Is Division III running worth it?

countychamp wrote:

I love the sport so even if I don’t compete at a collegiate level, I’ll still probably run regularly at school.

You probably won't.

Yeah you aren’t gonna run as much as you think you are.

Go to a big school. Have fun with college

I always hate when people say this. For starters, unless you’re going to a bad d3 school, it doesn’t mean you could easily run there. Some of the better d3 schools in the country don’t just let anyone on the team. Also, if you’re a truly committed runner, then the only difference in terms of time commitment between d1 and d3 is maybe travel time (I get you aren’t comparing the two, I’m just making the point of how d3 and d1 aren’t so different). If you want to be good, you’ll run just as much as d1 athletes, have the same school workload, and do all the things you need to do to be good. If you wanna just run and not worry about competing, then maybe don’t be on the team and have some extra down time. But if you like to compete, then be on the team!

All that being said, being a committed runner in college isn’t hard. Anyone who tells you they don’t have time (2-3hrs a day) for practice, is either lying and don’t know how to manage their time, or is in an incredibly rigorous major (they exist) and working as well. You’ll have time for d3, just as you would have time for d1. You’ll be able to have time to study and hang out with friends with a decent amount of down time for the vast majority of college. You’ll have a ton of fun. People who say differently just want to scare you into thing college is hard, which it is not (unless you’re in a medical or engineering program)

I ran at a competitive D3 program that has since gone D1. I was fortunate that they allowed walk ons because I didn't start running until I walked on as a freshman. It was a great experience and I can't imagine what my college experience would've been like without having run. I traded texts with one of my college teammates today, 24 years after I graduated, and I've been in touch with two other teammates in the last month. I've been in a couple of teammates' weddings and they were in mine. I learned more about goal setting, long term planning, discipline, delayed gratification and balancing multiple priorities by running cross country and track than I could have any other way. I got to compete at high quality meets, traveling to Colonial Relays, racing the 5000m at Penn Relays, running indoors at BU and Harvard and racing on iconic cross country courses like Van Cortland Park and Franklin Park. Ran D3 Nationals in Virginia, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois. Ran against some immensely talented runners, including a D3 runners who was among the top 10 Americans in the 10,000m while a collegiate (Dan Maier) and another who went on to finish as the top American at Boston after college (Kevin Collins). I graduated with PRs faster than the majority of D1 runners and almost all of the D2 and other D3 runners of my era. D3 can be every bit as rewarding as D2 or D2 running, unless you are at a raw D1 school with top notch facilities hat also happens to treat cross country and track as a first class citizen of the sporting world.

I agree with smoove. Running in college was the best decision I ever made. Irreplaceable friends and memories. A development of a true love for running. Major improvement. Time management skills. I can’t see any downsides.

First d3 is every bit as competitive as d1 if you're competing to be on a decent team's top 7, often even further back. Sure some people don't try and they're not very good. But "recreational running" and d3 running are not equal. If you plan to treat d3 like just running for fun, its not for you. At most meets you'll be competing against d1 runners and if your team is any good the d1 teams you'll be competing against will be top d1 teams. If you intend to improve, chase pr's and run your heart out against other athletes then d3 is for you.

countychamp wrote:

Would I be better off running on my own and just spending time with friends or studying or whatever?

Not unless you want to be a fitness jogger. Your friends won't care about running and will wonder why you're always running all the time instead of playing video games and drinking and doing crossfit. At a larger/D1 school you might be able to find a competitive club or even competitive intramural running outside of the NCAA team but at a small D3 you should try out for the team if you care at all about running fast, or having friends who also like running.

Go to tfrrs. You can clearly see D3 is solid. These threads are just as douchey as they were when apple raceberry jam was in charge.

DIII has some good teams and it can be very enjoyable. However, the travel and level of competition is significantly below that of D1. Many of the runners are just as serious as D1 runners, maybe even too much so. Look at TFRRS as one of the other posters suggested.

I think the level of competition and travel point is generally a fair one if you are looking at the tbtire season schedule, but I think at it's high points, lots of D3 schools' have schedules that overlap with those of D1 schools. You will miss out on the big national invitationals on the other side of the country, and most conference meets for D3 schools will be dog crap compared to D2 schools, but many D3 schools, particularly those in the northeast where there is a high concentration of colleges, will go to many meets as competitive as many D1 schools, especially those at second tier conferences.

countychamp wrote:

I am considering running xc/track for a local instate school, it’s a very good school and it’s D3 so I can easily run there if I want to. I love the sport so even if I don’t compete at a collegiate level, I’ll still probably run regularly at school. Is it worh it to run at a D3 level? Does it take up too much time? Would I be better off running on my own and just spending time with friends or studying or whatever?

It depends what you hope to get out of it.

You'll still run a lot, as you would in a D1 school. You'll travel every week to meets. You'll have a structured running experience.

If that doesn't appeal to you, don't run in college at all. Instead, train on your own and do road races.

If you're worried about it being too easy or not competitive, just pull up the results for your schools D3 conference championships, their regionals, and the national D3 championship. That will give you a good idea of the times/pace D3 athletes are running.

If you've kept up with D1 running, athletes drop out like flies generally after the first year or 2. Because D1 schools compete at a generally higher level, the pressures and stress on a D1 athlete are higher. D3 schools usually don't have brand sponsorship (Nike, Adidas, etc) or rely on athletic scholarships (my D3 school only gave academic scholarships; no athletic scholarships) - so you won't feel wedded to the team should you choose to quit.

I think there's one big point that has been missed so far. You said you thought your time might be better spent hanging out with other friends instead of practice or meet time. In my experience, probably like my 15 closest friends during college were all on the cross country team.

At D3 level, the time and effort is what you make of it. If you want to take it super seriously, you can. If you want to show up to practice and not run on the weekends or do team activities, you can.

I think for a lot of people, especially the type of people who tend to be cross country runners, it's phenomenal as a social activity. If you enjoy running at all, you'll be around like-minded people for a lot of your time which is obviously a recipe to form friendships.

Do what you want obviously, but running at the D3 level is very low stress. If it's an activity that you enjoy, then I would highly recommend it. The team atmosphere is something that makes it so much more enjoyable for pretty much everyone.