Now we know where Cruz culpepper will run after college
His dad couldn’t even recruit him to UTEP. Even with expanded roster space at NAZ Elite it seems like he would prefer to avoid his parents’ shadow. Even if they had a basement bedroom on offer for him in their house in Flag. Plus he hasn’t exactly been killing it in college.
ALL THREE ARE WHITE MEN…. Why would you make that point and not elaborate or go into more detail?
What more detail do you want? He's noting a pattern. And it's definitely worth noting. There were as many (if not more) elite American women as there were elite men during the Culpepper/Cragg/Ritzenhein eras, so it's reasonable to wonder why more of them aren't getting into pro coaching. (Shalane Flanagan being a notable exception, though it's not clear how much actual coaching she's doing.)
That doesn't mean any of those individual hires are bad. But when there's a broader pattern like that, it can be a spur for future coaching hires to reflect about whether they're casting a broad enough net in their candidate search.
What more detail do you want? He's noting a pattern. And it's definitely worth noting. There were as many (if not more) elite American women as there were elite men during the Culpepper/Cragg/Ritzenhein eras, so it's reasonable to wonder why more of them aren't getting into pro coaching. (Shalane Flanagan being a notable exception, though it's not clear how much actual coaching she's doing.)
That doesn't mean any of those individual hires are bad. But when there's a broader pattern like that, it can be a spur for future coaching hires to reflect about whether they're casting a broad enough net in their candidate search.
Rhines and Kastor are helping to a certain extent Mahon's group and the group in Mammoth, respectively. Rudolph is at Iowa State. Kerri Gallagher at Mahattan. Julie Henner at Air Force. Jacobs got busted. Suzy is still figuring some stuff out, it seems. Sarah Schwald is a corporate person at Nike. Kathy Butler is doing some coaching in the Boulder area. Amy Wickus? Katie McGregor? Lynn Jennings didn't seem to like interacting with other humans, so she wouldn't be a leading candidate to get into coaching. Shayne Culpepper not really the right personality either. Tollefson has the TV gig. Who else were you thinking of? Libbie Hickman? Elva Dryer? Marla Runyon? Colleen de Reuck? Who am I missing?
He is not an intellectually curious guy. The bit in the front page article about pestering people in Zurich is crap, he never raced in Europe.
If you are going to rip Alan, can you at least be factual?
In addition to WCs in Seville and Paris and an Olympics in Athens, tilastapaja reveals he raced in Europe at least 6 other times: 1998 Stocholm, 1999 Barcelona, 1999 Malmo, 1999 Hechtel, 2005 London, 2005 Bislett. And an Olympics in Sydney which I know isn't in Europe.
I have a long time friend who has known Alan since his HS days. He said they often talked training theory. If Alan wasn't into training theory, then why in the hell would he not run on his own HS team his senior year and why in the hell would he coach himself for most of his career?
Year after year, Culpepper didn't race in Europe, citing family reasons, except for World Championships or Olympics. The criticism was that he needed to get race sharp and never would do so. You list three in 1999. Maybe that was a family trip or before he had any kids? But you list one in 1998 (Stockholm is the way it's spelled), three in 1999, and then nothing in 2000-2004, then two in 2005. So, he went five years at the height of his career without competing once in Europe, other than World's and Olympics. Who shows up for the championships with no high level prep races? I can tell you during that long drought I remember pointing out on this website and elsewhere that it would have been great to take the kids on those Euro training/racing trips.
Cruz hasn't competed outdoors, according to tfrrs, but he ran 3:57.66 indoors at the SEC champs (a two second drop over 2021 and more from high school), not a setup race, which is pretty solid, and he also ran 7:56, which is a big improvement over high school as well.
ALL THREE ARE WHITE MEN…. Why would you make that point and not elaborate or go into more detail?
What more detail do you want? He's noting a pattern. And it's definitely worth noting. There were as many (if not more) elite American women as there were elite men during the Culpepper/Cragg/Ritzenhein eras, so it's reasonable to wonder why more of them aren't getting into pro coaching. (Shalane Flanagan being a notable exception, though it's not clear how much actual coaching she's doing.)
That doesn't mean any of those individual hires are bad. But when there's a broader pattern like that, it can be a spur for future coaching hires to reflect about whether they're casting a broad enough net in their candidate search.
Have you tried laying on a bed of nails to absolve yourself of your white man guilt?
Cruz hasn't competed outdoors, according to tfrrs, but he ran 3:57.66 indoors at the SEC champs (a two second drop over 2021 and more from high school), not a setup race, which is pretty solid, and he also ran 7:56, which is a big improvement over high school as well.
If you are going to rip Alan, can you at least be factual?
In addition to WCs in Seville and Paris and an Olympics in Athens, tilastapaja reveals he raced in Europe at least 6 other times: 1998 Stocholm, 1999 Barcelona, 1999 Malmo, 1999 Hechtel, 2005 London, 2005 Bislett. And an Olympics in Sydney which I know isn't in Europe.
