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?
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.
Guys like Kennedy, Dobert, Croghan, Williams, et al seem to have figured out a workable solution.
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.
Guys like Kennedy, Dobert, Croghan, Williams, et al seem to have figured out a workable solution.
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 ?
Trying to make this thread into a Nike commercial? Several posts tried to, and the discussion went back to NAZ and Culpepper. Nice try, I guess. You can always buy ad space. That can't cost much more than the army who's job it is to scour the LRC MB.