Somewhat. You dedicate your youth to being the best in the world at it, then have a 10-year window to compete. Once you're 35 (and I'm being generous), even ama

Somewhat. You dedicate your youth to being the best in the world at it, then have a 10-year window to compete. Once you're 35 (and I'm being generous), even amazing runners will have little to show for it, and the only thing they're halfway qualified to do is coach. I think what hurts is you obviously go into it because it's a passion, but you age-out of competing so quickly. It's still your passion, but you go from being world-class to a hobbyist over 5 years.