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    • Farewell
      • Sam Chelanga retires 7/5/2018 10:48AM
      • Farewell
      • Sam announced on his Instagram that he will be joining the army this month - peachtree was his final race as a pro.

        Editor's update: Here is our story on Chelanga's retirement from running:

        https://www.letsrun.com/news/20...-u-s-army/
    • Jah boi
      • RE: Sam Chelanga retires 7/5/2018 11:39AM - in reply to Farewell
      • Jah boi
      • Don't know him well but he seems like a good guy. Everybody moves on at some point. Congrats Sam!
    • one less
      • RE: Sam Chelanga retires 7/5/2018 11:42AM - in reply to here's the link
      • one less
      • Not sure why he would retire now, he would have a good shot at making the US olympic marathon team in a few years.
    • ScottEvil
      registered
      • RE: Sam Chelanga retires 7/5/2018 12:17PM - in reply to kmaclam
      • ScottEvil
        registered
      • Best of luck to him! Because professional running pays so little relative to 'big league sports,' it makes sense to treat it like a normal job and not stay till the bitter end -- whereas even the worst player in the MLB making the league minimum is making a lot more than a first year corporate lawyer or something like that. For a not-quite-A-lister like Sam, it makes sense to finally pick a career (or at least a good stepping stone to one).
    • Whyhow?
      • RE: Sam Chelanga retires 7/5/2018 12:32PM - in reply to Farewell
      • Whyhow?
      • Why would Sam quit professional running to suddenly join the army? Doesn’t make much sense to me as he is one of the top US runners and has a good chance at Olympic qualification in 2020.

        Is he a full US citizen? I know he lost his sponsorship with Nike, could this be something to make money as he might not have enough?

        Just seems odd that someone would want to leave pro running to join the military.
    • another runner
      • RE: Sam Chelanga retires 7/5/2018 12:35PM - in reply to ScottEvil
      • another runner
      • ScottEvil wrote:

        Best of luck to him! Because professional running pays so little relative to 'big league sports,' it makes sense to treat it like a normal job and not stay till the bitter end -- whereas even the worst player in the MLB making the league minimum is making a lot more than a first year corporate lawyer or something like that. For a not-quite-A-lister like Sam, it makes sense to finally pick a career (or at least a good stepping stone to one).

        If Sam is not an A-lister then who is? I would argue that he is currently one of the top 5 US distance runners.

        Here are his PR's:

        3000: 7:45
        5000: 13:04
        10000: 27:08
        Half: 1:00:37
    • Shoebacca
      registered
      • RE: Sam Chelanga retires 7/5/2018 12:45PM - in reply to another runner
      • Shoebacca
        registered
      • I remember when he ran that 27:08. His pro career seemed to have so much upside available and once he got going he put in decent performances. I agree that he was a real contender for the 2020 team.

        I ran some of the trails he and Josh used to supposedly do their runs on and I was surprised with how technical they were in spots.
    • Hardloper
      registered
      • RE: Sam Chelanga retires 7/5/2018 12:52PM - in reply to Whyhow?
      • Hardloper
        registered
      • Whyhow? wrote:

        Why would Sam quit professional running to suddenly join the army? Doesn’t make much sense to me as he is one of the top US runners and has a good chance at Olympic qualification in 2020.

        Is he a full US citizen? I know he lost his sponsorship with Nike, could this be something to make money as he might not have enough?

        Just seems odd that someone would want to leave pro running to join the military.

        He's 33 and he's not suddenly joining the army, he joined it years ago
    • Ackley
      registered
      • RE: Sam Chelanga retires 7/5/2018 12:54PM - in reply to Ackley
      • Ackley
        registered
      • I think Sam is near the age cutoff to join the Army so this may have had something to do with the timing.
    • Why - -
      • RE: Sam Chelanga retires 7/5/2018 12:56PM - in reply to Whyhow?
      • Why - -
      • Whyhow? wrote:

        Why would Sam quit professional running to suddenly join the army?

        Probably for the steady income and retirement benefits.

        However it seems he could run on the Army team if he wanted to.
    • reed
      registered
      • RE: Sam Chelanga retires 7/5/2018 12:56PM - in reply to another runner
      • reed
        registered
      • another runner wrote:

        If Sam is not an A-lister then who is? I would argue that he is currently one of the top 5 US distance runners.

        Here are his PR's:

        3000: 7:45
        5000: 13:04
        10000: 27:08
        Half: 1:00:37

        top 5 in what right now? maybe the half marathon, which isn't even a championship event.

        and you can't say "currently" and then list his ancient PBs. he hasn't touched any of those 3k-10k marks in years.
    • george oscar bluth
      registered
      • RE: Sam Chelanga retires 7/5/2018 12:56PM - in reply to Farewell
      • george oscar bluth
        registered
      • This is quite surprising as he was enjoying a bit of a resurgence. I wish him the best in his future endeavors.
    • MeHereYouWhere?!
      registered