Chris Derrick Leaves BTC

I agree with everything said here

Huge fan of CD as a person. Have long ago given up predicting a good race out of him though. He’s a shell of his former self and maybe he can have a miracle late career turn around.

That said, he’s had an excellent career. In addition to his pro accolades, he ran 13:53 solo in HS which is overlooked because I believe he got mono and didn’t get a chance to run the 8:39 he was surely capable of. He was part of that insane freshman group along with German & Puskedra. All 3 top ten at ncaa XC (or did German bail late race?) and both CD and GF ran sub 13:30.

Once he’s done running, I hope he remains in the sport a la Merber.

Pontoise wrote:

Ok boomer

He's right though.

Yeah I'm sure more racing will magically cure his recurring achilles injuries. Brilliant point. Broken ankle at Crim? Just run 3 more races that month and it will be cured. You guys are geniuses.

shea it aint so wrote:

Huge fan of CD as a person. Have long ago given up predicting a good race out of him though. He’s a shell of his former self and maybe he can have a miracle late career turn around.

That said, he’s had an excellent career. In addition to his pro accolades, he ran 13:53 solo in HS which is overlooked because I believe he got mono and didn’t get a chance to run the 8:39 he was surely capable of. He was part of that insane freshman group along with German & Puskedra. All 3 top ten at ncaa XC (or did German bail late race?) and both CD and GF ran sub 13:30.

Once he’s done running, I hope he remains in the sport a la Merber.

This is a quality post. I do hope he can get another solid crack at a good performance. He deserves to have a result to his name that matches his talent/work/character.

Side note inspired by the rest of your post though: is the class of 2008 the class of unrewarded talent? German, Puskedra and CD were as exciting and arguably as talented as the 'big three' of 2001, and yet all three struggled to find the level of success that was predicted for them post-collegiately.

Maybe I'm overestimating the hype for them because I was an '08 grad and thought they were superhuman.

They were all decent runners, but lets get real, none of them had a solid pro career. Even for an American I think you'd struggle to call a 10th place finish in XC and a 13:08 5000 as a great career. Being better than others your age when you are in high school is not really worth anything since humans mature at different rates. It would only matter if it was a world class time in and of itself.

And to the OP who suggests that CD was as talented as Rupp...please. Not in any manner whatsoever. Not in high school, not in college, and most certainly not as a pro. Before being a marathoner, Rupp at least lined up consistently to race! Let us not forget, durability is part of talent as well!

I think he probably was hurt by being in BTC and trying to return to his former self and do it quickly by the trials. Always pushing too hard trying to keep up. Always doing to much.

If I was coaching him I would let him run his easy days no faster than 7:30, no more that 80 mpw, and only "unimpressive" workouts (solid tempos, threshold stuff, hills, etc.). Do that for 6 months to rebuild himself, stay healthy, and we reevaluate then. He can go get a job too, that training is very manageable.

Lotta these guys are doing wayyy more than they need to be and are just destroying themselves.

shootpost wrote:

I think he probably was hurt by being in BTC and trying to return to his former self and do it quickly by the trials. Always pushing too hard trying to keep up. Always doing to much.

If I was coaching him I would let him run his easy days no faster than 7:30, no more that 80 mpw, and only "unimpressive" workouts (solid tempos, threshold stuff, hills, etc.). Do that for 6 months to rebuild himself, stay healthy, and we reevaluate then. He can go get a job too, that training is very manageable.

Lotta these guys are doing wayyy more than they need to be and are just destroying themselves.

Also I agree about letting him race a bunch and into shape... what does he have to lose? He already is running bad it ain't a pride thing. Maybe he can pick up some prize money too.

Yeah, to say that he's done eight years after his top form, after years of low achievement, is just realistic. Of course, he can still run a good marathon, but 2013 is a long time to get back the track speed and he's shown no signs of being able to do it. Probably a different coach could have helped back then.

Couldn't agree more.

I get the sense that CD significantly ramped up intensity and volume early in college and saw big results. When someone does that they make too big of a connection between the "harder" you work the better the outcome, but eventually you keep pulling that lever it stops delivering.

Seems like many here have the same impression that Jerry's program promotes the mentality that crushing easy days at 5:45/mi means you're fit (ex: Solinsky). For a guy like Derrick he's been doing that for years he's already tapped that well long ago.

Seems like the best thing Derrick could do is burn his old running logs to avoid temptation of believing that style of training is needed to be successful. Take the long view and spend 8 months slowly building mileage to a manageable point and layer in some new stimuli (fartleks, plyos, top end speed development). Seems like this approach has resurrected the careers of both Jake Riley and Ben True and Chris could take a page out of their book.

Two questions:

1) Why do runners stick with coaches for so long when they are producing mediocre results? [2 to 3 years should be enough to adapt to a system]

2) When runners are 5 years off their best results, why do they decide to hang around for another Olympic cycle?

