How many of you have won money racing?

$25.

Hell yes I do.

I won a small amount and refer to myself in jest as a professional runner to my running friends, who know how ridiculous that claim is.

Yes, but I had to turn it down for NCAA reasons. I definitely don't consider myself to be a professional.

chappy wrote:

If so, do you consider yourself or have you claimed to be a "professional runner," in a vague way, for any purpose (coaching, bragging, resume, etc.)?

[/quote]

It's still a pastime though and not your main profession

I once won a $50 gift card and a handful of other prizes for placing 3rd overall, 1st in my age group of a 5k. I only ran about 18:15. It was the same weekend as the Broad Street Run so all of the better runners went there instead.

Even if it was $1,000, I would not claim to be a professional. To me, professional means you rely on the money to pay your bills.

Bar room bet type sprints over a city block building line to building line, the crosswalk the start line and finish, a race of approx. 90yds. I'm somewhere about 50 wins and one loss.

I was at best a 10.5h yards runner in HS. Loss was to a Jamaican cook who once ran for Calabar but we both beat the 'fast guy' handily and pocketed the money with a smile.

Never though to think about the professional aspect so nope not a pro.

Consider This wrote:

just a thought... wrote:

Perhaps the IRS can clarify. Hobby vs Business:

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Business-or-Hobby%3F-Answer-Has-Implications-for-Deductions

I don't think the Internal Revenue Service is an authoritative source on English language usage.

I like this one from Merriam Webster: "following a line of conduct as though it were a profession."

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/professional

LOL, under that definition maybe the BrosJo should start advertising LRC as "The Web's #1 destination for professional runners"!

You missed my point. I was responding to the claim that anyone that "makes money" doing any activity is a professional. I disagree, for many reasons. One obvious one is what I posted - that if your expenses exceed your income from a particular activity, you have not "made money", or profit. The IRS agrees. I'm sure your Merriam Webster would agree too.

I was in no way suggesting that a person who has small winnings from road racing is a professional. They are not. To claim so would be incorrect, and misleading. But Flagpole had already stated that in his post that I was replying to, so there was no need to restate that obvious point. Or, maybe there was, since you completely misinterpreted what I was saying.

won $2,500 at a marathon once. not a ton of money but it made a meaningful impact in my life at the time. picking up a few hundred for doing something i used to pay to do is a cool deal

Scary Thought wrote:

I've won about $1000 in cash/prizes (restaurant gift cards)in the last year, and that was just off of 3 races. I do not consider myself a professional, but semi-professional.

I'm "slow", though. High 15s low 16s guy that had just gotten lucky in entering the right races.

Fully aware of how slow I am relative to the rest of the running world...just capitalizing on opportunities.

How did you do this? Were they new races that had prize money? The only races in my state that offer money seem to be high-profile ones where you have to run 2:25 for the marathon or 15:00 in the 5K. And for the 5K it is like 100 bucks.

Heck, most of the competitive 5K's in my state don't offer any money and are won in sub 15.

I've won a few hundred here and there, and lots of shoes and some gear. My SO a few thousand over a few years.

When is the last time a Detroit automaker turned a profit? Just a large scale hobby?

Flagpole wrote:

I have. I won enough in one month once to pay my rent for that month.

Technically speaking, as far as I'm concerned, if you make money doing any kind of activity, then you are a "professional". ...

Lol, by this definition do you have an estimate of how many professional gamblers there are in this country?

20Euros once and I consider myself professional.

Never straight up cash, but I have won....

$200 check for winning a race series

$100 gift card to Sports Basement

$50 gift card to Nike Store

3 pairs of goggles (roughly $15 each)

1 pair of bike glasses (roughly $100)

Like 2 years ago I won a $50 gift certificate to somewhere but forgot where it was to.

Sports massage (it expired before I could use it lol)

Big boxes of Clif Bars

A tour for 4 of a big winery in Napa Valley (even though I can't legally drink lol, just gave it to my parents)

Etc. not THAT much but a decent amount.

I've earned cash 5 times, ranging from $25 to $75...you know, small 5K or 10K races on weekends where bigger events are going on elsewhere.

I give the money back to the sponsoring group as they have all tried to raise funds for scholarships, school equipment, disease research and the like.

Professional? Please....

Won close to $1000 over the years while in college. NCAA can suck a fat one.

I won $150 once for 3rd Masters at a medium sized marathon. It would have been $250 but an over-50 dude who ran faster than me realized he'd make more by claiming 2nd Master than he would for first over-50. He deserved it of course. I don't think real professionals would have that happen to them, so no, no way am I anything but a slow amateur.

I made >$10K for 5 post collegiate years in prize money and shoe contracts, but this was in the eighties when the $$$ went a lot deeper. It was just enough to live on back then, though I had a full time job.

Think I have career earning of $15. Don't tell the IRS!