Did guys on your college team keep running post college?

I like that you definition of "hobby jogs" includes running sub-25 8ks........

I get the feeling that there is a wide spectrum in your "hobby jog" category.

More people ran post college from my college team than people ran post high school from my high school team.

I was a mid-pack guy on my top ten D1 team. I ran competitively until I was almost 30. At that point, I was busy working and coaching and my body was breaking after 15 years of consistent training. A lot of people are physically/mentally burned out after college. I had a few teammates who were national level runners and continued competing for at least a few years after college chasing the Olympic dream. A few of us just loved to train and race and would run against each other at local road races. Quite a few guys decided they'd rather focus on their careers and drinking skills.

One of the guys I coached ended up as a two time D1 XC All American. When he finished college, he ran for a year or two and did a couple of marathons (ran about 2:20). He decided he had accomplished what he wanted at that point and didn't really have a shot at the Olympics. More importantly, he had other things he wanted to accomplish in his and decided not to let running hold back the rest of his life. A dozen years later, he is very happy and knows he made the right decision.

Out of my xc team there was one other that was still running recently that it's been 20 years. I think they've recently given up.

I'm probably in better shape today even as a master's athlete than I was back then. Better than most of the team was too.

What's power 5 school? About half of my teammates continued running.

ck3237 wrote:

What's power 5 school? About half of my teammates continued running.

It was about the same for me. Small d3 school. Half kept running but some moved to trails or ultras, some took up cycling, one guy started climbing.

You might be on to something. I’d say it’s about half and half with those I ran D-I track/CC with in the early 90s who still run. The real studs didn’t seem to continue, unless they were National class studs. I came as a walk on and eventually earned some scholarship $ my junior year and it’s more teammates like myself who still run and race.

I went to a D1 school that regularly made NCAA's. About 3/4 of the guys from my era continued to run recreationally. About a third tried to continue competitively for a couple years or more. At this point the guys from my time range from 5-11 years out and 5 still run competitively, including myself, are competing at a level where they have a realistic shot at the Olympic trials. Last trials six of us qualified for LA. This round there are 2 of us so far but I'd be surprised if at least 1 more didn't join us.

Most of the guys still run at least a couple times a week and are in way better shape than your average person. At least half still do races and training and can go out and run around 16-16:30 at a local road race. I'll probably always still run and once I "retire" from the OT level still do some training and intervals and be the weekend warrior every now and then. But I think my group is the exception and I dont think the group after me in college as many continued with running after graduation.

Immature to stop (unless taking another form of exercise). Immature to need a coach, team & support system to be fit. Moment it's gone- zero self-respect to not stay fit.

I went to a small NAIA school. A few guys I ran with in college have continued to train for BQ’s and just local races. However, the majority have stopped running competitively. One has hit an OTQ and has done well on the US road circuit. Based on the responses so far, it seems to be the trend that a small handful move on the post collegiate running and chase the dream for a few years.

For myself, I still continue to run 70-90 weeks on average throughout the year. From a personal standpoint, I got started running late in high school (junior year of track) so I really have only been running now for less than 10 years. I’ve enjoyed the road racing scene as it keeps me active and away from getting to massively out of shape. Most of the guys I’ve talked to who are post collegiates seem to have the same thoughts about why they continue to train.

If someone did a study, a ballpark number would probably be anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of college long distance runners will continue to do some sort of endurance sport competitively after college.

Does running ~20 miles per week without workouts or races count?

Yeah, a couple of guys did. They seemed to do ok. One named Doug and the other named Ed. Not sure just what happened to them or if they ever amounted to much.

The perfect place to go for the post college-type runner is the Peaked too Early podcast... Literally 3 former college distance runners talk about life after competitive running. They are trying to make the sport more relevant and get rid of some of the negative stereotypes of runners. Check it out...

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-16-gabriel-ghiglione-midnight-runners/id1458291922?i=1000443347275

https://soundcloud.com/mgendron727/episode-14-ollie-hoare-2018-ncaa-1500-champ-ncaa-outdoor-recap

BYU Alum wrote:Yeah, a couple of guys did. They seemed to do ok. One named Doug and the other named Ed. Not sure just what happened to them or if they ever amounted to much.

Wejo did!

Turned out better than ok wrote:

BYU Alum wrote:Yeah, a couple of guys did. They seemed to do ok. One named Doug and the other named Ed. Not sure just what happened to them or if they ever amounted to much.

If their last names are Padilla and Eyestone I think they turned out ok.

Yes, I think that was their last names. Doug Eyestone and Ed Padilla. Doug ran a lot of miles. Heavy mileage weeks. Ed ran very little. Maybe only 35-40mpw. Yep, I remember it well!

Hurdler went to Olympic Trials.

I was at CU pre-Wetmore. Far as I can tell one guy kept at it and was fairly successful through the Masters level, the only others I can find are maybe 3 hobby joggers at best.

I put myself in that category, but at my now-advanced age I also do lots of other stuff to keep fit. Kids are adults now, etc., more time to race if I could hold it together. Every so often I'll turn a few 6 minute miles then pay for it for weeks.

It's strange. I worked in the same city I graduated from high school long ago, and the annual Corporate Road 10K or whatever it was called had all the fast guys from the various high schools reunited when we were in our 30s. But given the same time period post-college, hardly any of those fastest-of-all guys who were at one D1 powerhouse were doing anything.