Is US running system flawed?

I must admit that not once in the 29 years or so that I've been running have I pondered nor discussed any country's running "system". I've discussed runners, events,runners wives,shoes,injuries and doping.However in my group there are

two usual lines of discussion, training and tail.Guess we're not metaphysical enough here north of the border.

You have a dog that talks. I'm jealous.

I've solved most conspiracy theories on my long runs with my dog Mya. She tends to keep things to herself, as she's commented many times that her mother asked her to never speak of politics or religion in public.

Though, I will ask her tonight about the Rupp-like coddling? Methinks she will lean toward the hard-knock-type like Solinsky and McDougal- the hard-nosed, gritty bashers that live the dream on every run, that have the ample support group that provides the therapy, motivation, and inspiration that is needed to represent us at the highest level. She will probably say that those 'men' need not a new pair of Nikes accessible whenever it rains. She will probably ask if Rupp ever puts newspaper in his kicks after the rainy runs, or calls AS, VL, or even PK for a new pair.

- but then again, she might not even be up for a run this evening.

I've always been the hard knocks kind of runner, probably because I wasn't "coddling worthy", so Mya would probably dig me...But it would seem that talented US runners are relegated to spend too much time competing at the HS and College level in order to receive value for their ability. That arena is dedicated to fall, winter and spring seasons. And a good argument could be made that they often over race during their time there. Solinsky again comes to mind. Would he have been better off competing on a club level that mirrored international competition and allowed for a more gradual progression?The US does a good job of developing athletes in swimming and tennis. Very rarely do you find people with talent competing in HS or college in these sports. Rather they bypass interscholastic competition to focus on becoming competitive on a national and international level. Which would effectively leave the NCAA’s to “student athletes” which many on this site are complaining about with Rupp.

Interesting question, to which many people can offer opinions, but the answer can never be known with certainty. Is the US college system worse than the system that Kenyan and Ethiopian runners develop in? Or do they do better because of growing up with fewer distractions, altitude, different diet, more empasis on running in their culture, or something else? People tend to point to the most successful way of doing anything and say "that's the best" but for all we know another way would be better, it just hasn't been used by as talented a runner (or swimmer, teacher, or whatever it is you're trying to measure).

In the scietific world you would try to develop the closest thing to a counterfactual, where you have 2 identical groups with the ONLY difference being the training system (no differences in culture, climate, diet, background, or anything else), and then measure results after a certain period. Since this is impossible to do (maybe one group has more naturally talented runners, even though at the time of randomization they had equal times to the other group, or one group had better weather to train in, or one group didn't get along with the coach and didn't follow the exact system, etc.) we'll never know the answer.

For people that say "look at Webb, he's done so well out of the college system"- perhaps he would have done just as well, or better in it.

I tend to in general think there is no "right" way to train, there are a bunch of ways that have shown to improve people's performances over time. Some may work better for certain people. Hopefully everyone finds a system that they enjoy being in, and that seems to help them improve, but I would remember that one mans dream system may intolerable for someone else.

The first failure of this thread is the presumption that there is a U.S. running system. There is not--not even in the Olympic years.

Arkansas, Arizona, California, Wisconsin, Oregon ... wherever the most recently successful distance person is from--that becomes the system of interest.

There simply is not a national running program or system.