Greed in Amateur Endurance Racing

Amateur endurance athletes are greedy in a predictable way. It starts with a 5K, then a 10K, then a half marathon. A full marathon has always been on the bucket list, so that gets checked off too, only to realize they have seriously undertrained. So they sign up for a second one and train harder. Then comes the chase: a sub-3 marathon, a sub-20 5K, a 10K PR, an age group podium at some local race… Eventually, Boston itself.

After Boston, the lottery reminders go in the calendar. They want all the majors. Some they will qualify into on time, others they will wait years for the lottery. At some point marathon times plateau, and the greed forks.

Some go longer: 50K, 100K, 100 miles, a big-name ultra… I have mixed feelings about this path. Ultra runners tend toward cult behavior, and outside of big events like Spartathlon and Fuji 5 Lakes, time stops mattering. You are just out there to finish. ROI-wise, only the biggest races make sense to me, but in order to run them, you need to run the smaller races first to build the base.

The other fork is triathlon: sprint, Olympic, then a half Ironman, then a full, then sub-12, sub-11, sub-10, then a good age group placement, then Kona if you are really good.

I know where my greed stops. I will probably do a big, non-cult ultra at some point. Triathlon? Never.

The ROI just does not work for me. My sub-2:50 marathon preparation was around 25 hours a week at peak, already at the edge of what is sustainable with work, commute, family, and other hobbies. Boston has me at 20 hours. Push that to 30 and it starts feeling like a job. I imagine a solid sub-5 half Ironman would demand 30+ hours, most of it in the pool and on the bike.

I am not good at swimming and do not enjoy it. The overhead alone is exhausting: find a pool, drive there, shower, change, do the actual workout, shower again, change, drive home. Every session carries 40 minutes of logistics. I hate that.

The bike is its own problem. Cycling requires the most volume to improve, takes up the largest chunk of race time, and is also the most likely to hospitalize you. In a car-centric culture like the U.S., spending hours on public roads makes no sense to me. The risk-to-reward just is not there.

Running already scratches the itch. No new disciplines needed.

Published: Apr 02, 2026.
Last edited: Apr 02, 2026.