Attention fast college runners and all those sub 16 guys

Also I should mention that perspective changes when you're focused on one or two big goal races in a few months and your training is pretty carefully planned for them.

when in college, a paper company need school would have a race during the summer. It was free and could use any name you want and winners won toilet paper, towels and paper towels.

great question. I think most people don't do these races because they

1. have bigger goals

2. don't want to spend 30-40 bucks to do a race

as someone who is getting older and older, and fitness is harder and harder to maintain, I've been doing more local races for fun. It's pretty amusing but the $$$$$ is not there. I'd rather run on trails and spend 40 bucsk out to dinner w my wife

Well shoot. I'm older now and can't break 17 anymore and would struggle to run under 17:30, but let me tell you about the good days, ca. 25+ years ago. I'd show up and run 15s regularly and at best usually placed top 3, and that would be days when there was an adjoining 10K or 10 miler where OT qualifiers (track and marathon) would run their respective races at sub 5 min miles.

People are such whiners these days.

Curious how much it cost to enter those races?

There were more fast runners those days. Culture and economics have changed.

It also really depends on the environment and what your goal at the race is. I'm currently running NCAA and I occasionally do summer races for either fun or for a tune-up depending on the competition. There's actually several races if you look, in my experience, that can provide pretty good competition at the top 5-10 level. I've been on both sides of the spectrum and if you're smart about the training before and after it really doesn't hinder your training schedule all that much.

post post collegiate wrote:

Curious how much it cost to enter those races?

There were more fast runners those days. Culture and economics have changed.

Very inexpensive in the 1970s, $5 was probably typical, and it cost a little more in the 80s $10-$15 for a 5K-10K, a marathon might be $30, halfs and 10 milers somewhere in between. Things got much more expensive in the late 1990s, at the advent of the "second running boom."

it's like a guy who can bench press 350 lbs giong to the gym for the sake of benching 225- what's the point?because my marathon pace is 17:00 per 5k and i already feel like I'm way behind in terms of competition and trainingthere's no value running 16:00 5ks when your race pace is so much faster and being around all of the weirdo anxiety hobby joggers is just not pleasant at allif' it's within jogging distance from my home, sure, i'll jump in, but i need to get my sleep and have a familyKenenisa said he didn't care as much if he won a marathon but his time was 2:10. this is on a completely different level, but same concept.

Bennythebull wrote:

Why don't you guys show up to the open 5ks???

You guys could easily win these races and yet you stay home and let some hobby jogger win with 19:00.

I'm not as fast as you, but IF I WERE...I would run these races.

I know you have to get your 15 miles in...but why not run 3 of it in the 5k race and win?

Then I will see you running on the sidewalks later on that day super fast.

BullmanBenny

I'd agree the $ for some of these small runs can be too steep and excludes most people who fit that category and it doesn't fit into their training priorities.

And now for a walk down memory lane... (cue up Springsteen's "Glory Days")

I had some great times in my younger days at charity/local 5ks. I had the benefit of growing up in a town with a very active running club, and as a high school kid was getting whooped in summer races by the 14:xx guys we all worshipped and aspired to be. It was a really positive running culture, and the guys who graduated from our high schools would take the time to cool down with us. This was also the late 90's, and the races were max $10 for members and max $20 for non-members; no fancy finish line timing with cross country chute placing pulling the bottom tag off your number. Running was a big part of my high school experience, and I have a lot of great memories of the local races.

When I got to be a faster-guy and capable of winning the summer races, they were fun because we made them fun. If it were a weekend morning 5k, I'd time the last 3 miles of my long run to coincide with the start time of the run. There were enough guys running in college around that you'd need to push sub-16 for a slower race victory, and the summer series became the arena for all local HS/College XC/Track grudge matches. We were all training, so it became fun to find the ways to make the races "competitive." Example: we'd agree on a pace through 2.5 miles, last half a mile was every man for himself, unless some punk tried to take the race out like a show-boat and then we'd collectively bury him and wait until the final straightaway to see who cuts it. We had fun, we all ended the nights with handshakes, and wished each other the best until we raced again at Intercollegiates.

My former high school the coach was the race director for most of the races, so I wanted to help him pack things up afterward and be a positive presence. I, at least sub-consciously, realized the positive effect of the summer races on my formative years, and I felt it was important to give back; I'd ask the local kids about their training; I'd check-in with the old-timers to see how they are holding up; I'd answer training questions from the newb runners. I enjoyed it, and it definitely helped my ego and confidence!

Post-college, AKA the transition to the real-world, I had the benefit of a local running shop giving me free gear to keep training and running similar races. I had obviously given up the Oly Dreams by that point (LOL - I was never even close), but running was a big piece of my life for so many years it was hard to make a full-stop "out of competition." I was probably breaking about even in the balance of $ in free-gear and $ for entry fees, but every once and a while I'd feel like a big-shot when a "big" marathon or half-marathon would comp my entry and 2x nights of hotel to run. The running shop was happy because they were getting free advertising (enough people thought "some guy winning a 5k by 2 minutes must be really good! I want to buy my shoes from the name on his singlet!"), but personally it was a positive way to transition out of a lifestyle I had spent over investing in for over a decade.

