Track and Field Blogs - David Torrence

When you get to college, you hear pretty much the same thing from just about everybody who’s been there: “This is the time of your life.” “College is the place where you find yourself.” “Everybody switches their majors more than once.” “KEGGER!!!” etc.

But one little warning I failed to heed was: “It’s going to go by quicker than you think.” Because honestly, to all you freshman and sophomore collegiates: it goes by ridiculously fast. You’ll see. I always thought I had that one more year left, that extra season left, to run those times, win those meets, add some weight to future negotiations I might have with agents and executives. Have that performance that makes people say “Wow, that kid is going to make a name for himself in the future.” But alas, it was not meant to be. Not in the traditional straight-out-of-college way at least.

My name is David Torrence, and I am a member of that dreaded category of runners: the Sub-Elite.

A post-collegiate who is fast enough to get into most meets, but not fast enough for travel expenses to be paid for. Fast enough to be somewhat known amongst the running community, but not fast enough to be known among those top agents. Fast enough for some gear, but not fast enough for a salary.

And now after having recently graduated from UC Berkeley in the spring of 2008, and being that I have no contract with any shoe company, I now have to find ways of supporting myself while competing at the elite level of track and field. I have to find ways to stick out, make people notice me, get some attention and momentum.

And here I am. Unnoticed. No attention. Enough money in my bank account to last me a couple more months. Unemployed in the worst economic crisis that has hit the U.S. in decades. Why would I do this? Why don’t I just devote my time fully to getting a regular job? Why don’t I just quit training and racing, and just move on with my life?

I’ll tell you why: because I’m fit as hell and I know I have what it takes to compete with the best. You may call me stubborn, you may call me foolhardy, but damn it all if I don’t have that dream. You could even call it pride.

So this blog will be a story/journey of my attempt to enter the ranks of the ELITE, to show you all the process how somebody goes from “Unattached” to "Nike"/"Reebok"/"Adidas"/etc. all while supporting myself and finding ways to make it all work. I’ll let you in on everything that I can let you in on, and hopefully it will enlighten those of you that also have that dream of becoming a professional athlete, and explain a bit how the business side of T&F works, step by step.

And that first step is (thankfully) the simplest: Performance.

My first race is this Saturday at UW Indoor Preview in the 3k, and here’s to hoping I can turn some heads.