Brooks Hanson's Distance Project and Nike Oregon Project are they really worth it?

I whole-heartily support the concept of the Hansons-Brooks Project. Thus, I purchase Brooks products.

Sell made the Olympic team. A DIII Hansons guy just placed second in the Marine Corps Marathon. Could aforesaid athletes have done this without Brooks support?

Yes, they could have.

You know, honestly, the greatest effect that the Hansons have had is one that others will get the credit for.

On another thread, I just posted about why rupp and Bauhs have no shot at becoming 10k Olympians, but every chance in the world when it comes to the marathon. Combine those two with Hall and ritz, and we have a nasty American marathoning field on our hands.

So, we should express gratitude to Terrance Mahon, Alberto Salazar, and Brad Hudson for getting these guys to that point (assuming it happens for rupp and Bauhs, as it seems to be for ritz and Hall).

But, I would argue that the Hansons have a lot to do with this change too. They are the culture of American marathoning. They are the spirit of it. The difference between them and the three guys mentioned above is that they are working with guys who have 14:20/30:00-type talent. Are they going to make world-class guys out of them? Of course not. The best they can do is a top-20 world type like Sell. But the number of guys they've put under 2:15 and 2:18 has really had a dramatic effect on the culture of American marathoning, and I would argue that it has had an effect on Hall and ritz, and will have an effect on rupp and Bauhs. Getting 30:00-types to do the marathon has made these 27:30-types realize what's possible. And that's really what we need.

I could not agree more. We need 200 guys running sub 2:20 and the hansons are perfect for this. Also the Hansons brought back group training and everyone has followed their lead.

Are you on crack? By what logic do you think that Rupp will never be a 10k Olympian? I had to check to see if this post was by any chance written in 2007, but no, it was written today. Did you just come out of a coma?

runduderun faster faster wrote:

On another thread, I just posted about why rupp and Bauhs have no shot at becoming 10k Olympians.

Sorry I meant Olympic contenders, not Olympians. Obviously rupp has a good shot at becoming an Olympians since he already is one.

Perhaps your goals for these programs is different than that of the organizers. Perhaps the goals was to get people interested in elite level running again. For those of you younger than 30 years old, you may not remember that the USA was unrepresented in Boston, New York, and nearly every major Road Race for a decade prior to the arrival of these programs.

Ahhhh, to be young, stupid and think you have all the answers.