I have since moved and live in a place that doesn't have a positive community like the running club in which I came up. I run the occasional half-marathon if my friends talk me into it, but I haven't run a 5k in years because they all seem to cost $30 going to trivial things. I would pay that for the right charity, but most of the races near me seem to be going to some for-profit cause race organization that gives everyone the chance to get a chip-time and post-race-selfie rather than invest in a local running community.

So, if you're still with me...

To the "fast college runners" - run a few local races and be a positive influence on the up-and-coming high schoolers, but remember the big races are in late October and early November!

To "all those sub 16 guys" - burn it while you still got it, and have some fun! Call/email some race directors and say "I have a PR of [xx:xx] I ran in [some reasonable time frame when I was training a lot but isn't so far removed from now] and think I could increase the competitiveness of your [race distance], do you provide any assistance on race entry fees or have an elite division?" One of the biggest mental transitions for me post-college was to stop feeling like I'm slow because I wasn't a 13:xx guy and realize my new friends or colleagues or (important) single-persons-of-interest don't care what your PR is if you're capable of winning a race (or finishing in the top 20 of some 7,000+ person race).

sfsdfsdfsdf wrote:

junkinthetrunk wrote:

Ran a local 5k supporting the Community Parks and Rec Association, for which I am volunteer. I won the race and beat the field by over two minutes, which I figured I would do. But the reaction I got from some of the participants was not very friendly. A small contingent of women pushing strollers came up to me, gave me the stink eye; and proceeded to advise me that the event was a fun run and not a race and that my show boating wasn't appreciated. I told them that I jogged the race, since my time was 20:30 and was running it for fun. They just shook their heads and walked away cackling away about their next Zumba class. Oh well, can't win for loosing.

You can lose for sucking.

Funny you say that because I have never been called out a show boater before, especially after running a 20:30. Although, I have had coaches accuse me of that for holding back and kicking hard in front of crowds. But isn't that part of the fun of racing, blowing away the competition with a show of acceleration. Oh wait, a 20:30 is damn slow in the world sub 16 college guys, but it annoyed the locals to the point of actually saying something. Maybe I should have dropped a sub 16 and awed them into throwing their diper bags at me......:)

Is sub 16k fast for college runners now? I ran sub 16k at 16yrs old and still wasn't winning all of my races

Is this really a serious question?

The best races are generally running club and grand prix series type races. Usually they don't cost you more than 20$ and competition is pretty solid. I've been pretty lucky though and have lived in New England and Portland Or for the past 9 years.

When I was younger I thought it was to cherry pick the fun runs. Now the only time I do them are if they are within a couple miles from my house, are less than 30 dollars and I have friends running.

Wbush wrote:

Is sub 16k fast for college runners now? I ran sub 16k at 16yrs old and still wasn't winning all of my races

For men no but women yes, and a pretty good time for the local road racing scene. Sub 16 for a 16 year old is solid good job. The poster called out to fast college and sub 16 runners, which typically make up the base of winners at your typical big city road race. The poster was commenting that these faster runners do not participate in the local 5k that can be won occasionally by slower recreational runners; providing it is a race and not a "fun run". Apparently to some recreational runners, fun runs are not meant to be raced. If you do race them you are a show boater.

I did this in my mid 20s. At first it was pretty fun to "win" a race, since I was always midpack in hs/college and never actually won a race before. After a few years I realized 90% of people at these events aren't even runners. I'd sometimes win by 4 minutes. Sometimes I'd get 2nd or 3rd to other post-collegiates. I'd look up past results and try to choose races I think I could win and then be disappointed with a 2nd when the time would have won every other year. Sometimes there'd be multiple races the same weekend and I'd "choose" the wrong one (getting 2nd in 15:30 in one race while the other one was won in 18:30). I'd get bitter, and I realized I cared way too much and it was really pathetic.

Not much reason to run too many open 5Ks, even for an older guy like myself who is nowhere near sub-16. Courses are notoriously inaccurate and they always route it so that you have to go around walkers who don't yield to actual racers. I stick to a few bigger well-known races per year.

Where are you people finding all these slow races? Asking for a friend.

Gravy wrote:

Where are you people finding all these slow races? Asking for a friend.

Pittsburgh has a lot of them. I'm 15 and I'm top three in just about every race I do. When I was 13 I could win races with 19s and 18s. I ran a 17:10 the other day just to break up the monotony of summer training and won a local 5k by 3 minutes.

Gravy wrote:

Where are you people finding all these slow races? Asking for a friend.

"You people"? Who are you calling "you people"? You people are supposed to be called "you people".

Just kidding, I use the website Running in the USA to find races.