Many of us love watching sports, rooting with our friends and placing bets online using Betfair sign up offer. However, there are also people who like to not only watch but practice themselves. Being an athlete, however, has the added bonus of maintaining one’s physical health, in a time when our lifestyles are as unhealthy as possible. But is it possible to make a decent living just by playing sports? With mainstream sports like football and basketball, it seems easy enough, but what about other sports? Can you make a living by running marathons?
Should you quit your day job?
When deciding on a risky endeavor such as this, it might not be such a good idea to quit your job immediately, as there will be a gap between your beginning as a long-distance runner and the time you start to see some profit from it. Instead, try to rearrange your free time accordingly so that you can work on your shape and performance. You will get into good shape if you dedicate around 10 hours each week to running only. On top of that, you need to spend 10 more hours every week stretching, exercising, and resting, which will also help with your progress. This is more than enough to get you into excellent running shape and let you compete in some fairly serious races.
Advertise on social media
Even when you manage to win prizes from racing, it is always a good idea to create a strong online presence, which will increase your income as an athlete. If you are active on social media, it is more likely for e.g. shoe companies to approach you and sponsor you. What that means is that you can also get money for just appearing at a race.
Try running-related sports
If you are still looking for a little extra money, you can always explore activities that are related to running and which require stamina, but which gather a greater audience and pay more. You can use your physical shape to your advantage and win the prize money. Sometimes, fun runs will offer an incentive for better runners to appear at their races; obstacle racing is fairly popular too, and they offer big prizes. One option that is gaining in popularity is the beer mile, which combines running and drinking beer. Usually, they are held on a quarter-mile track, and the contestants have to run 4 laps. Before running each lap, the contestants have to drink 12 ounces of beer. The rules may vary from country to country.
However, regardless of how you want to begin your professional long-distance running career, it will pay off if you are dedicated enough.