lousy/garbage PR’s 800m 2:01.08, 1500m 4:05.55, Mile 4:28.12, 3000m 8:53.05, 5000m 15:32.98, and 10,000m 32:57.00, in XC I ran 27:15.00 for the 8k. My PRO Goals revolved around being born male with decent times for a woman. After I transferred, I increased the mileage and by the end of the next season my PR’s lowered to 800m 1:58.63, 1500m 3:57.35, Mile 4:23.00, 3000m 8:36.79, 5000m 14:39.98, 10,000m 30:04.30, and in XC I ran 26:02.00. I went from being a decent female runner to an elite female runner the issue is I am a man. I wound up graduating college with PR’s of 800m 1:52.05, 1500m 3:45.09, Mile 4:04.35, 3000m 8:16.25, 50000m 14:17.05, 10,000m 29:05.07, and 8k XC 24:27.00. I attempted to run professional after a college teammate got is sponsorship, I ended my career with a 2:23 marathon. I ran a few races for fun but realized what the heck was I killing myself for. I am 40 years old now I have a great career well over 6 figures my wife also brings in close to 6 figures. Most of the guys I know that chase the running dream never grow up. Because I quit running, I was able to complete 2 master’s degrees and realize life starts after you finish your last competitive race. Good luck to you but runners are not going to make enough to retire off after your running days are done remember no runner is Tom Brady or LeBron James. Put Woody Kincaid in a room full of real athletes they would think he is the waiter and place an order with him!

...little ditty, bout Jack and Diane....

Good to know you can make 6 figures without knowing how to use fu(king line breaks to make your text legible.

Yeah, we all come to realize this sooner or later. I was faster than you, by quite a bit actually, and realized by my mid-20s that I had already lived the running dream and it was time to move on with real life. And I’m very glad I did, because not only did it put me on a solid career trajectory, but it opened up time to pursue other passions like climbing, golf, lifting, etc. I still ran 20-25 mpw to stay in shape and to be able to show up at a local 5k respectably. But the monkey was off my back, and I was free to finally gain muscle mass, interact with a more diverse group of people, and start making real money in preparation for a family.

Having said all of that which nobody cares about, I have no regrets about absolutely going for it all through high school and college and just after. I was committed and there were valuable lessons in plowing those miles. Plus great teammates. Memories. But I also have zero regrets about hanging it up when I did. It was time, and had I hung around any longer, I could very easily have wound up as one of those poor saps in a dead-end job at 32 trying to catch lightning in a bottle one last time. Don’t do that. In fact, don’t work in high school and just run as much as you can because you will never get those years and that flexibility to do this back like you will in high school and college.

The short version of what I just said is, if you are super serious about running and can handle the volume, there’s no reason not to go “old school” in high school and run the “1000-mile” summer before senior year. I sure wish I had. There’s no reason not to run 100+ mpw in college. Why save it? You will likely be done by age 23 or 24 anyway. Working a lot of hours in high school, while healthy in some ways, is going to prohibit you from running 75-80 mpw.

We had an elite HS kid work at our running store his junior and senior year. Not a load of hours, but a regular on the schedule and did a great job. We hadn’t had a HS student work at the store for years, but he bugged us enough times that we finally gave in. It seemed to work for him - he was NXN champ, Gatorade XC runner of the year and ran a 13:50 5K on the track just before getting mono his senior year.

I'm a multiple time high school state champion who went on to run D1 for an elite college team. In high school I worked 10-15 hours every weekend (even race weekends) and full time during summer and breaks. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone else but you gotta do what you gotta do.

I know someone who works a remote job for 15 hours per week and is “sub elite”.

Keep in mind most “elite” HSers go to relatively well off suburban schools, so their families can pay for things like cheater shoes, and they don’t need to work to support it

Interesting how different cultures are within the US. When I was a kid, my parents actually didn't want us kids to get jobs. Schoolwork and getting good grades was most important. My siblings and I all had to practice piano for an hour a day from when we were in grade school. We did sports. We had to go to church on Sundays, but also Saturday nights for young people meetings, and Fridays nights for home meetings/yummy potluck dinners (churchgoer version of parties). We had to go to language classes (in my parent's native tongue) on Saturday mornings and do homework for that too during the week, but mostly the night before. I had to stay up late, and was cutting into sleep many nights just to try to get my homework done. There was also my parents' pride that their kids didn't have to work.

I could see how working in the summers would have worked, and my brother did that working at an ice cream shop. But I used my summers to ride my bike hours a day.

He broke the national 2 mile record while working part time at Applebee’s.

Oregon athletes during the Bowerman years would work part time at one of the Eugene lumber mills.

Thank you for the complement!

Having a part-time job is not going to stop a truly talented kid from being great. There are numerous examples of "elite " kids in the past holding down a part-time job while running in HS.

Today's kids simply have less opportunity to find jobs than in previous generations, so many can't work. Part of that has to do with child labor laws (in most states it's now 16), fears over insurance liability, older workers competing for low skill jobs, and modern parents being overly protective.

I worked 20-30 hours a week in HS during the academic year and much more (probably close to 50) over the summer. Did working this schedule from Freshman year to Senior year mean I was tired some days? Sure. But it also made me mentally resilient. I know several former "elites" who also did the same and excelled when they made the jump to college. Managing time and responsibility without Mom and Dad standing over them was nothing new, so maybe having a job can help in the long term.

That's why he ran 8:34 in the 2mile, he had to hustle to make the dinner shift at Applebee's, for the third leg of the 4:01/8:34/dinner shift triple. All part of the lore, a regular guy at a regular school with a regular coach posting absurd times.

Fail. You forgot to include their sub 13 5k PRs and the fact that they are married to supermodels. Well below the LR average poster standards.

It sounds like you want to be a woman. It's not too late.

Not HS but collegiate my elite teammate works at Jersey mikes lol