Brosnan was a guest on the podcast on Tuesday. He told us he that he personally recorded the audio version of the book. This week only, if you join our Supporters Club, we'll send you a copy of the book and a free t-shirt as Rojo's college roommate Chris Lear is a co-author.
I’ve got a 22 hour drive to do this coming Friday, and am going to purchase Brosnan’s new book on audio (releases tomorrow). Obviously a very controversial and polarizing figure here amongst the shining stars that are Letsrun, but undeniably nurtured along some outstanding athletes from two different families. Newbury was a juggernaut here in CA for a few years, and I’m looking forward to perhaps getting a little inside baseball.
Anyone else curious as well?
Sorry to hear about the reason for the drive. I hope it went well and you were able to get the audiobook.
I just finished it. Here are my thoughts:
1. The audiobook production is okay. Brosnan reads it himself, but like many non-professional audiobook readers this is hit and miss. He could have used better direction in reading it. For example, sometimes he puts emphasis in poor places or parts of a sentence that would make sense reading it do not make as much sense at first how he spoke it.
2. This book is not poorly written, but not well written. I don't mind this; Brosnan is not an writer by trade. His co-author maybe could have done more to smooth it out. Then again, having had to take written work as an editor for an academic journal and make it make sense, maybe this *was* the smoothed out version.
3. While not "well-written," it was very readable and fun—if you are a high school cross country fan. Or, maybe, just a cross country fan. If you're reading LetsRun, sometimes also known as "LetsHate," then I reckon you fit this bill and will enjoy it (even if the enjoyment is to find new reasons to hate Brosnan).
4. I enjoyed the audiobook quite a lot. The kind of enjoyment where I was listening to it cutting grass, cooking dinners, driving errands, etc. The kind of enjoyment that found me doing those things with more alacrity and frequency so I could listen to the book. I am, however, an aforementioned cross country "fan" per item 3 above.
5. This is more about the Newbury Park story, and less about methods. Methods and workouts are mentioned in passing, but done in order to tell the story and not to provide a blueprint or roadmap. Even so, you can glean some coaching and training tidbits from this book.
6. I have newfound respect for Brosnan after reading this. I am no Brosnan hater, but I didn't know if I could get a read on whether it was his system or the luck of the talent. I do feel it was part the luck—I think he would agreed to that to some degree—but I also fully believe his coaching had a big impact. Is it replicable? I dunno. He had some success at UCLA, and some issues. I do think pointing out how he was able to build up the Newbury Park girls XC team really cuts against a lot of the anti-Brosnan hate, too. Still, while he was a success during a 6-7 year period, I do have to admire the programs that get it done year after year (and, in some cases, coach after coach).
7. After reading some of the stories about specific races, I went back and watched some of them with the inside commentary from Brosnan and the runners (who show up from time to time to discuss bits from their perspective) and that was fun.
TLDR; if you are a fan of cross country, especially high school cross country, in the USA then this is a must read. Partly because there is not a lot of stuff out there to read, for sure, but it was enjoyable enough to make it worth your time.
I made corrections for you.
“not an writer by trade” → should be “not a writer by trade.” “I think he would agreed to that” → should be “I think he would agree to that.” “in poor places or parts of a sentence that would make sense reading it do not make as much sense at first how he spoke it” → awkward phrasing; could be simplified to “in places that made sense on the page but sounded confusing when spoken.” “I dunno” → informal slang; fine for casual writing, but inconsistent if the rest of the piece is meant to be formal. “Sometimes also known as ‘LetsHate’” → feels clunky; could be “often nicknamed ‘LetsHate.’” “Part the luck—I think he would agreed to that to some degree” → should be “partly luck—I think he would agree with that to some degree.”
As a writer by trade, I can say it was written exceptionally well, both in detail and in how the stories were told. The constant transitions to the Newbury Park athletes were genius and flowed seamlessly, giving the book real depth. Smart move by Brosnan to bring in Grief and Lear to assist.
Also a writer by trade. I disagree; as I wrote, this is not poorly written. Neither is it well written. It is solidly written.
I'd chalk it up to Sean, who is not a writer by trade, having a vision and a narrative that the other writers refined and polished.
It jumps around a lot, though. Plus, some of the transitions are not great. They're not bad, just not great. There is also some repetition and some kludgey sentences. None of this is terrible, it's just not as polished as some things.
For example, love it or hate it, Born To Run is written very well. Much fewer issues like this. Also, embellished and problematic at parts—likely a result of the author working to fit the narrative into the flow he wanted, accuracy being less important at points.
Chris McDougall, however, is a long-time writer. That's expected.
However, I will also note that I listened to the audio book. Some of my impression may be the nature of listening to it read by Sean Brosnan, not reading it on the page myself.
All this is *not* to say it was a poorly written book, or a bad book. It is a good book, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
But let's not gild the lily when the lily is already a damn fine thing to enjoy in its own right.
I stand by my TLDR—if you are a fan of cross country, this is a must read (and well worth it) whether you love or hate Sean Brosnan, or love or hate Newbury Park.
Listened to another 2 chapters today at the gym. I found it interesting that Nico had no desire to go after sub4, but was rather more interested in sub 8 indoors and rupp’s 5k record outdoors. Can also see how important the team culture was there. You also hear Nico explain how the “4:20 is not fast” is actually very innocuous and taken completely out of context.
I’m currently into Colin’s jr year and the young’s/aaron’s sophomore year. Aaron apparently opted out of football and into xc because of multiple concussions. I certainly had not heard that before.
