Janitor in my building was a 3:44 1500m and 13:51 5000m runner. He's currently 31 years old.

Can we say Mike Rossi on the message boards now? I thought for a while you couldn’t post his name.

i do not live in chicago, nor do work as a janitor, nor am i eritrean, but i ran 3:37 and 13:52 (probably not really equivalent times, so maybe i'm lying) before i retired (or simply tired) at the age of 29. i am sorry to have "wasted" my talent, and wish i had someone to "encourage" me to continue to amaze the world with my spectacular mediocrity, or my mediocre spectacularity, because, you know, the world needs another 3:37 guy to fill lanes at various national and international meets.

i guess the only consolation is that i could have beaten your janitor in a mile....

that's my story and i'm sticking to it,

cush

I’m 33 and have better PRs. Thinking about the commitment it would take to get back is laughable. Some of us end up liking life better than training all the time. Not to mention all the guys that regularly beat me and had better PRs have dead end pro careers…minus centro/jager basically.

13:51 isnt talent its youth and hard work. Talent is 13:20. No one is making a living with 13:51, shoot these days 13:20 may get you some free kit and whatever you can make road racing and with contract bonuses

sak9 wrote:

This is what I was thinking. Do you think it would be bizarre to ask him this? I don't think we've gotten to know each other long enough where I can just "ask" him to go on a run with me.

"let me know if you want to go for a run sometime"...wouldn't be weird.

he'd probably appreciate the invitation. but i'd be curious if he came through.

I ran 3:46 and 4:03 indoors and work in a school that nobody even cares nor knows what that means. They just found out the other day I was once a head division 1 coach. Wanna know the reality of it all. I make the Least amount of money and have the shortest time In the teacher retirement system because I wasted 10 years chasing a dream of being a college coach.

Lol at the people saying 13:51 isn't talented. Shut the f*ck up. 13:51 is incredibly talented. Is it not fast enough for a well paying pro career? Sure. but to say this guy isn't talented is laughable.

Exactly.

These are spectacular times.

Lots of snobby people on here diminishing these achievements.

I ran 1.48 and 3.43 but my 5k time was only 15.24. Not equivalent times bu I was coming up from 100m and the jumps

Well, he's got one leg of the LetsRun Trifecta. But given his employ as a janitor, his prospects for the $250K salary and the trophy wife seem rather dim.

The dude could be lying, but his story is 100% feasible. The difference in how fast an East African has to run versus a white American to get attention is huge. A 3:44/13:51 would get you scholarship money at plenty of American colleges, and the value of that alone would be more than anything he won at races running those times. I used to run occasionally with a Kenyan guy who was a 2:15 marathoner, I don't think he ever won more than a few hundred bucks at races, never had a sponsor and really just did it because he enjoyed it.

ClubRunnah wrote:

At some point everyone calls it quits and has to move on, I don't find this shocking. There are just only so many runners that are willing to "live the dream" aka put real life on hold while they race for road race prize money, or travel to European meets, and lower level meets in the US.

Around the age of 30 you have to look up and realize all your contemporaries are 6-8 years into their careers, buying a house, probably married and have at least 1 kid. You are still getting ready for track meets like you have been since middle school.

That's not even the standard anymore--a lot of people in their late 20s and 30s are delaying marriage/house/kids unless they have good jobs. Then if they have good jobs they will do that, otherwise they are still trying to scrape by in apartments and build their careers. Single, married, engaged--most of the Millennials I know are trying to get by in Columbus.

One out of Three wrote:

Well, he's got one leg of the LetsRun Trifecta. But given his employ as a janitor, his prospects for the $250K salary and the trophy wife seem rather dim.

I've noticed a lot of the LRC guys on here have 6-figure jobs and stable incomes. Very few poor people on here.

The bigger question is, why would you even care what someone thinks of you if you invite for a run sometime? Its a friendly gesture that nice people engage with. If he says no, who cares? Dont over think this. Being a friendly human isnt that complex.

Best thing to ever happen was having an injury that caused me to retire. Still remember when Chris Fox heard I was going to be a dad and he said my career was over. Pretty close just 1 more year after that.

As a coach on the side I make more in 6 months than I did in my entire running career. I have travelled the country and my athletes even paid for me to watch one of my athletes at Aarhus for WXC.

Sometimes things happen for a reason.

Mo Trafeh told me he was a 3:43 1500m runner, he wasn't lying...about that.

That 62:58 half at least should fast enough to be easy to confirm, but a quick glance at top lists didn't show any Eritrean running that time (or close to it) in Poland in recent years.

coahc wrote:

Best thing to ever happen was having an injury that caused me to retire. Still remember when Chris Fox heard I was going to be a dad and he said my career was over. Pretty close just 1 more year after that.

As a coach on the side I make more in 6 months than I did in my entire running career. I have travelled the country and my athletes even paid for me to watch one of my athletes at Aarhus for WXC.

Sometimes things happen for a reason.

Are you the Aussie runner?

Yeah, this sport will break your heart.

If it were a professional gig with money and popularity of the NFL, I think a 13:50 runner would be making a decent living at the sport.

Turns out a 13:50 and $5 will get you a coffee at Starbucks. It's a shame, so many runners knocking at the door of perhaps making it, but having to bail for survival reasons.

Probably better off being a 14:30 runner, at least you have some fun, but know where you stand.