I question your "close counselors." Going this route will throw up a red flag that's hard to explain and thus rule you out for any P5 program as well as any decent G5 program. Most if not all of those coaches and recruiters want someone who's intent to be a student straight away. If you're okay going to a JUCO, D2, or NAIA program once you do finally matriculate, then this could work out for you.
Don't listen to any of these idiots. It most definitely will NOT be a red flag at all. Graham Blanks took a gap year and the Harvard coach was THRILLED he did. A smart coach is not going to be turned off by a fact that kid wants to be great at running. That will turn them on.
I think the key difference is Blanks was already accepted to Harvard to run before his gap year. Moreover, Blanks's gap year was due to COVID, when Ivies were not competing. Blanks smartly elected not to enroll to delay starting his Ivy 4-year clock. Had he enrolled, he would not have been able to compete. Blanks is not a good comparator but for the fact that it shows that someone can improve significantly during a 1-year time period in which they are not studying or racing.
Blanks knew he was going to Harvard the entire gap year. He did not have to convince any coach to recruit him after the gap year, which is what the OP must do. Given how coaches are creatures of habit, there may be some who are unwilling to think outside the box unless the OP's times are spectacular (or at least better than a contributing sophomore).
To the extent this guy is real - and there are reasons that may not be the case - I think the dilemma is an interesting one, but he should not use Blanks as a guide here. Apples to oranges.
I’m trying to get advice on a gap year. I’m a 9 minute 2 mile runner (17 year old senior) that plans on taking a gap year to develop and catch up to guys in my class. I started running the spring of my Sophomore year and I have the talent to go far in the sport, but close counselors and myself all agree a gap year spent training at altitude and focused solely on developing would prove to be greatly beneficial. I have the financial stuff worked out and when I get up to Flagstaff I’ll be able to comfortably make ends meet. Has anyone here taken a gap year, and gone through the recruiting process during that time? How should I go about finding running partners and people to train with? Is there any other real advice someone has to lend? The result I hope to achieve from this upcoming year is to simply (not easily) run great times by racing unattached and to develop into the runner that belongs on a high caliber team. Thanks.
I would say go to college as well. 9:00 2 mile will get you some offers if you reach out to some good running schools. If you find a really good program, like Providence college, or Villanova, Adam's State, NAU, University of Colorado - they will most likely make you take a red-shirt or 5th year to get the most out of your eligibility at the school anyway. You've already ran fast enough in highschool to get recruited, now it's time to pick a good fit academically, athletically, and financially.
Lot of info , unless I missed it, missing. Surrounding marks..XC placing in state etc. 9 minutes for full two mile is still very good. There are or should be a lot of options. Academia, profile etc. Financial status, do you need-need money or can you get to a good school without it. At least for first and second year. Even for pretty solid guys, there is not as much free ride stuff as some may think. I would reach out directly via e-mail and phone to Director or HC of XC and Track, schools want to be recruited by the kid, not just the other way, its a big pond out there today, generating interest has to be at least a pretty decent effort on your part. I know some guys who would surely entertain a 9 flat two miler's reach out.
I was in the same boat as you. I graduated in 2022 and coming out of high school I was a 9 flat runner with a lot more potential but I didn't get recruited. I took the gap year and tried to train myself during the year. It didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked and was super challenging to navigate training decisions. I started to make some decisions in training that caused me to get hurt in the fall of 2022. I was super dedicated and knew a lot about training but not experienced in when to push workouts hard and when to back off. I ended up getting in contact with a college coach February 2023 of my gap year. During that time I was coming off some rough months of training and didn't make any progress in fitness. I was getting close to calling the sport quits, but the coach offered me and I committed to the school. Once that happened I was under his wing and everything started clicking. I had the best summer training block of my life and made leaps and bounds in fitness. This was 100% due to the fact that I was under an experienced coaches guide. The gap year was super hard but everything worked out and now I run D1. My biggest advice would be to get a coach that your trust. Get in contact college coaches. You're already very fast and your commitment/discipline will be attractive to coaches. If the coaches are smart they will see the potential. Goodluck!!
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.
Forgot to add the link to Born to Run, Carrozza’s team for HS development. Rojo has a few points. When not running, what do you plan to do?
at least in Austin you’ll also have opportunity to get some part time gig, which Paul is for/ supports. You’ll also have friends within your teammates so won’t be isolated in new town.