Listened to another 2 chapters today at the gym. I found it interesting that Nico had no desire to go after sub4, but was rather more interested in sub 8 indoors and rupp’s 5k record outdoors. Can also see how important the team culture was there. You also hear Nico explain how the “4:20 is not fast” is actually very innocuous and taken completely out of context.
I’m currently into Colin’s jr year and the young’s/aaron’s sophomore year. Aaron apparently opted out of football and into xc because of multiple concussions. I certainly had not heard that before.
Finished the book today. I thought I might as well complete this thing to the end.
Was really impressed with how much influence Brosnan had on Nico, even bleeding into his mental prep for Paris last year. I had no idea the intestinal problems that their 5th man suffered- whatever happened to the Appleford kid? Did he race for CO-SOM?What about Jace? With such compliments from Brosnan regarding Hector Martinez, whatever became of him?
To average 14:14 for 5 kids over 5k is just mind blowing. Also interesting to hear about Gary Martin being in that famous race. And how in the world did Sahlman manage to run 4:18 for his last mile in that xc race? 4:29 first mile, so second mile was 4:43? Maybe the marker was off? Either way, quite impressive. I am a bit disappointed that Brosnan didn’t complete the senior year with the Youngs and Aaron, but hindsight is 20/20; and you’ve got to strike while the iron is hot.
Overall, good book with some nice behind the scenes tidbits.
Listened to another 2 chapters today at the gym. I found it interesting that Nico had no desire to go after sub4, but was rather more interested in sub 8 indoors and rupp’s 5k record outdoors. Can also see how important the team culture was there. You also hear Nico explain how the “4:20 is not fast” is actually very innocuous and taken completely out of context.
I’m currently into Colin’s jr year and the young’s/aaron’s sophomore year. Aaron apparently opted out of football and into xc because of multiple concussions. I certainly had not heard that before.
Finished the book today. I thought I might as well complete this thing to the end.
Was really impressed with how much influence Brosnan had on Nico, even bleeding into his mental prep for Paris last year. I had no idea the intestinal problems that their 5th man suffered- whatever happened to the Appleford kid? Did he race for CO-SOM?What about Jace? With such compliments from Brosnan regarding Hector Martinez, whatever became of him?
To average 14:14 for 5 kids over 5k is just mind blowing. Also interesting to hear about Gary Martin being in that famous race. And how in the world did Sahlman manage to run 4:18 for his last mile in that xc race? 4:29 first mile, so second mile was 4:43? Maybe the marker was off? Either way, quite impressive. I am a bit disappointed that Brosnan didn’t complete the senior year with the Youngs and Aaron, but hindsight is 20/20; and you’ve got to strike while the iron is hot.
Overall, good book with some nice behind the scenes tidbits.
In April, Appleford ran 14:05 for 5000 at D2 Mines.
Finished the book today. I thought I might as well complete this thing to the end.
Was really impressed with how much influence Brosnan had on Nico, even bleeding into his mental prep for Paris last year. I had no idea the intestinal problems that their 5th man suffered- whatever happened to the Appleford kid? Did he race for CO-SOM?What about Jace? With such compliments from Brosnan regarding Hector Martinez, whatever became of him?
To average 14:14 for 5 kids over 5k is just mind blowing. Also interesting to hear about Gary Martin being in that famous race. And how in the world did Sahlman manage to run 4:18 for his last mile in that xc race? 4:29 first mile, so second mile was 4:43? Maybe the marker was off? Either way, quite impressive. I am a bit disappointed that Brosnan didn’t complete the senior year with the Youngs and Aaron, but hindsight is 20/20; and you’ve got to strike while the iron is hot.
Overall, good book with some nice behind the scenes tidbits.
In April, Appleford ran 14:05 for 5000 at D2 Mines.
Good on him! Just sounded like a tough kid from the book. Thanks for the update. Any follow up on Jace?
Personally, I think quite a bit of that lore was dispelled for me in the book. Many times, the school district seemed to want to do everything they could to hamstring that program- especially during Covid. Brosnan developed some outstanding runners (men and women) that didn’t have the name Young or Sahlman. Like many things (especially here), what we hear many times is not the truth. At the most, it’s usually a half truth. And of course, that’s human nature: we hear and report things through a bias- good or bad.
Personally, I think quite a bit of that lore was dispelled for me in the book. Many times, the school district seemed to want to do everything they could to hamstring that program- especially during Covid. Brosnan developed some outstanding runners (men and women) that didn’t have the name Young or Sahlman. Like many things (especially here), what we hear many times is not the truth. At the most, it’s usually a half truth. And of course, that’s human nature: we hear and report things through a bias- good or bad.
Something I learned from a podcast interview of Brosnan a couple years ago that wasn't really directly mentioned in the book is that he is not a fan of goal setting, at least in the sense of people setting a season time goal that they are shooting for. I think in the podcast he said something like "no goals, no limits". He feels that setting a time goal is setting an artificial limit and that the only goal that athletes should have is to execute the training as best as possible. Then they are optimally prepared for their races and the times will just take care of themselves. You might have an idea of what an athlete ought to be able to do, but shouldn't focus on that too much because you don't want the athlete to settle. Often times they will surprise you. There is an anecdote in there where Nico goes out in a 2 mile at just off his mile PR and hangs on to run 9:0x and that's when Brosnan knew he was going to be something special.