Anyone have insight into running at a service academy?

A guy from the academy came into our squadron as a 2nd Lieutenant, and he had been a decent runner there. He ended up getting a medical discharge about a year later after he was diagnosed with being bipolar.

Running is pretty much the same as anywhere else, but you can't use Strava.

Dur wrote:

Running is pretty much the same as anywhere else, but you can't use Strava.

post of the year^

Serious answer here...

The service academies are Division I and have the facilities, support staff and travel schedules to rival good Power 5 programs. The men's distances compete at fairly high level at all three. Air Force and Navy made Nationals this year in XC, and Army beat Navy at both Army/Navy and Patriot League.

If you are good enough to be a recruited athlete in the distances at a service academy you likely have a multitude of options and offers. If you are serious about being a military officer go to the respective service academy. If the idea of serving in the military into your late 20's scares you go somewhere else.

I highly recommend contacting the coaches as early as you have a time that might be of interest to them. Applying there is a VERY long and time consuming process. There are tons of hoops to jump through. Don't wait to start the application process. Start your junior year or no later than the summer before your senior to start.

If you are deciding between competing at a "normal" school while doing ROTC versus doing the service academy, you'll most likely find it easier time-wise at the service academy. Either way, you'll definitely not be a typical college student, but the service academies are very supportive of their student athletes, they have the conflicts sorted out already.

By contrast, depending on the school, you may have academic/ROTC conflicts, ROTC/athletic conflicts, and academic/athletic conflicts. Some programs will do a better job of giving you flexibility and people have done it successfully before you. Our most recent pole vault IAAF world champion is one example of somebody who did ROTC, academics, and NCAA D1 sports simultaneously (he went to University of Miss).

If you plan to do a "normal" school, I would recommend a conversation with both the coaches and the ROTC leadership before you settle on a school.

Thanks all for the responses. I've been accepted to one already and am likely going, but haven't had too much contact with any of the coaches(would be a walk-on, not recruited), but wasn't sure how they manage to fit running into a seemingly tight schedule.

You should email the coach and find out more. I believe that Navy has practice between 4:00 and 6:00 when all midshipman are involved in some physical activity. Also runners are able to get out of some formations and other things that non-athletes need to participate in. I can't tell you but so much but have talked to a recruit that said there were some freshman that didn't have terrific running stats in high school and were not listed on their roster.

Email the Coach of the respective service academy immediately.

The service academy teams are highly competitive. They recruit pretty well, and walk on spots can be hard to come by. If you have run sub 4:20 or 9:30 I would imagine you would be given at least a try out (if they have a try out), but if you are not recruited a roster spot is not a given.

What is important to know is you do not set your class schedule at a service academy, it is assigned to you. If you are not on the roster you may be scheduled for class during practice. If a coach feels you have potential after you contact them they will place you on the roster and you will not be scheduled for class or additional duties during the teams stated practice time. That does not necessarily mean you have made the team, but at least they are going to let you try out.

Kind of hard to explain, am I being clear?

Also, I only ran for one service academy, but I imagine things are similar at all three.