jman1 wrote:
The thread below is over 5 months old now. I feel the same way today as I did then - I couldn't be happier for the guy! There is a tremendous amount to be said for the consistency of keeping the same coach. There are also no guarantees in this life. Injury, illness, etc. can happen at any time to anyone, especially a distance runner.
http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=7018035With a scholarship he would have been locked into a three-season year and would attend school for as long as five years - all while hoping to one day lock-in a pro contract. .
I do hope it works out for him; but one thing I'd point out is that college is more than running, frat parties and dreaming of turning pro. Its great that Adidas will pay his college costs, and I hope that's guaranteed, regardless of his running success. Pro training, in particular, seems like a real grind and its going to be tough to go full time to school, and take classes at all seriously. He said he wants to be a business major, and I guess after running there's always becoming an agent, the running shoe/apparel business, or Run Gum, or Picky Bars. But professional running is a pretty small world, and 10 years is a long enough to close off a lot of options. The advantage of getting a full scholarship to college is that it opens a lot of options.
In thinking about comparable decisions, Mary Cain seems to have wealthy parents, so I'm sure she'll find opportunities even after her running career is over. But I've often wondered about the long term career prospects of Alexa Efraimson, for example, especially vs. those of, say, Elise Cranny. Just speaking in purely economic terms, I'll bet Cranny will be a lot more successful in her life, because she chose college over turning pro.
But, as several have said here, economic success doesn't automatically equal happiness, and I hope all these great young athletes end up happy and content with their choices.