Should I run in College?

Don't run in college if it is going to consume your life.

I ran in college and loved it, it was an absolute blast, and I was great friends with the people on my team, but I was closer friends with people outside the team. If you are going to miss out of the rest of what college has to offer because you can't balance running and the social aspect, then don't run. You definitely should have gone D3 if you wanted to continue running but were concerned about what you would miss out on.

Run in college. It's not as consuming as people make it out to be. You can EASILY still have a social life and run. However, since you're going to be a mechanical engineer, you're not going to have much of a life anyway. You can always join a frat whenever (I have a bunch of friends who are athletes in frats so I don't know where you got this assumption).

If it's something you want to pursue, then do it.

it will either make or break you- your major decision!

You will never know until you try it man!

are you a man or a mouse- frightened of hard work or just want to be mr average?

You might enjoy and thrive on the running scene at college- its up to you to find out.

Be organised, motivated and commited and you can have a life outside athletics

i'd suggest committing to it the first year - both xc and track. if you find that it's too much at the end of your freshman year, don't continue. but give it the whole year. the first year of college can be tough so give it time to adjust.

Which Big 10 school? You're may not be able to run varsity at the Big 10 level with those times, but you can certainly compete well at the club level. Most of the Big 10 schools have very competitive club teams. You can see their results at nationals at

www.clubrunning.org

.

If you're going to be attending Illinois next fall, post your email address.

Keep running!

I was "blessed" enough to be injured most of my freshman year at a D1 school and realized that yes, there is a lot in life besides running, but running really is the best thing. I am the kind of person that looks at running as a lifelong thing, though. I've never looked at it as a sacrifice. I ALWAYS considered myself lucky to compete on a good time and even contribute,

I've been running since I was 12 and I'm in my mid-30s now. I had once year off running in my 20s due to injury and I did develop other interests, passions even, but overall I am glad to have my main hobby be running. My job/family is also important to me, but running fits really well in my life.

Studying and running fit well together. There are plenty of people that are great runners/students. The frat thing seems like it wouldn't help your running at all. Then again, if you join a frat, your grades are more likely to suffer than they would if you ran on the team.

If you have to ask whether you should run at the next level, don't bother. You'll be a bad teammate and a pain to coach.

If you doubt running in college, don't run. If you don't have the drive to be successful as a runner in college then don't begin to try.

I had a similar situation as you - I was a little slower in hs, but went to a D1 college with a no-cut rule in xc, so the choice was up to me.

In the end, I ran one semester of xc and then switched to lightweight crew for the rest of the four years. Surprisingly to me, being a factor on a team was very important to me. Being the 25th guy in college, totally insignificant, made running on a team a lot less fun than being a star in hs. In contrast, in rowing, I was learning a new sport and having an impact on the team.

I think that was the right decision for me. I made good friends on the crew, and I never stopped running (just competing), and that was ok. After college I took up running and competing again and am getting back to my hs PRs.

So in the end, I\'d say you have to know for yourself how much you want to compete and really push yourself, even if you are just the 20th man. Does that sound like fun to you? Some people love running so much that is does sound good. For me, I hadn\'t figured out how to run for myself yet.

Of course, there is a chance that you would improve and be able to compete - that is partly up to you and your coach and partly to genetics

running in college will help you get part of said full college experience

If you can do it while not jeopardizing your academics, then go for it. You don't want to live your life thinking "What if".

one more thing - you have a clear gift for sports and for dedication - don't waste that gift. The gift is like a muscle - it will start to decline if you don't use it. So if you run, great. If you join the cycling or rowing or ultimate team, fine. Just keep using your body - you WILL regret it if you don't try.

I ran college xc in big ten and graduated with engineering degree. the training alone could leave you with little energy to focus on classes. engineering can be very challenging. it is not a walk in the park. i'd recommend joing a club team unless your 3200 track time goes below 9:30 indoors. you don't want to be getting last place in big ten competition.

Thanks for all the replies. However, I think some of you may of misunderstood my post. I am not going to quit running. I am going to quit racing and competing on with a team. I will still do club and intramural sports (I have strongly considered rowing) because I love exercise and sports in general. I would hate to be one of those people that gains 15 pounds in the first year at college.

if you're going to do rowing, just run...what's the difference if you're getting up at 5 to run or getting up at 5 to row a boat?

give it a whirl, if it's too much you can always stop

1. Running in college better be fun for you.

2. Running for a bad team is never fun, unless you need it, or really want it.

College running at any level is a significant time and lifestyle commitment. If you aren't getting some enjoyment, on some level, you won't like it. Especially on a bad team in which you may not be a very important participant.

when did they create this rule that someone on a school team cant join a frat?

i had a couple of friends at san diego state university who ran with them in the early 1980's and they (brian harold and scott burch) were also in a fraternity, harold was the teams 2nd best distance runner behind graham fell, and burch ran both cross country and track, and was known for his heavy drinking, he even was drinking until 3a.m. a few hours before the aztec cross country race.

If you were running DIII I would say yes in less than a heartbeat, because I have loved it. However DI comes with a bit more responsibility, so you need to be fully committed, which is something only you can control.

If you have the passion, everything else will fall in place if you put the effort in, but if you've lost the passion, then maybe it's time to hang up the spikes.

it sounds like you get a lot of benefit from being on a team - try really hard to find a 'team' to be in, even if it isn't a track team