Dana Coons leaves Team Minnesota

A long time ago Minn. runners were among the top Americans. They said (Gary Bjorklund ws one) that the winters slowed them down thus increasingtheir miles and they weren't racing and doing speed work all winter like their warm weather competition.

Just thought I'd add that in.

Too old to remember wrote:

These programs are great, but they are great because of the coaches and volunteers and donators, not because of the athletes.

Oh, so if 10 people off the street were in the program, getting 3rd in their age group at the local road races after 3 years of hard work, the program is still great? That's not the goal of the program.

This is not a social running program - the intent was to produce national caliber athletes. Not national caliber coaches or volunteers. By following the coaches' instructions and performing well at meets, the athletes justify their efforts. If there weren't athletes training and racing, Goodwin and Barker are out of a job. There aren't that many talented athletes out there to produce results for their coaches, you know.

wow hansons must really suck then.

Duck, is that you?

idealist wrote:

If there weren't athletes training and racing, Goodwin and Barker are out of a job.

THAT IS RIDICULOUS. This is not their jobs. They don't get paid for this. They volunteer.

Okay, I'll say it another way - their services would no longer be needed.

The point being, coaches without athletes win much fewer races than athletes without coaches.

wow where did you come up with that brainwave notion?

idealist wrote:

Okay, I'll say it another way - their services would no longer be needed.

The point being, coaches without athletes win much fewer races than athletes without coaches.

Your point is horrible. Athletes receive services from coaches and coaches do it because they love the sport. Athletes receive something (a service). Coaches (in these programs) receive nothing.

My original point was to refute the statement that the athletes don't make a program great. Obviously, the right coaching will also help a program, but not without the right athlete.

I disagree with your statment, or at least what I think you're trying to say. Do you really think these coaches think they're getting nothing out of the program? Then why do you think they do it? To say that a coach gets nothing from the athlete is incorrect. Presumably, a coach gets job satisfaction from the athlete excelling. If that is nothing, then the coach should be doing something else.

Thanks you said exactly what I was trying to say.

Coaches of these program coach for personal satisfaction.

Athletes are getting stipends and other payments (which are concrete) plus personal satisfaction.

THANK YOU COACHES.

what the hell does whatever you are talking about have to do with Team MN again?

Michigan winters are no fun to be sure. However, they compare nothing to Minnesota winters, having experienced both myself. Snowfall is surprisingly similar and the Ann Arbor/Detroit area can get just as pounded as Minneapolis. The wind and temps are much worse in Minneapolis, especially the North wind. Thank god for treadmills for us mid pack runners.

riesa wrote:

what the hell does whatever you are talking about have to do with Team MN again?

Someone made a statement that the athletes in the program weren't what made it successful, that it was the volunteers and coaches. I disagreed.

She getting married you kooks

I just felt the need to clarify my feelings on this. I am VERY appreciative of everything TEAM USA MN has done for me over the last couple of years. Dennis Barker is a knowledgeable, caring, successful coach who puts in a LOT of his time to try to help each athlete reach his/her potential. The team is a group of amazing athletes and great people in general. The group would not exist without the hard work and ideas of Pat Goodwin, along with all the board members and sponsors. There is no doubt that TEAM USA MN is doing great things for post-collegiate athletes who need continued support. How could anyone be critical of a group like this? It was a tough decision to leave for sure. I am back in Virginia, happy to be back in the warmer weather and close to my family. Obviously, there are a bunch of factors that go into these types of decisions. In response to TEAM USA ROCKS, no criticisms or regrets here. I gave the program everything I had as an athlete, and they gave me everything they had. Only thanks from me.

Maybe her and Gabrielson broke up

Too old to remember wrote:

[quote]Team USA Fan wrote:

For the record: Katie was just used as an example, you could insert any athlete from any of the programs name.

I insert names like Meb and Deena into your statement and apply it to the Mammoth Lakes group. Their hard work and success has bought a huge amount of fame and respect to Vigil and that training group. I would imagine that the results of that group have led to better funding (compared to if they were a struggling group of 2:20 men/2:35 women in the marathon)as well.

View it as a business, instead of a charity. A coach is a manager, and wants his business to have the fastest runners possible. He gets satisfaction from this because it is the goal of the business, and if he succeeds, his business gains fame and respect, and probably money.

He formulates a business plan of how to make his business the best it can be. He puts his employees (athletes) to work to enact that plan, hoping it will achieve all of it's goals.

Some businesses do better than others, and sometimes an employee has to quit or be let go. When somebody starts a business, and it's not very successful, do you call that business a charity just because the employees enjoyed the opportunity to work there? No. You call it an investment that didn't pan out.

All the athletes strive to achieve the success that Meb and Deena have. Just because a store goes out of business, do you say all the employees didn't give anything to the store in turn for their paycheck? No. The store went out of business, but rarely is it because the employees just didn't work for their pay. Only if these athletes are lazy bums and are refusing to run do you say they're not giving anything back.

Pat G and her little clan need to stop posting on letsrun all the time.

Pat and friends might break their arm with how much they PAT (no pun intended) themselves on the back.

I don't see you jumping to move up there, sh!thead!