I’m trying to get advice on a gap year. I’m a 9 minute 2 mile runner (17 year old senior) that plans on taking a gap year to develop and catch up to guys in my class. I started running the spring of my Sophomore year and I have the talent to go far in the sport, but close counselors and myself all agree a gap year spent training at altitude and focused solely on developing would prove to be greatly beneficial. I have the financial stuff worked out and when I get up to Flagstaff I’ll be able to comfortably make ends meet. Has anyone here taken a gap year, and gone through the recruiting process during that time? How should I go about finding running partners and people to train with? Is there any other real advice someone has to lend? The result I hope to achieve from this upcoming year is to simply (not easily) run great times by racing unattached and to develop into the runner that belongs on a high caliber team. Thanks.
Forget the training at altitude. Where are you going to find races in Flag? The college coaches are going to want to see RACE development in this gap year. Find a city that has strong all-comers track program. I would go with Atlanta AKA Atlanta Track Club.
Besides anyone (sub elites) in Flag are all 'thonners. You are a 2 miler. Your counselors are clueless. Altitude has never been proven.
I would say go to college as well. 9:00 2 mile will get you some offers if you reach out to some good running schools. If you find a really good program, like Providence college, or Villanova, Adam's State, NAU, University of Colorado - they will most likely make you take a red-shirt or 5th year to get the most out of your eligibility at the school anyway. You've already ran fast enough in highschool to get recruited, now it's time to pick a good fit academically, athletically, and financially.
It's already too late to apply, apps were due in Jan for the 24/25 school year. Schools don't have much budget left.
His 9:00 2 mile not from a verifiable meet.
Unless a coach was able to get around both these problems. It's tough to go the college route now, this late in the game.
Last year as a Junior I’ve run 9:2x and lowered my mile to 4:20 in the early fall. I’m not kidding about being a 9 minute two miler, but time trials aren’t accepted by college coaches as marks of note. Hopefully this gives more insight into my dilemma. Conflicts with my HS prevent me from running with the team, so my best bet for running a mile or 2 mile this season is to run at a college invite and let the conversion speak for itself when applying for stuff like NB or Nike Outdoors. Replicating the result in a race won’t be impossible, but it’s not guaranteed that a 9 flat guy can just run 9 flat or faster each time they toe the line. There are nuances to each and every race. So, when I race next I will obviously be shooting to massively lower my times. Another issue is that 3k isn’t typically run outdoors. Eh, I’ll figure the racing stuff out. Better to look for solutions than problems in this game of life. Also, for the person saying I would live to regret this…I don’t ever think I will regret honestly taking a chance on myself. Getting a job and going to college is A way but not THE ONLY way to make money and be successful-just a thought.
"Conflicts with my HS prevent me from running with the team...."
This is a concerning statement. It doesn't appear to be a simple scheduling problem... Could you expand? If it is getting along with others issue, that will not bode well from making friends in a new environment. You need high emotional intelligence to read settings and the diverse people you'll meet along on the road and navigating new partners to train with.
Last year as a Junior I’ve run 9:2x and lowered my mile to 4:20 in the early fall. I’m not kidding about being a 9 minute two miler, but time trials aren’t accepted by college coaches as marks of note. Hopefully this gives more insight into my dilemma. Conflicts with my HS prevent me from running with the team, so my best bet for running a mile or 2 mile this season is to run at a college invite and let the conversion speak for itself when applying for stuff like NB or Nike Outdoors. Replicating the result in a race won’t be impossible, but it’s not guaranteed that a 9 flat guy can just run 9 flat or faster each time they toe the line. There are nuances to each and every race. So, when I race next I will obviously be shooting to massively lower my times. Another issue is that 3k isn’t typically run outdoors. Eh, I’ll figure the racing stuff out. Better to look for solutions than problems in this game of life. Also, for the person saying I would live to regret this…I don’t ever think I will regret honestly taking a chance on myself. Getting a job and going to college is A way but not THE ONLY way to make money and be successful-just a thought.
"Conflicts with my HS prevent me from running with the team...."
This is a concerning statement. It doesn't appear to be a simple scheduling problem... Could you expand? If it is getting along with others issue, that will not bode well from making friends in a new environment. You need high emotional intelligence to read settings and the diverse people you'll meet along on the road and navigating new partners to train with.
I had a verbally abusive coach that would get in my face and cuss me out…not the HS experience I want nor the one anyone deserves. I promise I’m a very friendly, social guy. I have a stable and well developed home life, and my old teammates and I are all great friends. If I wasn’t stretched completely to my limit I would not have left. Why would anyone in their right mind, barring extraordinary circumstances choose to do what I’m doing ESPECIALLY when I’m in the middle of the biggest transition in my life up to this point. Anyone that knows me in real life would testify.
Just go to college at altitude. There are plenty of schools in Colorado that have good academics as well as some in Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and even Wyoming.
