Cox's former coach, Kevin McCarey, thinks Cox has mismanaged his career and that his best days are behind him.
“Some people learn from their lessons,” said McCarey, himself a former 2:13 marathoner. “He never learned from his lessons. His running ended a long time ago.”
From a training perspective, McCarey offers three main criticisms of Cox: that he logged far too many miles; that he ran too
much by himself; and that he let himself be coached by Italy's Dr. Gabriele Rosa, who often went months without seeing Cox train.
“Yeah, I did too many miles,” admitted Cox, who once racked up consecutive weeks of 188, 186, 175 and 172 miles, at altitude. “That was five years ago. I've learned.”
To a degree, it pains McCarey to be so critical of Cox.
“As a human being, he's one of the most quality people I've ever met on this planet,” McCarey said. “Just a very loving human being.”
Yet McCarey's criticism doesn't stop with Cox's training.
“He got into other things. You can't get into other things if you're a marathoner, if you want to be one of the best,” McCarey said. “You have to devote yourself to it, and he didn't.”