AMERICANS DISAPPOINT IN CHICAGO

Astute observation , Larsen was an observer to Vigil's training protocol as well as Terrence M. at the Mammoth camp , coaches learn from coaches , tweak and dial into to specific athletes.

Your on to something about getting developing talent earlier to race longer distances.Im afraid though world class coaching availability to develop talent just is not present. It seems we are content with being the "top american" , content with great effort , content with a PR , our contentment with mediocrity requires a shift in attitude until then we are just top american finishers.

For the marathon, I don't think the problem is coaching, but rather getting the talent that is out there to put in the training, primarily due to economic reasons.

The camp shown in this video is a model of a successful developer of young running talent:

I got an idea for a new USA marathon development program. The program is for graduating high schoolers that are not quite good enough to get a college scholarship, and are thus faced with either paying there own way to get through school, or going to work minimum-wage at fast-food. This program offers the properly screened candidates, to in effect, put there life on hold, to go full-time training in this farm-type system. The will be collectively put up in cheap dorms at altitude. Within the two-year program, they either make the pro-grade, or are booted out; for the latter, there lives, in-effect, are reset to the prospects they faced when they graduated high-school, though some of them (that didn't make pro), may have advanced their running enough to get a scholarship.

There are several differences between this new program and current ones like the Mammoth Track Club. Mainly, the new program catches young talent right out of high school, before it has any economic expectations, with the consequent economic spendthrift implications that follow (watch the video again).

Edit: *their instead of *there

Observer of marathoning wrote:

The camp shown in this video is a model of a successful developer of young running talent:

http://vimeo.com/76935417

I got an idea for a new USA marathon development program. The program is for graduating high schoolers that are not quite good enough to get a college scholarship, and are thus faced with either paying there own way to get through school, or going to work minimum-wage at fast-food.

...or faced instead with going into the military, etc. And this farm system would be highly disciplined, tolerating "no horseplay, bullying, etc., or you're outta' here"!

It's a numbers game that has been talked about over and over. The Kenyans long distance running is equal to Americans basketball. We see the top runners. I am guessing there are at least 100 Kenyans at home that we never will meet that have run under 30 minutes for a 10k in some of their races in the local areas in Kenya. The same is true of what the world sees of the best basketball players here. everyone sees the NBA stars. What percentage of every high school ball player makes it to play on a college team, and then even make the cut on an NBA team?

The point is, the interest in this country is not in long distance running, it's in prime time sports with high action, tons of potential for high salaries and exposure. Have Bill Rodgers, Ryan Hall, Frank Shorter, Bob Kempinan walk down a street with Charles Barkley.

Who will 90% of the people ask for an autograph or picture?

Good idea...the last point you make is especially good.

I would love to have such a camp for us 40+ year old has-beens-that-never-were (that never ran on a HS or college team), but, for us, life is in full swing and we have our responsibilities. This is not a complaint, as a "late" life of running can be quite rewarding. Ultimately, it is what one makes of it.

Im in disagreement with the your thought its not a coaching issue.

Our coaches have little or no experience at world class marathon coaching and we do not have a group of super elites as we see in Kenya that can pull the others along.

Brooks , Nike shoe clubs are elitist and not open to development , pro clubs in a pure environment.

We have plenty of athletes with talent , no real system to develop them outside of college.

NAZ is a solid choice wrote:

Jeptoo sat on Shalane in Boston and then ran a minute a mile faster than her over the last 5 miles.

Jeptoo 2:18:57

Flanagan 2:22:02

Difference = 3:05

So Jeptoo was about two minutes BEHIND Flanagan at the 21-mile mark?

When calling someone ignorant, it generally helps to avoid blatantly ignorant statements yourself. I say "generally" only because Letsrun posters as a group are so blindingly stupid and hypocritical that there's really nothing unusual about what you've done here.

That's not all they are but it's largely what they are -- parasites and opportunists. Their message-board comments and public statements have demonstrated either an unusual level of ignorance given their positions or unapologetic excuse-mongering.

Perhaps I wasn't clear. I get that people's coaches, managers, etc. are obligated to produce excuses after less than optimal showings, no different from NFL and other pro voices. But I would expect, or at least hope for, a little better than the lame-ass bullshit Hermens said about jet lag. Saying that jet lag was a factor in his race is like a football coach from Alaska who knows months in advance that his first playoff game will be in Miami complaining that his players weren't prepared for the heat and became dehydrated, instead of taking steps to have his team acclimatize.