Where you run is a lot more important that just being at altitude though. If I had to do life again I'd go somewhere like Cal Poly or Portland over any school at altitude because of the ability to run amazing trails year round.
so, I read this as, 9:2x junior year and kicked off or quit the HS team. The reasons don't matter, the maturity level does. What happens when the sledding gets tough during a gap year, or worse, on a real college team? Running D1 is a full time job, with a lot of serious tradeoffs, and it's not for everyone.
There's much more to life than running. You can still pursue it seriously (which could include running in college) but I wouldn't orient your entire life around it.
I question your "close counselors." Going this route will throw up a red flag that's hard to explain and thus rule you out for any P5 program as well as any decent G5 program. Most if not all of those coaches and recruiters want someone who's intent to be a student straight away. If you're okay going to a JUCO, D2, or NAIA program once you do finally matriculate, then this could work out for you.
Don't listen to any of these idiots. It most definitely will NOT be a red flag at all. Graham Blanks took a gap year and the Harvard coach was THRILLED he did. A smart coach is not going to be turned off by a fact that kid wants to be great at running. That will turn them on.
Most coaches don't care at all about people wanting to be a student right away. What they want is someone who can help them right away and most 17-year olds most definitely can not do that. BYU is more than happy to get Mormons that are several year olders than everyone else and most of the scholarship schools are happy to get Afridcans that are older as well.
This sounds like a great idea to me. You are 17 and young for your grade. I'd be happy to coach your remotely with John Kellogg.
My concerns are this
1) Where are you going to live?
2) How are you going to eat? What do you plan on doing for meals?
3) Will you have a car?
4) Do you plan on doing anything else besides running? I don't think I"d want my son just runnign and sitting on his a** all day. You need to have a plan to stay pre-occupied.
Most HS seniors aren't ready to live on their own, cook, etc.
Seriously, shoot me an email at or give me a call/shoot me a text at 844-538-7786.
"Conflicts with my HS prevent me from running with the team...."
This is a concerning statement. It doesn't appear to be a simple scheduling problem... Could you expand? If it is getting along with others issue, that will not bode well from making friends in a new environment. You need high emotional intelligence to read settings and the diverse people you'll meet along on the road and navigating new partners to train with.
I had a verbally abusive coach that would get in my face and cuss me out…not the HS experience I want nor the one anyone deserves. I promise I’m a very friendly, social guy. I have a stable and well developed home life, and my old teammates and I are all great friends. If I wasn’t stretched completely to my limit I would not have left. Why would anyone in their right mind, barring extraordinary circumstances choose to do what I’m doing ESPECIALLY when I’m in the middle of the biggest transition in my life up to this point. Anyone that knows me in real life would testify.
Thank you for the explanation. I do think that with this being a huge transition period, it's best to stay around your support system. The abuse in the real world only gets worse, and I would GAP close to home and train at a junior college, invest fully in training, moderate school and see what happens. Going to a new place far from home, has not historically ended well for many. Just an opinion not knowing you or your situation.
I had a verbally abusive coach that would get in my face and cuss me out…not the HS experience I want nor the one anyone deserves. I promise I’m a very friendly, social guy. I have a stable and well developed home life, and my old teammates and I are all great friends. If I wasn’t stretched completely to my limit I would not have left. Why would anyone in their right mind, barring extraordinary circumstances choose to do what I’m doing ESPECIALLY when I’m in the middle of the biggest transition in my life up to this point. Anyone that knows me in real life would testify.
Thank you for the explanation. I do think that with this being a huge transition period, it's best to stay around your support system. The abuse in the real world only gets worse, and I would GAP close to home and train at a junior college, invest fully in training, moderate school and see what happens. Going to a new place far from home, has not historically ended well for many. Just an opinion not knowing you or your situation.
I agree with this advice, mostly. Unless you live in a God-forsaken town that has crappy weather and lacks trails/training resources, I’d suggest taking the gap year and living at home, taking a few community college classes that will transfer anywhere, and maybe working part-time to save a little money. If you are smart and efficient, you can still train like you never have before.
Unless you really want to get away from home and get some new experiences, which I would understand. But, let me tell you that there’s nothing magical about Flagstaff or Boulder. So many people have gone to those places, especially Boulder, over the years to “train like they never have before,” but the cost of living alone is a major hurdle, and it’s hard to get to low altitude destinations to race, though Phoenix isn’t super far from Flagstaff.
