Are there any SELF COACHED elite runners out there?

I used to have a coach in a club but train alone now for a long time. I've done a 75 half mary self coached so I'm sub elite but not exactly Bekele

Ben True

Bill Rodgers, appears to not have had formal coaching beyond high school. Frank Shorter did have coaching through college but seems to have designed his own marathon training. Emil Zatopek, winner of the gold in the 5k, 10k, and marathon in the 1952 Olympics invented his own training, my favorite.

stan the corgi wrote:

Bill Rodgers, appears to not have had formal coaching beyond high school. Frank Shorter did have coaching through college but seems to have designed his own marathon training. Emil Zatopek, winner of the gold in the 5k, 10k, and marathon in the 1952 Olympics invented his own training, my favorite.

Rodgers was coached, at least to some extent, by Bill Squires.

get a coach wrote:

As a general rule, if you're elite (or becoming elite), it's best to have a pair of eyes on your training that are NOT yours. Sometimes it's hard to see the forest through the trees.

So, if you want to become an elite, get a coach. Once you've done it for a while, you can go at it alone.

My advice is free - you get what you pay for.

As someone who is in the sub-elite category, a couple of OT's but never made it to what I'd consider elite I have not had a coach in the 8 years since college. I can say without a shadow of a doubt I would have had a better career with a coach. But the logistics of that and working full time never seemed to make sense to me.

I can handle most of the stuff myself having had great high school and college coaching. But having someone to hold me back would have probably prevented some injuries. Also working on the fine-tuning of the program to get that extra minute or two out of an athlete that you miss by not seeing the forest through the trees, as you so eloquently put it.

That being said I that Kipsang was self-coached. I know he consulted Canova at times but believe he coached himself.

It is also likely that I am totally wrong on that one because I can't remember the source which probably means it was something unreputable like this message board.

Gerry Lindgren, the OG goat

Banana Bread wrote:

I've done a 75 half mary self coached so I'm sub elite but not exactly Bekele

I would think a "sub elite" should at least be well up into the NATIONAL CLASS of runners, i.e., >84% Age-Performace. Therefore, unless one is at least 46 yrs old, a 1:15:00 Half-Marathon would not be considered "sub elite".

Age-Grade Performances can be checked here:

Ben Connor ran 2:11:20ish at London on his debut. He is self coached

1500m runner wrote:

Actually over 50% of Elite runners do not have a coach. Most Have a coach until they become elite. (By the way Ritz and Alan Webb are th Only U.S. Elite Runners, and Ritz is questionable.)

Rupp???

Old School Letsrun Was Actually Kinda Cool wrote:

What happened to threads and replies like this? Things have certainly devolved around here.

Benji Durden wrote:

That is a better question.

A good coach should eventually become an advisor for most of his/her athletes (IMNSHO). Smart elite athletes should understand what they are doing and why. But there are still times when even the smartest athlete needs a second head to consider their "plan" or remind them they need to keep their eyes on the goal and not get distracted by the crap they encounter on the journey.

I had several advisors I turned to, but I took the responsiblity for my own failures.

What happened is that this place turned into a wasteful suck hole of negativity and off-gassing for loser runners whining and bickering. In the early-mid aughts there were still real deal runners posting and lurking. Benji ran 2:09 and was 2nd at the 1980 OT Marathon. Those types of guys don't stoop down here anymore.

Ryan hall, Nate Jenkins

Ben is self coached? I had always just assumed him and Lily were coached by Richard Partridge