How old is too old to race in a collegiate/open 5,000m

Flagpole wrote:College races should be for college kids, even if they let old people like you in.

College meets don't exist to provide collegiate athletes with their moment in the spotlight. We aren't talking about a 10 year old's piano recital. These are competitive adult athletes, not kids, and if another competitive adult athlete who happens to be a decade older can provide them with some good competition, then so much the better.

In any event, older athletes have been competing in collegiate track meets for as long as collegiate track meets have been around. It's just part of the sport. If the meet is open to unattached runners, then you are welcome.

Incidentally, I've never, ever had any weird experiences with college kids having weird ego issues because of older runners. They know that unattached runners are usually pretty hardcore, and unlike high school kids, they usually have a pretty good sense of their own capabilities as well.

Are you Kenyan?

Nearly every college student is an adult. Aside from the rare genius who goes to college at 13, there is no such thing as a "college kid."

So wait are you saying I could theoretically go to a college meet, run unattached, and run a 30 min 5k?

Karl Hungus wrote:

So wait are you saying I could theoretically go to a college meet, run unattached, and run a 30 min 5k?

That's why they run the hurdles after the 5k. You "could" keep running around the people setting up the hurdles and the hurdles after they have been set up but you probably wouldn't.

Age is not the issue, its how far behind the winners you become. In my case I stopped after I failed to break 17:30, because then I was a bit over 2 minutes behind the winners and felt like I was holding up the whole damn meet.

So, in our local case, I'd say if you can't break 17:30 on your XC course, then 'retire' the comfy local 5K where you win every day in 17:30 (or at least come in near the top).

Can anyone provide a website/calendar of college CC meets open to the public and how are those meets classified in the calendars?

List needed wrote:

Can anyone provide a website/calendar of college CC meets open to the public and how are those meets classified in the calendars?

Go to directathletics.com and search for upcoming meets. Search for ones in your area that allow individuals to run.

Perhaps you don't know the criteria to be a Real Man. Very few college kids meet that criteria, hence, "college kids". Also, there ARE college kids (do a Google image search and see for yourself).

I am too old and slow to run open college track meets but I know non-college athletes who have. The Hillsdale Gina Relays is a popular open outdoor meet in Michigan. A handful of Michigan's top high school runners compete there each year. They have been known to set their high school PRs at the meet sometimes. Grant Fisher ran the 1500 there when he was in high school. I seem to recall there may have been a post collegiate runner in the race too. A number of high school girls have run there and finished in say the top five. So the college runners at this level of competition should learn there are very fast younger and older runners out there who they may face in these open meets.

I'd say a post collegiate runner who goes out and easily wins an open collegiate race should move on to more competitive races. If one is too slow to avoid being among the last runners then he should look elsewhere. As others have said just look at prior years results to see where you can expect to finish. I have seen a number of Michigan's post collegiate runners at a number of meets in Michigan and in other states. If you see that other post collegiate runners have competed there before then you should feel more at ease running there.

party animal wrote:

List needed wrote:

Can anyone provide a website/calendar of college CC meets open to the public and how are those meets classified in the calendars?

Go to directathletics.com and search for upcoming meets. Search for ones in your area that allow individuals to run.

Are there any other websites that provide the same function as directathletics.com? The open meets I've found on that site are limited in number (I don't know if its due to the time of year, or whatnot), and I'm hoping to find a similar site that displays any additional, different meets.

If you're going to be competitive, then definitely go for it. I've had a coach thank me before for setting a good pace in a race and pulling one of her athletes to a PB.

College is a state of mind.

It's actually immature if anyone is bothered by you entering, assuming you can hold your own against them. If anything, they will respect you to see an older dude hanging with them. I understand how it can feel weird in your own mind, being the outlier versus a younger demographic. But think about it, you are standing out from the rest of your age group, because very few can do what you're doing unless they are at a professional level. I felt the same awkwardness myself after college, but it was all self inflicted thoughts. When I quit I realized the respect others gave me that I didn't even give myself. I held a regular job down and still trained full time until I was thirty. That's pretty impressive but I must say opportunity is key. My job was flexible and enabled me to do so. I could not have done it with a job that was not friendly to running or other opportunities I took for granted.

If you're fast enough it won't be odd at all.

I often go to watch a local college put on indoor meets and I noticed that in some of the slower heats I was able to compete (like 10 years ago when I was 48).

They told me I should enter. I never did but you could and should.

Thing is, I'm 58 and have a full head of thick hair, but it IS gray.

I support crackheads wrote:

party animal wrote:

Go to directathletics.com and search for upcoming meets. Search for ones in your area that allow individuals to run.

Are there any other websites that provide the same function as directathletics.com? The open meets I've found on that site are limited in number (I don't know if its due to the time of year, or whatnot), and I'm hoping to find a similar site that displays any additional, different meets.

A lot of meets won't be updated/added until much closer to outdoor season.

No man's land wrote:

It is very difficult to find a road 5k with the level of competition I am looking for.... especially in the area I live. I want to try to clock a PR in the 5k, so consequently I am starting to consider putting myself in a college track meet (either this indoor season or 2018 outdoor).

How strange would it be to see a balding middle aged guy spiking up in a college meet? It will probably be a D2 or a lower level D1 meet that I consider. Should I go for it and say "who cares what people think.", or should I stick to the roads and try to run solo.

I'm 33 and bald and have been doing it for for 4 years. I've even run high school indoor races, which are extremely entertaining. In southeast Michigan it is not uncommon to see masters runners hop into high school races at all, but one year out of shape I did try to do the same at the Grand Valley MITS meet which was frowned upon, but that's mostly because of the price difference between the college/high school meets.

The biggest factor is what kind of shape you're in. Don't enter if you're going to be DFL, only enter if you can mid pack or better. I haven't been in good enough shape to really hang in many d1 meets, so I've primarily done d2 but without problem. Some of the bigger meets will have slow heats going as slow as 17 mid, so if you don't mind racing red shirts have at it.

No man's land wrote:

It is very difficult to find a road 5k with the level of competition I am looking for.... especially in the area I live. I want to try to clock a PR in the 5k, so consequently I am starting to consider putting myself in a college track meet (either this indoor season or 2018 outdoor).

How strange would it be to see a balding middle aged guy spiking up in a college meet? It will probably be a D2 or a lower level D1 meet that I consider. Should I go for it and say "who cares what people think.", or should I stick to the roads and try to run solo.

Hah! I did this at age 50, although I didn't wear spikes because I'd never run a track race.

It was the Mississippi Open at Ole Miss. My masters PR was 19:29 and I thought I had a chance at breaking it. So I lined up with 15 collegiate runners. It was a once in a lifetime thrill. I had my goal and they had theirs. Gun went off and they were gone.

Barnabas Kirui won in 14:10. He lapped me three times, I believe, but it could have been four. I grunted him on, every time. "Go, man," or the equivalent. "Looking good."

I finished in 19:47. The slowest runner apart from me finished in 17:41, so I had the field, and the attention of a few in the stands, for two minutes. I'm amazed that the organizers put up with me, but it was indeed an open race.

True story. May 4, 2008.

I'm late 50s but looking at some (low key obviously) collegiate track 10000s next year. And maybe a 3000 if I can find one. USATF races are in the summer (hot) and generally not very competitive, unless it's nationals.

Don't be this guy.