Are Brad Hudson's elite runners going to start doing something special any time soon?

While he has had very limited tangible success, it should be noted that he is essentially responsible for Ritz’s summer when he ran 12:56, as Ritz switched from him to Alberto and then like 4-6 weeks later ran 12:56 and some other crazy fast times

Fernando Cabada calling someone a genius is as useful as Stevie Wonder remarking on the greatest paintings of all time.

dtyuygiojipol[pkgdrdfcfdfuhkl;l;l'; wrote:

Fernando Cabada calling someone a genius is as useful as Stevie Wonder remarking on the greatest paintings of all time.

This is probably true, also he is in the twilight of his career. Brad needs some younger blood and real talent out there.

running commenter wrote:

...... Brad needs some younger blood and real talent out there.

Looking from the outside, Brad has taken a lot of former B level college runners and improved the majority of them. Anybody who can take a runner with 8 to 10 years serious training and make them faster is at least a decent coach.

So until a handful of elites take a chance on him, we won't know if he is actually a "great" coach. I dont know why none are. Maybe it is location, or he wants to much money, or his personality, or they're just all waiting for somebody else to be the guinea pig.

SJshskkagsg wrote:

While he has had very limited tangible success, it should be noted that he is essentially responsible for Ritz’s summer when he ran 12:56, as Ritz switched from him to Alberto and then like 4-6 weeks later ran 12:56 and some other crazy fast times

Exactly. I surely figured there would be more talent to sign up with him and success to come. I suppose funding may be an issue limiting his ability to recruit top guys, but interested in knowing if there are other issues hampering his success.

He is a great coach but doesn't get top talent

He gets OT marathon capable men and women and they sometimes run well and sometimes don't

dtyuygiojipol[pkgdrdfcfdfuhkl;l;l'; wrote:

Fernando Cabada calling someone a genius is as useful as Stevie Wonder remarking on the greatest paintings of all time.

+1.

Lydiard was a genius. Hudson? Not so much.

Jfjdndndn wrote:

He is a great coach but doesn't get top talent

He gets OT marathon capable men and women and they sometimes run well and sometimes don't

I don't get it? He got Ritz, who was the best talent in the country at the time, and then why no other top guys after that? Especially after Brad primed Ritz for the success he achieved shortly after leaving. Was there an issue that came up with Ritz that poisoned the path to Hudson for future top elites? Did Nike or other shoe companies refuse to sponsor athletes if they went with him instead of their coaches? Do NOP or other groups just offer too much for top talent to pass up?

there's probably the tendency in Boulder for people to want to train much harder than is optimal, just because they're in Boulder - to push the pace so much they're fried once they travel and go to race. Perhaps if they could chill a little bit and run slower on easy days, they'd race better. People in training groups in Boulder often bust their balls in practice and race each other in workouts. A few years ago I attended a fun run at boulder running company and some kids would do the 5mi loop at 6:20s pace or quicker.

I've seen people move to Boulder who've never broken 3hours for a marathon but plan on running 2:18 and another one who'd run maybe 19min 5ks in Alabama or northern FL with plans for a sub30 min 10k. Seems like these days the area is attracting people totally off their rocker

gcgh wrote:

dtyuygiojipol[pkgdrdfcfdfuhkl;l;l'; wrote:

Fernando Cabada calling someone a genius is as useful as Stevie Wonder remarking on the greatest paintings of all time.

+1.

Lydiard was a genius. Hudson? Not so much.

Lydiard was no genius, certainly wasn't a guy like Norman Einstein -- now there's a genius.

malmo wrote:

gcgh wrote:

+1.

Lydiard was a genius. Hudson? Not so much.

Lydiard was no genius, certainly wasn't a guy like Norman Einstein -- now there's a genius.

Malmo, you know Brad pretty well. Any idea why things aren't taking off for him?

malmo wrote:

gcgh wrote:

+1.

Lydiard was a genius. Hudson? Not so much.

Lydiard was no genius, certainly wasn't a guy like Norman Einstein -- now there's a genius.

Yeah, funny stuff!

Just wow... wrote:

malmo wrote:

Lydiard was no genius, certainly wasn't a guy like Norman Einstein -- now there's a genius.

Malmo, you know Brad pretty well. Any idea why things aren't taking off for him?

Why do you think things "aren't taking off." Seems like he's doing all the right things to me.

Who are his runners??

He seem like he knows what he's doing.

Parker Stinson is steadily improving and will probably be the standout of that group as it looks like he's now in marathon training (not sure what for) and his Instagram post recently indicated he was running between 120-130mpw.

Trevor Dunbar seems to be improving, and had a decent but not spectacular XC and then track season. He has pretty bad knee lift biomechanics which I wish he'd address as it must surely be limiting him, but I think he'll probably become another half marathon or marathon runner in the next 1-2 years where it will be less of an issue as he's not quite fast enough on the track to make a US team.

Interestingly, the lesser known runners also seem to be making big jumps. Ian Butler looks like he's improving and Sid Vaughn who recently joined also looks like he's making huge jumps, there are a few other of similar level looking at race results but those two seem to be the biggest improvers.

I'll be interested to see how the group progresses over the next 6-12 months, it's a shame Jake Hurysz and Paul Yak left the group as they were both similar standards to Stinson and Dunbar and would have pushed the team on further.

SJshskkagsg wrote:

While he has had very limited tangible success, it should be noted that he is essentially responsible for Ritz’s summer when he ran 12:56, as Ritz switched from him to Alberto and then like 4-6 weeks later ran 12:56 and some other crazy fast times

Didn't he also coach James Carney to some crazy fast times as well on the track? I don't think it is that easy to caoch someone to a sub 28 10k so I think Hudson is doing pretty well as a coach, he is likely better than 99.X% of the coaches out there.

Stinson had major achilles surgery before going to hudson and went on to get 3rd at US 25k champs and a bunch of other decent showings. At the very least the training is working for him if hudson was able to get him back that kind of fitness and keep him healthy

Just wow... wrote:

SJshskkagsg wrote:

While he has had very limited tangible success, it should be noted that he is essentially responsible for Ritz’s summer when he ran 12:56, as Ritz switched from him to Alberto and then like 4-6 weeks later ran 12:56 and some other crazy fast times

Exactly. I surely figured there would be more talent to sign up with him and success to come. I suppose funding may be an issue limiting his ability to recruit top guys, but interested in knowing if there are other issues hampering his success.

Funding? You know he doesn't pay them right?