Is it possible to run in track meets without going to college.

You can absolutely run in track meets even if you aren't on a team!

Yes, it will limit your options a bit as many meets do not allow unattached entries (just as many do allow them though).

It helps if you live near a college that hosts a lot of meets, but if you don't mind driving a few hours, you should be able to even more competitions. I competed in a lot of college meets the year after I graduated. It wasn't quite the same as being on a team, but it was still fun.

Generally, it will cost betweek 10 and 25 dollars to enter a meet unattached. If there is a school that hosts a bunch of meets, you may be able to contact the coach and offer to work a field event for them...might get him or her to let you enter their school's meets for free, and would be giving back to the sport (also more fun than showing up to a meet, running, then leaving).

Ask Allyson Felix

If you manage your mileage a little better and actually get some quality speed workouts in, maybe you'll get lucky and hit that sub-3:50 barrier in the mile. Then meet directors from all over the country will invite you to run. You may even get a professional sponsorship.

I would advise talking to your academic advisors to let them know that you have Olympic aspirations and see if they will work with you on having a flexible class schedule.

Yes, you can run unattached in many meets. Some meets directors will not allow it though. Something you should consider as well is travel. If you live in the Mountain West (or midwest to a lesser extent), most meets are several hours away or more, and none are very big, which may or may not be a problem depending on how fast you are. If you live in California or the East Coast, this won't be a problem though.

I've done both. There are pros and cons to both. It depends on the program and those involved with it. There are some coaches and programs out there which are just nightmares, and you'd be much better off running on your own (unless you would be on scholarship and need to the money). There are also programs out there which are great and great to be a part of. Either way, when you're a part of a team, you sacrifice a lot of freedom. You gain friends, gear, travel, medical care, etc, so it can be worth it. Most on here would probably say it is worth it. Again, it depends on your situation and the program/people involved.

My advice is the opposite of what you're considering though. I suggest joining the team right away and seeing how you like it. Give it a year as the first few months can be a bit rocky. If you don't like it after a year, quit and run on your own. It will be hard to get to know the coach and team very much if you're running on your own, especially if you aren't spitting out steller times.

Go to directathletics.com, set up an account, decide which NCAA meets you want to run in, and enter as unattached.

You cannot compete unattached in scoring meets, and some elite meets have marks required to enter (UW indoors, for example), but the rest you can compete in without any marks.

A search on the USATF web site of track meets throughout the country showed this:

http://tinyurl.com/6ozp3yf

Some are youth events, but quite a few open and masters' meets (and often, masters meets are open to anyone 18 or over).

But as another poster suggested, maybe you should see about joining your team. If you're not into that, though, this list at least is a starting point.

Yeah it's possible. Although I am not in college, I know you can run unattached. Some meets you can enter with your school name but others you can't. Where I live, you can compete with your school or your club. But I believe you can also compete unattached. Other meets, you have to be on a team or be unattached. But yeah, you can go to track meets even if you aren't competing on a team.