alright kids,
time for you all to weigh in. what kind of times for each distance do you think it would take to go pro. and by going pro i mean getting a contract for at least enough money to live off of. i ain\'t talking about trying to go pro and making 10 grand a year here. okay, ready, set, go!
i would say about 13:25 5k, and around to 28:00 for 10k.
hanson's guys make a good living and don't run those times.
I see this over and over here, how little do I have to do to do x. run your nuts off, and see where you end up.
Instead of going for it, people try to run 2:21:5x to qualify for the trials.
BTW - Hudson's group with guys making 100k a year are sucking down your development money.
Time does not matter.
Who you beat does.
100m-10.2
200m-20.5
400m-45.5
800m-1:47.0
1500m-3:40.0
5000m-13:20
10000m-28:05
Marathon-2:15:00
I could be way off, but i think these are reasonable.
Rod DeHaven worked full time and raised a family whiling winning the Olympic Trials. Is that considered "pro"?
There are so many levels of pro from free shoes to a little prize $ to a 5-10k sponsorship. That's money, but you still have to work full-time to live. Pro, as in make a living from running, is probably close to the times listed above.
buddy of mine runs for nike. he's run under 1:47 for 800 several times. but, as he said, it wasn't necessarily the times that did it (which did help) it was beating key people in big races. that's the thing--go to races like MT SAC or Penn relays and if you beat some top dudes, you'll get noticed. (but in order to beat some top dudes, you have to be able to run fast. if you can't do that, you have to consistently control a field of runners, in your races so that they all end up behind you.)
The distance that you run is key. Sponsorship money goes to 3 events. 1. 100 meters (fastest man in the world title),
2. Mile (a distance that the public understand)
3. Marathon (a distance that the public respects)
The only exception is someone that is off the charts that they believe will eventually fall into one of these categories eventually. Hansons are also an exception because they are rabid fans that throw money at the sport and the public likes that.
You could probably go pro on times way slower than those listed above. All you need is a few sponsors, a good homepage and maybe doing some kind of promotion for your sponsors besides just having their logo on your shirt. Look at all triathletes , surfers etc thats nowhere near worldclass but still gets enough money to go by on it.
Still, you got to have SOME ability but I think this would be enough:
800: 1.50
1500: 3.45
5000: 14.10
10000: 29.30
marathon: 2.28
When you're in that range it's more about how well you can represent the brand/product and possibly your apperance has quite a bit of market value too. Just look at Anna Kournikova in tennis, really hot and makes lots of cash but not an outstanding tennis player...
its probably a lot easier to make a little bit of dough if you start looking to make some money off road races once you get down to say like 14:00/low 29's wouldn't you say. i feel like the roads is a good stepping stone if you are improving and working your way down to professional status on the track. at least if you are a distance runner.
yeah it's not time it's being in that top percentile of runners in the US at a certain time.
I'd say the top 30 or so runners at each event can go pro and actually make a living at it
You don't have to run fast at all! Just run 300 miles at 10 to 15 minute pace without sleeping, or 50 5 hour marathons. And if you think that took a long time, spend twice as much time tirelessly self promote yourself, targeting the ignorant general public rather than the true running crowd.