Ryan Hill leaves BTC. Update. He's signed with HOKA NAZ Elite.

Yes I did refute the point. Nike is cheap and thinks they can get away with highly underpaying the best and marketable athletes. It’s their loss, not the athlete’s loss.

good riddance. wrote:

Yes I did refute the point. Nike is cheap and thinks they can get away with highly underpaying the best and marketable athletes. It’s their loss, not the athlete’s loss.

Eh, it’s always the athlete’s loss. Nike makes very little (if any) money by sponsoring American track athletes. No shoe sponsors equals regular jobs for athletes while trying to train.

Ryan is maried to Emily Pritt

It seems like she’s working for BTC

Is married *

block1ofmany wrote:

I was rooting hard for a younger Ryan hill at the indoor world championships in Portland. He was tough and talented and that made him fun to watch. However, anyone who has seen him run will have noticed that his form doesn’t quite cut the mustard for high quality marathoning. Not to say he couldn’t be a 212 guy. If running still fulfills him that is great, he should continue in whatever vain he sees fit. But their are an innumerable set of endeavors he can lose himself in, and probably more than a few he would find equally fulfilling. The running dream eventually ends for everyone. Get what you need from it and move on

lol right.. because.all of the sub 2:06 east africans have immaculate form....

pappas bun wrote:

North Carolina puma group with Cragg

What is the name of the NC Puma group?

Thanks

good riddance. wrote:

Yes I did refute the point. Nike is cheap and thinks they can get away with highly underpaying the best and marketable athletes. It’s their loss, not the athlete’s loss.

This is a hilarious level of denial. You fanbois don't have clue one. Hill is 30, 5 years past his last US outdoor team, and hasn't shown form this past year to make him a lock for the team going to Tokyo. By most appearances, dude has peaked. Meanwhile at about the same age Jenkins has shown far better progression this year to consider him competitive with the best in the US and maybe even the world.

Well Puma already had a few I assume VERY high priced athletes on their roster - ever hear of Mondo or Warholm?

Tax write-off for PUMA.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot wrote:

good riddance. wrote:

Yes I did refute the point. Nike is cheap and thinks they can get away with highly underpaying the best and marketable athletes. It’s their loss, not the athlete’s loss.

This is a hilarious level of denial. You fanbois don't have clue one. Hill is 30, 5 years past his last US outdoor team, and hasn't shown form this past year to make him a lock for the team going to Tokyo. By most appearances, dude has peaked. Meanwhile at about the same age Jenkins has shown far better progression this year to consider him competitive with the best in the US and maybe even the world.

It’s hilarious how out of touch you are. Nike has a history of letting go of great athletes in their prime who get bigger offers and go on to do even greater things.

Portland Hobby Jogger wrote:

If your are not an Olympic, World, or US champion, then you better have a ton of passionate Instagram and Twitter followers to stay on board. Athletes, especially men, need to learn this quickly. The truth is that Colleen Quigley moves more Nike product via her social media efforts that all of the BTC men combined. That is more important to corporate sponsors that being the #5 American man at 5,000 meters or making Canada's Olympic team.

It seems like too many pro runners missed this point for too long and teams like Tinman Elite swooped in to take advantage. What agency will step up to coach athletes and teams on how to better market themselves? Giving basic advice on how to make a single Instagram post is fine, but coaching on how to really connect with a broad audience can be worth a lot of $$$.

If he goes to Tinman, he and Hunter will go 1-2 in the 5k.

salvatore scoop a stich up wrote:

Hoka NAZ, Sal with the scoop as per usual

Not sure why everyone ignored this post and latched on to the Chapel Hill/Cragg post instead. I guess that Chapel Hill group makes sense since Ryan is from NC, though NAZ is the correct answer.

coldhardcash2 wrote:

Ite ad Joseph wrote:

True. Not every shoe company wants to put money into a High Performance Running Team. If Puma wants a good team they have the ability to financially back one.

Best of luck to Ryan Hill and his wife.

Well Puma already had a few I assume VERY high priced athletes on their roster - ever hear of Mondo or Warholm?

Yes just like they had Bolt. That has nothing to do with filling out a roster of distance athletes. Athletes that are at the very very peak of their profession cost more but are also far more marketable and bring more visibility to your brand than bringing in a slew of 13:30 and 2:11 guys. As many have said professional distance runners have a job simply through the generosity of big brands that are working to keep the sport alive. A brand can desire to put their (meager) funding there...or not. Even a guy like Duplantis makes so little in comparison to the money the company brings in it's laughable to even insinuate that is the reason why they don't have any distance athletes. One of the few examples we might have is McLaughlin who reportedly made 1.5 million in 2019 whereas NB is generating 4.5 billion in revenue. What's a distance runner that MAY have an outside shot at an Olympic team make? We don't know but we know it's not much. To have a pro team is a drop in the bucket. The US should have way more professional teams.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot wrote:

good riddance. wrote:

Yes I did refute the point. Nike is cheap and thinks they can get away with highly underpaying the best and marketable athletes. It’s their loss, not the athlete’s loss.

This is a hilarious level of denial. You fanbois don't have clue one. Hill is 30, 5 years past his last US outdoor team, and hasn't shown form this past year to make him a lock for the team going to Tokyo. By most appearances, dude has peaked. Meanwhile at about the same age Jenkins has shown far better progression this year to consider him competitive with the best in the US and maybe even the world.

I don't think this is right. WC finalist in 17. 10th @ USA indoors in 2020 but then ran 7:38 and 13:15 by the end of the year. Those times and his lifetime consistency show he has a good shot at making the 5k team. Sure, he's not a lock but I like this move. NAZ Elite hasn't had 5k talents like Hill but they've still gotten their athletes better at the distance. I buy Rosario's comments. Training in Flag will help in terms of recovery. Building strength will help. Tyler Day will be a good training partner. Faubs was 4th at the 10k in 2016. Maybe he'll take another crack at the track and help push Hill on the strength stuff. We know Hill has a kick. NAZ-type training might be a good shake-up to help him contend for a team spot.

TBH what I'm most excited for is to watch this experiment as a fan. NAZ Elite is great at bringing us into their process and will give us plenty of updates on how Hill's training is progressing. That will be a ton of fun to follow.

salvatore scoop a stich up wrote:

Hoka NAZ, Sal with the scoop as per usual

Not bad Sal!

BTC down in Flag for the next 5+ months. Can imagine that being awkward even though it seems he’s leaving on good terms, just business between him and Nike, etc

Over at the Fast Women facebook page, people are complaining that NAZ Elite is insufficiently committed to diversity and inclusion because they signed another white male runner. I'm a smug godless liberal myself, but even I can appreciate that crap like that is why some people hate liberals.