Florida Gators track star Parker Valby officially signs pro contract

The world of professional distance running isn't like that of traditional team sports. Runners do have training groups they are a part of, but it's not like the NFL or NBA where athletes get drafted to a team. Thus, former Florida Gators star Parker Valby had some freedom of choice when plotting out where she wanted to formally begin her professional career.

Yesterday, Valby announced that she would be moving to Boston to train with some of the best distance runners in all of America.

Florida Gators: Shipping Up To Boston

Even though Florida is a Nike school and Valby signed an NIL deal last year while still with the Gators, she has opted to sign with New Balance and will train in Boston as part of the Team New Balance Boston squad that features Elle Purrier St. Pierre, a gold medalist from the 2024 World Indoor Championships in the 3000 meter run.

When asked why she chose New Balance, her father, Kyle Valby, stated, "Many of the companies wanted to approach Parker's contract as a transaction, simply crossing out one athlete's name and putting in Parker's, crossing out their compensation and putting in Parker's. They wanted Parker to fall in line with what everybody else was doing."

While official numbers from the contract were not released, it is believed her contract is somewhere between $650,000 to $800,000 a year, based on estimates from Runner's World.

Valby came to Gainesville from East Lake High in Tarpon Springs. She won a state title in 2019 in the 3200, but she didn't come to Florida with the hype of someone who would wind up winning five individual national titles during the 2023/24 academic year and go on to make the Paris Olympics in the 10K.

Valby helped the Florida cross country squad finish 5th nationally in 2023, the highest finish for the squad in program history, as well as the 2023 outdoor team national title for track.

She currently has personal bests in the 5K of 14:51 and in the 10K of 30:50.