I have a long time friend who has known Alan since his HS days. He said they often talked training theory. If Alan wasn't into training theory, then why in the hell would he not run on his own HS team his senior year and why in the hell would he coach himself for most of his career?
Year after year, Culpepper didn't race in Europe, citing family reasons, except for World Championships or Olympics. The criticism was that he needed to get race sharp and never would do so. You list three in 1999. Maybe that was a family trip or before he had any kids? But you list one in 1998 (Stockholm is the way it's spelled), three in 1999, and then nothing in 2000-2004, then two in 2005. So, he went five years at the height of his career without competing once in Europe, other than World's and Olympics. Who shows up for the championships with no high level prep races? I can tell you during that long drought I remember pointing out on this website and elsewhere that it would have been great to take the kids on those Euro training/racing trips.
Says some who had never raced in Europe. Being a tourist and being a professional runner are very different. Its bad enough living out of a suitcase going from airport to airport and train depot to train depot. Hotels, delays, food, varying accommodations etc. Now add kids to complicate things even more? What a fetid imagination you have. Just great. Just effing great. It ain't no National Lampoon European Vacation. Its a job. Its a profession. Its a very difficult way to make a living.
Culpepper seems like a grounded guy to me. He was a professional runner by any measure. He understands the business more than you do.
”Culpepper fits a similar profile to two other recent pro group head coaching hires, Dathan Ritzenhein of the On Athletics Club and Alistair Cragg of Puma Elite Running. All three are white men who were accomplished college and professional athletes”
ALL THREE ARE WHITE MEN…. Why would you make that point and not elaborate or go into more detail? Dis Culpepper take the job of a POC or Two Spirit Person ? really weird to just throw that in there. Crazy actually.
Gault is making a similar point as the Fast Women Facebook page, which is predictably complaining that the hire was a man. They aren't wrong though. The most prominent athletes on the NAZ elite team are the women, and they already have Jenna Wrieden as their assistant coach who has many more years of coaching experience than Culpepper. Why not promote Wrieden to head coach and bring in Culpepper under her?
Have you tried laying on a bed of nails to absolve yourself of your white man guilt?
I don't feel any particular sense of guilt. But I do recognize that some doors have opened more easily for me than they would for others. I've got daughters, and I hope they get a fair opportunity to pursue whatever ends up interesting them.
Culpepper is a great choice. Very logical as they were w adidas in the same era. Hoka needs to improve the quality and performance of the shoe line otherwise Alan will have limited success. Stop pretending the carbon X is special. Redesign the plate so it actually propels the athletes. Get back to true innovation , like Nico Mermoud had done w Hoka initially.
The plate is the easiest part. Simple to copy.
The hard part is the foam. Nike has their special PEBA-blend foam while Hoka uses EVA foam. EVA foam is standard and nothing special. You just can't build a real super shoe from it, it absorbs too much energy.
Not to get too nerdy, but the technical challenge of first developing a foam to rival nikes and then being able to manufacture that foam on a mass scale for a reasonable price is a huge challenge. 10s of millions of dollars in investment.
Hoka can develop all the new prototypes they want, but if the foam isn't better, the shoes won't be. I don't think they have the $$$ to do it personally.
The most curious part isn’t the shoes or the identity or qualifications of the coach, actually. It’s that they are going to more than double the roster size. They had trouble enough filling out the current roster size, bringing in some marginal signings over the past several years who predictably couldn’t hack it. Will it be little more than a bunch of Spencer Brown types?
”Culpepper fits a similar profile to two other recent pro group head coaching hires, Dathan Ritzenhein of the On Athletics Club and Alistair Cragg of Puma Elite Running. All three are white men who were accomplished college and professional athletes”
ALL THREE ARE WHITE MEN…. Why would you make that point and not elaborate or go into more detail? Dis Culpepper take the job of a POC or Two Spirit Person ? really weird to just throw that in there. Crazy actually.
Gault is making a similar point as the Fast Women Facebook page, which is predictably complaining that the hire was a man. They aren't wrong though. The most prominent athletes on the NAZ elite team are the women, and they already have Jenna Wrieden as their assistant coach who has many more years of coaching experience than Culpepper. Why not promote Wrieden to head coach and bring in Culpepper under her?
This is such BS. This sport isn’t bubbling over with women coaches… This sport is BY FAR the most equal sport between men and women. Women get probably a great share of views and $ % wise compared to men than any other sport.
If there are so many women coaches in waiting why aren’t female athletes hiring them? Hmmm?
Besides being a good coach, Culpepper is going to need to be a great salesman. Recruiting top post collegiate athletes that have run fast in the super shoes , to come train and race in the sub par Hoka models will be a tough sell. If you ran 27:45 in college and can’t get near that because you chose a Hoka deal is going to be a kick in the teeth. Scott Fauble is a clear example. What would he had run in years past had he not been with Hoka ?