It’s hard for me to believe you haven’t been recruited. Can’t you reach out to some schools to see if you could at least walk on with the potential for a scholarship? For maybe the spring semester? Honestly, yes, it’s too late to apply and receive a scholarship, but there are schools with rolling admission and there’s still time.
first off, this is either a troll post or you're looking for an attaboy. based on what i hear, it's april, you haven't applied anywhere. a lot of schools admissions are closed. you made the decision months ago.
second, if this is real, you are in dream land. you haven't run a TF race in a year. if you aren't racing you're not even much of a TF person really. you in theory are already doing the solo thing this season and i don't hear bupkis is happening this year. not applying, but you can justify that by your supposed plan. but not racing either. you're basically imploding as an athlete while talking about going to a training mecca as some hail mary.
a lot of you kids obsess about times but part of the game is does coach want to deal with you, do you seem reasonable, responsible, coachable. the issues with HS are a red flag. the bupkis response this year is a red flag. you're not doing club. you're not transferred to another school. this hail mary is a red flag.
as someone said, blanks was a covid deferral, not a go find myself in flagstaff guy. he had the fat envelope in his back pocket.
my advice is find a juco or D3 with lenient roster policies and apply for january entry. do some actual training and find some meets this spring to show yourself you are still a competing runner, and keep this process honest. then lay down some times in spring 25. then decide where to go from there.
You may also want to consider attending a 2-year college with a track and XC team that will develop you as a runner, then you can transfer to the 4-year (D1) school of your choice. If this is your senior year (and it's April), and you've missed the recruiting and application deadlines for 4-year college admissions and recruiting for next Fall, this may be your best option. Most college coaches want to see consistent development through 4 years of HS XC and track, and if you are not running on your HS team in your last year, that will raise some questions about coach-ability or fitting into a team. The same concerns would be true if you were injured and did not compete. Again, talk to your HS coach and academic counselor about this idea.
Don't listen to any of these idiots. It most definitely will NOT be a red flag at all. Graham Blanks took a gap year and the Harvard coach was THRILLED he did. A smart coach is not going to be turned off by a fact that kid wants to be great at running. That will turn them on.
Most coaches don't care at all about people wanting to be a student right away. What they want is someone who can help them right away and most 17-year olds most definitely can not do that. BYU is more than happy to get Mormons that are several year olders than everyone else and most of the scholarship schools are happy to get Afridcans that are older as well.
This sounds like a great idea to me. You are 17 and young for your grade. I'd be happy to coach your remotely with John Kellogg.
My concerns are this
1) Where are you going to live?
2) How are you going to eat? What do you plan on doing for meals?
3) Will you have a car?
4) Do you plan on doing anything else besides running? I don't think I"d want my son just runnign and sitting on his a** all day. You need to have a plan to stay pre-occupied.
Most HS seniors aren't ready to live on their own, cook, etc.
Seriously, shoot me an email at or give me a call/shoot me a text at 844-538-7786.
This isn’t troll, or looking for validation from middle aged people that never chased after their own goals. I’m simply looking for input. I have nothing to prove to you skeptics. I also have no reason to waste my, or anyone else’s time. This isn’t a hail mary, I applied to safety schools in the fall. I’m even in NAU with the WUE and made it into their Honors college anyways with 15000 in academic scholarship. I’m just asking about the logistics of a gap year. I’m entered into 3 upcoming college meets. The only reason I haven’t raced earlier this season is dealing with a minor injury (back to full health). I will race one of the National meets once hitting the entry standards. Anyways thanks for the solid input people, there’s a lot for me to consider and valid points brought up by all. Flagstaff is just an option, as I mentioned before I can go practically anywhere in the country to train (except LA with those prices haha) but Flagstaff is where I have been before for an entire summer and it worked well for me.
This isn’t troll, or looking for validation from middle aged people that never chased after their own goals. I’m simply looking for input. I have nothing to prove to you skeptics. I also have no reason to waste my, or anyone else’s time. This isn’t a hail mary, I applied to safety schools in the fall. I’m even in NAU with the WUE and made it into their Honors college anyways with 15000 in academic scholarship. I’m just asking about the logistics of a gap year. I’m entered into 3 upcoming college meets. The only reason I haven’t raced earlier this season is dealing with a minor injury (back to full health). I will race one of the National meets once hitting the entry standards. Anyways thanks for the solid input people, there’s a lot for me to consider and valid points brought up by all. Flagstaff is just an option, as I mentioned before I can go practically anywhere in the country to train (except LA with those prices haha) but Flagstaff is where I have been before for an entire summer and it worked well for me.
Did you not select a program with an easy to walk on team for a safety school?
If you got accepted to NAU, you might as well go there and then transfer to wherever you want to run after a semester or a year. You just won't have a redshirt year and you'll have to delay graduation or go to grad school to compete for 4 years. But you'll be in Flagstaff, actively advancing in life. Between an nau club team or flagstaff running club you might even decide you don't need the ncaa. I assume they compete in nirca. Good placings at nirca nats would look good for a prospective transfer.