I know this has been brought up but it seems very obvious if you watch Drew run. He is extremely inefficient with a lot of foot instability. I think he does slightly better at short distances because the inefficiency is less of a factor. He probably has a monster engine VO2 max wise but not a good enough “body” to use it all.
As posted by somebody else, I never understood the hype. Hunter looked like a shuffling middle aged man as a high schooler. Did not have that athletic “it” quality that makes you excited for the future. The obvious question is, will he get a second contract from anybody else when the adidas money ends? I think we all know the answer.
I find it odd that adidas thought to invest so much in him and he really has not produced as a pro. Do they see value in him via social media and are ok with his pro races? There are A LOT more deserving running who should be under contract with a shoe company and are not.
They can afford it since they are not paying that much the african runners! You would be surprised how much they pay Rhonex or Kandie...this has been going on for so many years...so nothing new! It's not only about performances...
I know this has been brought up but it seems very obvious if you watch Drew run. He is extremely inefficient with a lot of foot instability. I think he does slightly better at short distances because the inefficiency is less of a factor. He probably has a monster engine VO2 max wise but not a good enough “body” to use it all.
As posted by somebody else, I never understood the hype. Hunter looked like a shuffling middle aged man as a high schooler. Did not have that athletic “it” quality that makes you excited for the future. The obvious question is, will he get a second contract from anybody else when the adidas money ends? I think we all know the answer.
Pretty simple answer: 2016 Penn Relays, 3:57 mile as HSer (#2 AT), FL champ, 8:41 as hs junior, etc
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I find it odd that adidas thought to invest so much in him and he really has not produced as a pro. Do they see value in him via social media and are ok with his pro races? There are A LOT more deserving running who should be under contract with a shoe company and are not.
Think about how much money Adidas has saved over the years by him not reaching his incentives. He has made one world indoor team. I’m not aware of him achieving world standard track times or winning big name road races in recent years. Hoping that he is able to find some resurgence though…
High school Webb would have had a tough time beating Hunter on that regional Footlocker course in NC his senior year. I was there that day and it wasn't just how fast he went but how easy he made it look. I think it was a pretty easy gamble to take and Hunter is still young so he could still have a shot at world level 5k time but personally I would like to see him move up in distance.
As posted by somebody else, I never understood the hype. Hunter looked like a shuffling middle aged man as a high schooler. Did not have that athletic “it” quality that makes you excited for the future. The obvious question is, will he get a second contract from anybody else when the adidas money ends? I think we all know the answer.
Pretty simple answer: 2016 Penn Relays, 3:57 mile as HSer (#2 AT), FL champ, 8:41 as hs junior, etc
While his high school performances were impressive, I'm not sure they were THAT much better than his peers to warrant such a large contract. For instance, Fisher's high school career seems more accomplished to me, especially considering he was only 2 months older than Hunter (which is often forgotten). I'd be interested to know what sort of deals (if any) Fisher was offered.
Good for Hunter to get paid, I just don't quite get it from Adidas' perspective (other than the fact that they have a lot of money to gamble with). They have done well with Tinman but that wasn't a consideration when they signed the contract.
I know this has been brought up but it seems very obvious if you watch Drew run. He is extremely inefficient with a lot of foot instability. I think he does slightly better at short distances because the inefficiency is less of a factor. He probably has a monster engine VO2 max wise but not a good enough “body” to use it all.
That's not how oxygen kinetics works. If he had a "monster VO2max" it would make him an inefficient distance runner.
Tinman group have a large social media following, Hunter is the driving force. Adidas get huge benefits from this, Tinman sell loads of Adidas Merchandise.
AND ANOTHER THREAD THAT FOCUSES UPON DREW HUNTER!! (He gets more coverage on Letsrun than anyone else at his level.) That, in itself, is proof of his value to adidas. EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE, knows his name, even those who post "Drew who?". The guy has done a tremendous amount for adidas, and for the sport, even if he hasn't become the world beater adidas execs hoped for. Yes, that would have been the ultimate victory for adidas, but I'm sure they're laughing all the way to the bank, knowing that their investment has paid off big time. And echoing what has been mentioned already, the adidas investment in Drew is a drop in the bucket compared to just about any major league baseball, NBA basketball, NFL football, or even NHL hockey star.
Except that's not how VO2 max works. I know you just got out of A&P 1 but dig a lil deeper peaches.
Go on then genius, tell us how you think it works?
You can be incredibly inefficient and run fast if you have a big engine (can only sustain low % of VO2, but have a high VO2max).
You can run fast with a low VO2 if you are incredibly efficient (able to sustain high % of VO2max - Frank Shorter as an example).
You can run really fast if you are both efficient and have a high VO2 (the Kipchoge).
Just because you have a VO2 of X does not mean you have a efficiency (running economy) of Y.
Whats more important though - is you cannot tell an efficient runner from an inefficient runner just based on form (there are actually studies demonstrating this). What "visually" looks inefficient may not be - so unless you've seen testing data from Drew (i.e. metabolic cart measuring running economy), your hypothesis that his "form" is why he's slow doesn't hold water.