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

Also this guy says he had no talent and that if he can run those times anyone can. He calls himself an average athlete. I guess that's the difference the faster runners believe 14 is slow whilst the slower runners believe their 17 5K is the dogs bollocks

Geelong runner wrote: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

Was that at Geelong Grammar School?

Kobbs Hessler wrote:

The worst place to be stuck in sports is just below elite. If you suck, you quit early and no big deal. If you are extremely good, you make great money and live the life. If you are right on the threshold of exceptional, but can barely earn enough to eat, too often you keep the dream alive far longer than you should. Imagine being 30 years old and still stuck in AAA baseball, or finally breaking 29 in a road 10k, or scoring a couple top tens on the Korn Ferry tour. Yeah, that's awesome and maybe you can make a couple bucks. But at that point in your career, you'll never be elite and your sport of choice is best compartmentalized as a hobby as you get a real job.

i pretty much agree but the 29 year old korn ferry or AAA ball player are a 3 week hot streak away from the top level and the chance to make millions. If your 29 min 10k dude has a major break through and runs 2730, they still arent making national teams and will be lucky to make 100k.... For running to be the right choice you need to be absurdly talented. Running 28 mins or say a 214 are off the charts. They are also worth almost zero other than pride...

Great point - that's the difference between sports with skill and those without. With running, you train for years and you'll know where you stand.

With baseball or golf or even basketball, there's the chance that skill and athleticism finally click - even if you're 30, and you can make the big stage.

Inviting him on a run would be very kind, he will at the very least appreciate the friendly gesture. Who knows, this might brighten his day and expand his and your horizons. Who knows what people's needs/wants/challenges are, and this would be a great opportunity to log some miles and get to know another human. If a spark is ever going to drive him to start training again, it will. He may find the other benefits to the sport besides PB's and earning money. And by the way those PB's are quick, and as another mentioned, would garner a scholarship and some open doors if he came up in the US.

ClubRunnah wrote:

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.

No you don't lol. Most of this country is miserable and half of marriages end in divorce. You don't have to look at what others are doing to dictate how you want to live your life..

Once I was in Europe for a conference and got on a but to go the local track to do some intervals. There was a Moroccan guy selling flowers that asked me if I was running and we chatted a bit. He said he was once of the Moroccan national team for the 5K and trying to get back on shape to run 2:08 or better in the marathon. I thought BS, but I asked him if he would like to join me for a jog the next morning. He agreed and the next day we enjoyed a great tour of the city in the early morning. I later looked him up and he was legit; he ended up running 2:08 a couple years later.

Even if he is not going to make a living out of running, invite him out for a run: you may have a good time and find a great training partner if he decides to resume running as a hobby.

Ran too wrote:

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.

That would only be true if 5K alone were the equivalent of the NFL. The NFL only has 32 starting quarterbacks and a bunch of back ups that you don't really want, so the 100th best quarterback in the world is barely hanging onto a roster.

If the entire sport of track and field were as popular as the NFL more people would be incentivized to stay in the sport longer. There are many other events that would need to be manned, not just 5000 runners. There are already hundreds of people in the world who can run 13:51 and there wouldn't be any jobs for anyone with that time.

You are correct. 13:51 would get no money even in a fantasy world where track was football. 575 people ran 13:51 this year. The guy is not the 575th best runner in the world because there are many guy like him who also ran 13:51 over the past 10 years. The 575th best quarterback from a graduation class 10 years ago is not talked about on any forum or encouraged to pick the sport back up.

Afrobeats wrote:

I know a guy who ran almost the same times (13:50/ 3:44) and 1:47 for 800m ! He is 25 now and runs a car dealership garage! Life happens guys!

If you're talking about Alan Webb, he went on to run even faster after high school. And I think his garage went under. He coaches little league now, and volunteers as a spokesman against masking and vaccination.

ClubRunnah wrote:

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.

The flip side is most of those contemporaries are 10-15 years from a midlife crisis where they realize they could have done far more with their time than they decided to.

Breakfast In Bed wrote:

ClubRunnah wrote:

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.

The flip side is most of those contemporaries are 10-15 years from a midlife crisis where they realize they could have done far more with their time than they decided to.

Wait which guy will realize they could have done more with their time? The guy who quit running and started his career or the beach bum runner who never got anywhere in the pros?

consider this wrote:

Breakfast In Bed wrote:

The flip side is most of those contemporaries are 10-15 years from a midlife crisis where they realize they could have done far more with their time than they decided to.

Wait which guy will realize they could have done more with their time? The guy who quit running and started his career or the beach bum runner who never got anywhere in the pros?

Yes.

Each pathway has its downsides and consequences. Marrying young, locking into a separate career and having kids comes with its own.

I'm sure the guy knows where he stands. He can undoubtedly make more (and more reliable) money as a janitor than as a good but not great competitive runner. If he wants to compete for the sake of competing, he would most likely do it on his own.

I saw him as he was leaving work today, and we talked some more. I didn't ask him to go on a run, decided he was probably too busy considering he works two jobs.

As most of you mentioned, running at the "sub elite" level (think 7:50s for 3k, 13:40s for 5k, 28:40s for 10k, 62 min half, etc) is not a financially viable career. He told me that the most he's made from one race was around 1,000 euros (around $1,200 USD).

However, he told me that he had a contract with Nike and they sent him more gear than he knew what to do with. Shirts, singlets, shorts, pants, jackets, bags, etc. Funny enough, the shoes he was wearing while cleaning were the Nike Zoom Streak 3's, which were popular among elite athletes around 2010-2015.

RunRR wrote:

Inviting him on a run would be very kind, he will at the very least appreciate the friendly gesture. Who knows, this might brighten his day and expand his and your horizons. Who knows what people's needs/wants/challenges are, and this would be a great opportunity to log some miles and get to know another human. If a spark is ever going to drive him to start training again, it will. He may find the other benefits to the sport besides PB's and earning money. And by the way those PB's are quick, and as another mentioned, would garner a scholarship and some open doors if he came up in the US.

And who knows where the networking may lead--he may get a better job than being a janitor if he decides to try racing. They might not take him as an athlete but he could wind up working in corporate or helping out with the local running store chain (think Fleet Feet), and he could have a stable income for his family with better hours than janitorial work.

Misquoted that--he could get a better job if he tried to network back in with Nike itself, NOT racing.