Any recommendations for track meets that allow unattached athletes?

UIW Invite. There were a few guys slower than 5:00 in the 1500:

https://www.tfrrs.org/results/52172/3427991/UIW_Invitational/Men_1500m_Run/

https://www.directathletics.com/meets/track/66843.html

You could race david45. The last I heard he was sprinting himself to near death in Southern CA after we had all advised him to take up hiking.

Yikes! wrote:

You could race david45. The last I heard he was sprinting himself to near death in Southern CA after we had all advised him to take up hiking.

Nah, he's too busy spamming reddit with questions about if beating up his mom and being a reddit troll would harm his chances of becoming a pilot...

Also, there's one on 3/14:

http://trackforlife.com/schedule.htm

Yikes! wrote:

You could race david45.

I'm slow, but not that slow!

San Diego has all comers "Twilight Meets."

IIRC they go from Feb-July or something like that.

Sub-8 Mile wrote:

San Diego has all comers "Twilight Meets."

IIRC they go from Feb-July or something like that.

Oh, right. Covid. I doubt those are going on right now. But maybe something to keep in mind.

I don't know what things look like during the pandemic but the D3/Community College circuit in Oregon has always welcomed unattached athletes. You could time it right and find 2-3 races over the course of a week. Look for places that have All-Comers Meets.

I assume that scene would offer the same thing in CA but Oregon has everything I mentioned above.

I am surprised any meets allow unattached. Many meets are limiting the number of teams, so unattached athletes would throw that out the window.

55YO wrote:

I am surprised any meets allow unattached. Many meets are limiting the number of teams, so unattached athletes would throw that out the window.

That's just a ploy. University presidents and ADs want to know 'who won' so college meets are becoming quads and invitationals. The pros will get their own gig with meets like the ATL that is expanding thanks to the covid craze. Average hacks are going to be forced out of the sport of track and field. If you are not a thrower or jumper and can run longer than 5k, you can go run road races. If not, all-comers and masters picnic meets await.

P. Loy wrote:

55YO wrote:

I am surprised any meets allow unattached. Many meets are limiting the number of teams, so unattached athletes would throw that out the window.

That's just a ploy. University presidents and ADs want to know 'who won' so college meets are becoming quads and invitationals. The pros will get their own gig with meets like the ATL that is expanding thanks to the covid craze. Average hacks are going to be forced out of the sport of track and field. If you are not a thrower or jumper and can run longer than 5k, you can go run road races. If not, all-comers and masters picnic meets await.

^ This is spot-on.

I can attest to it as the embodiment of an average hack, in the "No Man's Land" of times. When I first tried track in 2014, and could only run 4:31 for the mile, there were at least a dozen decent or good local races I could enter. They've either disappeared, become collegiate-only or tightened entry standards (to 1:51, 4:02, etc.) and require some sort of petition for non-collegiate entry.

All-Comers meets can be ok, but because they're in the Summer it's harder to be mentally engaged to prep for them when you don't have Winter and Spring track races to use as a buildup.

Decent road races below HM distance are becoming fewer as well, and they're not as fun for guys chasing PRs because they don't really count for official PRs.

All this explains why so many hacks are giving up on track and moving to (H)M and trail running.

I'm not "complaining" or "jaded," only stating an observation.