Not all pro runners are in this situation but clearly CD could make more money using his brain than his legs. He had a decent professional running career, now he can have a working career -- no shame in that.

nakatomisour wrote:

Two questions:

1) Why do runners stick with coaches for so long when they are producing mediocre results? [2 to 3 years should be enough to adapt to a system]

2) When runners are 5 years off their best results, why do they decide to hang around for another Olympic cycle?

Not all pro runners are in this situation but clearly CD could make more money using his brain than his legs. He had a decent professional running career, now he can have a working career -- no shame in that.

1 - Because it’s Jerry and BTC. Gotta think long and hard before giving up that support system. Plus it worked up to 2015.

2 - Olympic glory.

Making $ - perhaps he’s realized he loves being in the running world and doesn’t want to become a corporate lawyer or something.

nakatomisour wrote:

Two questions:

1) Why do runners stick with coaches for so long when they are producing mediocre results? [2 to 3 years should be enough to adapt to a system]

2) When runners are 5 years off their best results, why do they decide to hang around for another Olympic cycle?

Not all pro runners are in this situation but clearly CD could make more money using his brain than his legs. He had a decent professional running career, now he can have a working career -- no shame in that.

1) I mean its Jerry, he is one of the best coaches in the nation. Very hard to leave that.

2) For alot of runners its all they know, it is their whole personality, they have no friends outside the sport, they have no hobbies or interests outside the sport, its all they have done for 20+ years, they are somebody in the sport. So they stay as long as they can becuase its all they know.

Fair. To be blunt, a few years late.

briswiss wrote:

Darunner37 wrote:

According to the LRC podcast with Jake Riley, Chris Derrick has left BTC and is now living in Boulder under the coaching of his bff Elliott Heath.

A very interesting move. Not sure as to if Nike is still sponsoring him. He's got Rupp level talent so maybe he can bust out a 2:08 soon.

Thoughts?

Posts/ threads like this baffle me. Same with the Gwen leaving BTC. You guys do realize both got dropped from BTC? Gwen was never that good at running and Chris hasn’t been good at running in a long time. Not an interesting move at all considering it was definitely BTC’s move

Gwen was never that good at running? Tools. BTC and NIKE are poison for a runner's career and credibility. The strategy of race little and dope a lot when you are not racing must wear of the athletes who want to feel like they achievements are of merit. If you want people to believe you are a legit and not question your running performances then stay away from NIKE. It is the strongest poison hurting sport in 2021. They are getting out because NIKE is an embarrassment to honest sport.

Pletan wrote:

Side note inspired by the rest of your post though: is the class of 2008 the class of unrewarded talent? German, Puskedra and CD were as exciting and arguably as talented as the 'big three' of 2001, and yet all three struggled to find the level of success that was predicted for them post-collegiately.

I believe that if the Big 3 is 1a, the 08 class is 1b. Or maybe it’s an A+/A scenario.

Webb and Ritz are probably the two best MD and Distance HSers of the last 40 years. Derrick obviously isn’t as good as Ritz (13:53 vs 13:44 plus 2x FL and try WC bronze) and we can’t put anyone ahead of Webb after his 3:53.

That said, if you look at their results after just one year of college, they’re even steven. 5K times almost equivalent to Ritz’s and the top ten finishes (what was Webb, 11th?). Webb was good, not great on the track and if I recall, Ryan Hall was “done” for several years at Stanford.

But clearly in retrospect, the greater group overall is the Big 3 by a country mile.

An all were pretty meh, no WC medals, no OLY medals.

I think CD probably knew he was going through the meat grinder. He would certainly have had a better career if he played it safe and trained individually/ with lower level athletes, but unlikely that he would ever make a big international impact doing that. It’s a calculated risk to be great. Was leaving really an option given the Army group was the only other international level distance group?

Hope he puts together a safe, long buildup and pops a good marathon before he calls it quits.

Darunner37 wrote:

According to the LRC podcast with Jake Riley, Chris Derrick has left BTC and is now living in Boulder under the coaching of his bff Elliott Heath.

A very interesting move. Not sure as to if Nike is still sponsoring him. He's got Rupp level talent so maybe he can bust out a 2:08 soon.

Thoughts?

I wouldn't say "Rupp level" talent, but definitely is a talented runner. Now he's 30 years old and is coming off a few bad years, and has a history of being injured. His "window" is quickly closing, he needs to settle in with a coach and group that he feels comfortable and confident with. It looks as though Boulder is the spot. He needs to re-work a new training plan to accommodate his injury issues and then just run. It seems his biggest issue is staying healthy, unfortunately when you enter your 30's injury prevention becomes a key factor in training. Since CD is considered a "grinder", he needs to be especially cautious and very selective with training and racing. A good coach and support from club teammates will make this much easier. It sounds as though BTC was a bit too much for him at this stage in his career.

I hope he stays healthy and runs well. He's not too old...yet! But needs to be careful.

Good Luck CD!