Could you make a living off of a 15:00 5K?

You could run 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states for some "charity," donate a small percentage of the proceeds, then write a book about how awesome you are.

I kid I used to coach runs about 15:00. He has a job (PT) and picks up a few hundred bucks here and there. Not a living but a great "part time job" to supplement this income.

Kara Goucher can. maybe even a 16:00. If you are are man you can make millions but you need to run 8 of them in a row with no rest.

dude, i know what you're thinking with starting this thread

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start applying, trust me

A friend of mine made about 2000 bucks running local races last year. He was never much faster than high 14s on the track and most of his road wins were more like mid 15 type efforts.

So, no living but some nice spending cash.

There is absolutely no way unless there were multiple 5ks daily in or around your area which gave good prize money, which will never happen.

I won a 5k in 1515 and took home 500$, that was literally the only time I ever made money running. There is no way in hell id want to run two low 15 minute 5ks a week for the chance to make a normal 1st year post college salary.

Even if there started to be an abundance of 1000$ dollar prize 5ks, decent runners would actually keep running post college and make them difficult to continually win.

No

get real wrote:

You couldn't even live on 14:00-14:15.

Assuming you are talking about road races, yes you can make a living, I would say about $30G. That time is good enough to get you about $10G in sponsorship and If you can race 3 times a month and pick the right races, you can make an additional $20 grand in a year. 14:00-14:15 will win all of the local races and place in the money in the large races. That time would have been good enough for 6th at Falmouth, which is worth $3000 for example. With that said, the money is in the marathons, if you can run 3-4 sub-2:20 marathons in a year, you can also make about $30G.

If you are very, very good at marketing yourself and aggressive in finding sponsors, you could make up to about $20,000 in endorsements. Start with food products like energy bar/protein powder companies. Also, talk with running stores to get a discount or free gear, and ask to get each race paid for from race directors.

Yes you could. Of course you would also have to have another full time job to provide the large majority of your income.

TrackCoach wrote:

get real wrote:

You couldn't even live on 14:00-14:15.

Assuming you are talking about road races, yes you can make a living, I would say about $30G. That time is good enough to get you about $10G in sponsorship and If you can race 3 times a month and pick the right races, you can make an additional $20 grand in a year. 14:00-14:15 will win all of the local races and place in the money in the large races. That time would have been good enough for 6th at Falmouth, which is worth $3000 for example. With that said, the money is in the marathons, if you can run 3-4 sub-2:20 marathons in a year, you can also make about $30G.

I feel like 3 5ks a month is easier (or at least sustainable) than 3 marathons per year. It's also way less risky - one bad race and there goes 1/3 of your income.

No way. Closest person I can think of to doing this would be someone like Mike Wardian. Would have to run a bunch of marathons. You'd need to run and win a lot of smaller 2:20 type marathons that pay out $1k or more for the win. Maybe a local runner bonus.

Back in the day I was a 1445-15min type guy in the DC area and I would make ~$1500 a year. This was being in the money at some of the bigger races (like 5th for 24:45 8k) where I'd pick up $50/$100. Then I'd cherry pick some races to win and make more. New races with money are great for this.

Some college teammates of about the same caliber did this in New England and managed to make a "lot" more than me. We thought this was because:

1. Seemed to be more races with money out in the middle of nowhere.

2. Easier to cherry pick races because more races had money.

3. Many more races on any given weekend.

4. Racing would shut down in DC June-Aug, but keep going strong in New England all summer.

I agree, TrackCoach. The fastest time I have ever seen at a road 5k is 14:48--which is a nice time on a road course. The person who ran this usually runs mid-15s, with some low and high 15s mixed in, and he usually wins by 30 seconds or more. A range of 15:00-15:15 should win most local races.

All the best to you, OP...

Those saying you just have to market yourself to get 10 grand in sponsorship are reading too many "how to build your blog" and "SEO optimization" websites during work.

No 13:45+ guy is making any shoe money. Some may get gear through some Brooks or Hoka team, but certainly not $10,000. Other options are Powerbar, some protein supplament, or Oiselle/Janji or similar.

As other's have said, the answer is no you can't make a living off of it. Also, as others have said the real money is in the HM through M.

As a mediocre runner (someone who runs 1:06s HM / 50:xx 10milers when in peak shape). I can be in 15:15 / 31:30 / 1:09 shape pretty much year round. I can say that making 2000-3000 a year is very feasible if done correctly. While still focusing on an actual career.

1) Cherry Pick Races

2) Look for low risk low reward races in the area (especially if a bigger fish type race is around)

3) Look for races in other's offseason (dead of winter, heat of summer)

4) use these races as practice

Once or twice a year I gear up to try and run a fast (for me) 1:06/1:05 type HM. In these races I know i wont likely get any money, but I can later use those times to get into other races for free, get free hotels occasionally, maybe gear, and also into some USA road Championships events.

'RE: Could you make a living off a 15:00 5K?'

Corrected and with one word less.

Doclove wrote:

'RE: Could you make a living off a 15:00 5K?'

Corrected and with one word less.

You mean one word fewer.

If your definition of a living is living in your parent's basement until well into your thirties, working at a running shoe store and being the boss of the local 5K, while trying to scam on younger chicks, then yes. But if you have aspirations for anything else in life, no.

Top Noticer wrote:

say in the 15:00-15:15 range on any given weekend. Is this possible?

Depends. Can you blog?