Dennis Barker stepping down from Team USA Minnesota

minong wrote:

Just posted on Twitter:

Dennis Barker

‏@dbinsaintpaulEvery once in awhile you have to reinvent yourself to keep things fresh. I'm moving on from @TeamUSAMN but gonna keep coaching & writing

Is he going to keep feeding his dipsheeet wife anti-nike stories. or making creepy comments to pretty runners on twitter.

My friend was hit on by him on twitter

Does it have anything to do with Gabe Grunewald leaving that group to run for the Brooks Beasts?

I don't think people have an appreciation as to how hard it is to run a "pro" group, especially with limited resources. You're always fundraising to just stay afloat unless you're the 3 Nike groups or now Brooks Beasts. And just when you invest a lot of time and hard-eraned money to do a great job coachingan individual who wasn't great out of college, an athlete like Gabe leaves the group for the bigger money. Nobody is faulting Gabe, but I for one can empathize with these coaches of groups hanging on by a thread.

Who is taking over, or is the group going the way of Indiana Elite?

Are the 7 remaining athletes planning on joining another training group? I know Parker Stinson was already out the door but what about others?

Only 2 athletes were good enough to run in the trials so I am not sure that most of the group is going to have many options. Kampf should go to NY/NJ. SImbassa should contact Zap or Hansons. The rest should move on.

Gabe has been pretty awful since she left, and other than her, Barker's been pretty awful for years.

Gabby is done. She will never have enough speed for the 1500 or strength for the 5

They are hiring a new coach. The 6 remaining athletes are waiting to decide whether or not to stick around.

totally not impressed wrote:

Gabe has been pretty awful since she left, and other than her, Barker's been pretty awful for years.

Agreed. My friend paid Mr. Barker $100/month for 3-4 months of coaching for a marathon. She as gunning for a PR. She failed

I coached her to a better time with my free advice I cribbed for various online plans.

yes, my friend isn't' too bright

Mama knows best wrote:

They are hiring a new coach. The 6 remaining athletes are waiting to decide whether or not to stick around.

Better not wait too long. Most training centers close by the end of July. May be stuck in Minnesota for another year.

Parker Stinson is going to Hudson. Who will Biya Simbassa train with? Who does Heather Kampf train with? Now that Josh Dedering has left who does Rob Moike train with?

NO COACH AND NO TRAINING PARTNERS. That is not a group.

Dennis cost the team a lot of money by alienating Nike and USATF in general. That's why they suck ass.

Who needs money from USATF or Nike? Not NAZ Elite, Not Hansons-Brooks, not The Beasts, Not Big Bear Track Club, Not BAA.

I've followed Kampf since her NCAA indoor 800 win as a frosh at Minnesota. I've thought for a few years that a change in coaches/training would do her some good before it is too late.

On the other hand, who the hell am I to say.

And yes, his wife is a nutcase.

Doh etosh wrote:

I've followed Kampf since her NCAA indoor 800 win as a frosh at Minnesota. I've thought for a few years that a change in coaches/training would do her some good before it is too late.

On the other hand, who the hell am I to say.

And yes, his wife is a nutcase.

I thought Kampf was a woman.

I think Barker is a decent coach.

stinson is moving to boulder to train with Hudson. he has been good friends with Ritz who helped coach him during his break out year at Oregon and RItz and Parker believe he needs to start the process of moving to the marathon to help his track 10k times. boulder is a dreamland

marathonmidgets wrote:

stinson is moving to boulder to train with Hudson. he has been good friends with Ritz who helped coach him during his break out year at Oregon and RItz and Parker believe he needs to start the process of moving to the marathon to help his track 10k times. boulder is a dreamland

Stinson has been running 10k on the track since at least two years before starting at the NCAA level. His 10yr window of improvement is nearly closed. Honestly thought he would have burned out by now.

yeah i agree. pretty wild he got top 3 in indoors 5k twice and ran 27:50 last year, i guess thats why you just keep truckin