The Brutal truth about talent vs hard work.

But even if you're "talented" you're still only going to be a footnote in running history.

So what does it matter?

Harder you work the more you realize you were talented

some people just like to say it was “hard work with no talent” but it simply reveals talent

have fun grinding no matter what level, it’s better than being a burnt out cokehead by graduation or a frat bro that did the elephant walk in a basement

What a depressing way to think, can say the same about anything in life.

I don't know who said this, but ages ago a poster here shared the following anecdote: my coach once told me, "I've never seen a donkey win the Kentucky Derby." Apparently that coach doesn't watch Disney movies...

Okay... but remember your college running career is a tiny microcosm of life. There are what? 5-7,000 D1 runners (M+W) and maybe 10-30 go pro each year?

It's super obvious to anyone with a brain that you need supreme talent and hard work to go pro. Good thing if you make it you're certainly going to make tons of money.

However just working hard gives you foundation and life success regardless of talent. No doubt you can get to be a 'jerk' if you're that 0.2% that makes it. But aim to be big fish in a small pond and be the happy fast club runner back home where people will actually look up to you rather than being the one of 10 that maybe make it where you now have to pray you'll continue to improve and not get injured.

Play the numbers.

I for one enjoy my life of getting comp'd entries at local races but also make well into the 6 figures, have a hot wife, 2 kids and get to buy all the tracksmith gear I want.

Make a good fuss about talent but it's such a small and unrewarding future.

What? t's the opposite of depressing. Some of us actually love running, training hard and racing.

You are judging it on the wrong criteria.

Your success as a runner is all about how close to your talent/physical limit you can get yourself to. An internal benchmark.

I have every bit as much respect for the D3 runner who ran over 10 minutes for two miles in high school, works his tail off for 4 years, and ends up breaking 15 minutes for 5K, as I do most top level D1 guys.

The pros have it all... insane talent, great work ethics, and lots of luck along the way.

There have been a lot of discussions on this over the years. There is no real consensus but generally it seems like someone untalented could probably get around 15/31 by going all in on training and lifestyle through hs, college, and post collegiately. Yes, that wouldn't even be fast enough to walk on a lot of teams. For this to be worthwhile, an individual would have to be motivated by personal improvement, not placings.

But this individual can probably walk on some d2, naia, and d3 teams. Chances are they pursued running either because its fun or they suck at the ball sports. In the latter category, they won't even be good enough to walk on d3 soccer, football, etc. Up to you whether you want to be a college athlete or just a guy who goes to the gym most days and runs the turkey trot.

These individual usually get better as the distance goes up. They can probably get down to low 2:20s in the marathon and around 107 in the half. Those times might make this individual the top runner in their club.

Here is another brutal truth: Due to our modern lifestyle, people have to exercise to stay healthy. Might as well channel that exercise into distance running if you find it fun or aren't talented at anything else.

The sooner you check the ego - and stifle the need to be the absolute best, the sooner you can focus on personal improvement. Pr'ing and beating yourself (plus as many people as you can). is fun. Being sad because you can't run a 3:55 mile and walk on at Oregon is not.

Mu never worked hard.

No. You are crazy. 95% of the population can not get close to those times regardless of training.

I'm sure some of her workouts were hard. But she was supremely talented. Unfortunately life isn't fair. If everyone had Mu's talent, we might see a lot more sub 1:55 women's 800s. But we don't.

95? More like 99%

This is hardly a news flash and it’s same thing for every other sport. There is no such thing as an extremely rare guy that out runs his talent.

Far too many kids are mismanaged in high school in my humble opinion. How many kids because they can run a 49 400 are treated as sprinters when they are actually milers with good speed, who could have run that 4:15 you talking about?

Well yeah, nothing you said is profound. You think any other sports talk like this? Talent is a massive part of the equation.

do you watch other sports? basketball, football?

Size, body type, height, etc. all matter a lot. I could practice being a left tackle all day but I’m not 6’6” and 330 lbs.

Also, just because you aren’t the most talented ever doesn’t mean you should pursue a sport or hobby.

I see similar comments such as yours all the time, but the guys in ball sports suck at distance running and most of them are also limited to one sport. They have the same fraction of a percent chance of becoming a pro, so what’s the difference? Most runners can accept the concept that they’ll never run a 3:55, especially if they don’t have the the necessary 50 400m speed. Were you sad because you didn’t run 3:55 during college?

In regard to your brutal truth, the vast majority of Americans get no exercise at all.

There are exceptions. Tom Byers ran 4:18 in high school. His freshman year he won BOTH the Junior Nationals 1500/800 titles in 3:42/1:49, then a week later won the Senior title in 3:37.

The point is to maximize the talent you DO have. If you think the only way to be successful in this sport is to win an Olympic medal, set a WR, or win a major marathon you have a skewed view of the world.

And I get it. I remember years ago (when EPO first started showing up) the second half of the Men's Olympic 10,000 was faster than my 5k PR. It made me want to toss my spikes in the trash.

You just have to compete vs yourself, and if you're lucky you can accomplish some big PRs along the way and have a lot of fun.

Not always true