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My son just won the Big West Conference 10K


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  • #1259072
    Nick Gatel
    BPL Member

    @ngatel

    Locale: Southern California

    A little bragging…

    This past Friday my son, Joe, won the Big West Conference 10K title with a time of 30:58. He came in 5th in 5K on Saturday with a time of 14:45, almost a minute slower than he ran a month ago. He just didn't have enough gas in the tank after Friday's race.

    His next race is the 5K at the NCAA Division I Regional Meet in Austin, TX May 27-29th.

    Joe is a senior at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and is graduating next month. His major is biology, and he is looking to a career in the outdoors. He will probably run professionally for a few years after graduation.

    The Big West Conference schools are:
    Cal Poly SLO
    Cal State University Fullerton
    Cal State University Northridge
    Long Beach State University
    University of California Davis
    University of California Santa Barbara
    University of California Irvine
    University of California Riverside

    Here are the videos of the 10K. Joe is in 2nd place most of the first 5K and then runs away from the field by a substantial margin.

    10K Part 1

    10K Part 2

    During his college career he won 4 individual conference titles, two conference athlete of the year awards, and made it to the NCAA Cross Country finals 4 years.

    His best times are (MM:SEC):

    800 meters = 1:53 (high School)
    1500 meters = 3:46 (~ 4:04 mile)
    3000 meters = 8:10
    2 mile = 8:58
    5000 meters = 13:57
    10000 meters = 30:58

    #1610824
    David Lutz
    Member

    @davidlutz

    Locale: Bay Area

    Nice work! Having the opportunity to brag on your kids is never a bad thing!

    For those of us who don't know, how does one run professionally? Is there a circuit with sponsors and prize money, etc.?

    #1610826
    Nick Gatel
    BPL Member

    @ngatel

    Locale: Southern California

    Actually very few people can even make a living running. Big races like the Boston Marathon and other high profile races throughout the world have sizable purses. The 2010 Boston winners (M/F) got $150,000 each.

    Elite runners are often sponsored by companies like Nike, Puma, Adidas, etc. and receive money for a contracted period of time, and must meet certain standards such as times; entering certain races, do advertising, etc. They also can earn substantial bonuses by winning certain races or breaking World or American records. American runners will run mostly here in the U.S. and Europe. I cannot speak to how things in other countries.

    Lesser runners can get a sponsorship that only includes equipment and race entrance fees, and sometimes travel to races.

    There are many minor road races where a runner can win $5,000 or more.

    In Joe's case he has run the 5K only about 5 or 6 times with a best of 13:57. I think he can get down to around 13:30 very soon. That would earn him $0. If he could consistently run around 13:15, he could make $30K – $50K per year. Go below 13:00 and now he would be looking at $250K – $300K. Of course the runner's career does not last long. A few distance runners make 7 figure incomes. Some sprinters make big money.

    For Joe, he wants to see what he can do during the next couple of years, without the pressure of going to school. He will try to find a job that will allow him to work around his training.

    #1610833
    Eugene Smith
    BPL Member

    @eugeneius

    Locale: Nuevo Mexico

    Awesome! Congratulations to you both. Joe was movin' in that race, he has a motor.

    #1610854
    W I S N E R !
    Spectator

    @xnomanx

    Cool Nick.

    #1610866
    Jennifer W
    BPL Member

    @tothetrail

    Locale: So. Cal.

    Wow, what an accomplishment–Looks like he is quite the athlete!

    That's a tough major to combine with playing sports, the labs are very time consuming.

    Thanks for sharing and best of luck to him.

    #1610889
    BlackHatGuy
    Spectator

    @sleeping

    Locale: The Cascades

    Congratulations to Joe! And to his proud papa!

    Very cool.

    #1610903
    Jim W.
    BPL Member

    @jimqpublic

    Locale: So-Cal

    Congratulations Nick (and Joe).

    That's one speedy kid you have.

    #1610928
    Dirk Rabdau
    Member

    @dirk9827

    Locale: Pacific Northwest

    Outstanding. Best of luck to your son at the Naitonal meet and beyond! Some extremely stiff competition there – the 10K record was just set again this year.

    #1610932
    John S.
    BPL Member

    @jshann

    The best I ever ran a 5K was about 17:30, nowhere near as fast as your son. I need to look up Prefontaine's old records.

    #1610939
    Christopher Plesko
    Member

    @pivvay

    Locale: Rocky Mountains

    Congrats, that is freaking awesome work. Serious props to anyone who puts in the work to run that fast!

    #1684625
    Josh Newkirk
    BPL Member

    @newkirk

    Locale: Washington/Alaska

    Steve Prefontaine's first american record was 13.22.8 for the 5000m

    #1684640
    Nick Gatel
    BPL Member

    @ngatel

    Locale: Southern California

    Pre…

    I hear a lot about him, since his birthday and Joe's are the same day, January 25th :)

    Current American Record is 12:56 set by Dathan Ritzehein in August 2009.

    World Record is 12:37 by Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia in May 2004.

    Of the fastest 25 5,000 times recorded, non are by Americans, or Brits, or Canucks, or Aussies :)

    Pre held 15 American records, although he never held a world record. He pretty much owned college distance running, only losing 3 races in his collegiate career. This was during they "heyday" of American distance running.

    #1684875
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    "Of the fastest 25 5,000 times recorded, non are by Americans, or Brits, or Canucks, or Aussies"

    Put another way: How many of the fastest 25 5 K times were not Eithopian or Kenyan?

    #1684993
    Nick Gatel
    BPL Member

    @ngatel

    Locale: Southern California

    "Put another way: How many of the fastest 25 5 K times were not Eithopian or Kenyan?"

    Or Moroccan.

    That probably would leave about 2 people :)

    #1685226
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    "That probably would leave about 2 people"

    That's what I would have thought, too, but actually there are a fair number of Moroccans and even a couple of Ugandans sprinkled throughout the top 25. The one I thought I'd overlooked, Said Aouita, didn't even make the top 25, even though he was the first to crack 13:00:00. Things have come a long way.

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