If your office job suddenly moved two hours away and wasn't 100% remote, you think every single employee would be happy about it?
I would be furious and start applying for other jobs out of spite.
Jerry has helped athletes like Schweizer, Cranny, and Fisher have so much success. I can't imagine those three being as successful with another coach. Should they just suck it up and accept it or leave for another team? If I were them, I'd have a team meeting (athletes only) to discuss and try to let the emotions out and figure out what to do.
There are highly intelligent athletes on BTC. Far more intelligent then their coaches and probably most at Nike.
What would cause you to think they haven’t had such discussions?
It’s just landed JW so many poorly run businesses with a person at the top that shouldn’t be managing things
Jerry has helped athletes like Schweizer, Cranny, and Fisher have so much success. I can't imagine those three being as successful with another coach. Should they just suck it up and accept it or leave for another team? If I were them, I'd have a team meeting (athletes only) to discuss and try to let the emotions out and figure out what to do.
So, in the range with Lubbock, Tallahassee, Lincoln, and Ft. Collins. Still sub-500K, too. None of those are significant cities. They have regional influence and economies, but that's it. It's a big drop off economically and culturally from 2.5M in Portland, especially when much of the local economy is centered on catering to college students.
What can a distracted coach say or do for a runner positively to justify a (105 to 110) mile move?
The cost of living in Eugene "might" be cheaper than living in the Greater Portland Metro area? I don't think the coaches bought cheaper homes in Eugene (because they were given a pay bump), but the athletes might.
A NIKE pro-athlete earning $10,000 plus per month is not going to be happy leaving major size city/suburban conveniences. If a NIKE pro-runner is a home owner in Beaverton or near you on Palatine Hill in Portland, they don't want to sell the home in Beaverton or SW Portland and buy a house in Eugene. Real estate doesn't appreciate as quickly in Eugene. Pro-runners don't become pro-runners in order to chase cheap real estate. I'm sure real estate in Alaska in the Arctic Circle is cheap. Not many want to move to Alaska in Arctic Circle.
A move for runners, 1500m to Marathon needs to be justified. Think as if you are a male pro-runner in your late twenties/early thirties. Your wife has m.s. in finance or m.b.a. and she works for a large bank downtown Portland. You have two kids in a good elementary school they love. Your daughter plays violin and does ballet, your boy does gymnastics. Can your wife just quit her job and get an equally good job in Eugene? What about youth ballet, gymnastics and violin in Eugene?
Lastly, how is Eugene going to make one a better runner than training in greater Beaverton? If a coach said he or she bought a 50 to 100 acre farm in Toluca, Mexico and your coach wants to replicate the conditions in western hemisphere to favorable conditions in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia then a move can give a husband a logical narrative to tell his non-pro wife. How do 10 to 25 mile runs in Eugene compare to 10 to 25 mile runs in Beaverton help a pro-runner to go from 10th place in Olympics or W.C. to medalist?
I’d say your assessment of Eugene is a bit off. It’s a city of almost 200k. Hardly just a college town when you compare it to OSU/ Corvallis just up the road. It’s also surrounded by cascade and coastal ranges within a 40min drive E or W. Lots of bike paths and trail systems and stuff to do non-outdoor related. Hard to get to, yes. Bad place to train as a pro, disagree. Especially with Hayward facilities at your disposal.
This probably has more to do with spouses/kids than the athletes themselves, who it seems like were barely ever in Portland between altitude and European stints and probably don’t really care much for their own reasons where their formal “home base” is
Living in a college town when you’re not associated with the university is depressing.
Memo, they are associated with the University in a very key way whether they like it or not. The run for Nike due to the largess of Phil Knight who cares very much about Oregon.
Can they not just live in Portland and drive down for the key workouts?
Illogical move wrote: Many athletes have been leaving BTC. If more athletes leave when does Nike or Nike Sports Marketing question the two coaches motives?
HELLO? The man who is responsible for Nike being so into track and field has literally given hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars to Eugene/Nike/Hayward Field. Nike execs understand damn well the coaches motives - please Phil and make UO a distance powerhouse. If Nike's runners don't want to run there, I'm surethey'll be happy to tell them, "Find another coach or don't let the door hit you on the way out." Phil would MUCH rather see Oregon thrive than see the the #4 runner on the BTC have a rocking Bumble account.
Yes, different definitions. Anything under 500,000 is small.
This is disingenuous and misleading and you know it. You can’t compare populations while comparing one metro to a city.
Eugene metro is like 380k. More people live in Eugene than Boulder. If an athlete can't find stuff to do outside of running without being in the 10-20 biggest cities in the US. If they were in a college town of under 50k that would be one thing, but at this point Eugene is a small city.
which athletes have moved to Eugene, which ones are commuting and who is beefing?
hard to find reliable info but there’s too much smoke to not be a fire
This whole thread about which city is better for BTC pro runners misses the point and seems rather meaningless, in my opinion. I suspect if you interviewed a dozen BTC pros you’d get a dozen different opinions. I’ve lived in the NW my entire life and in Oregon (Bend) the past decade. I’ve spent lots and lots of time in both the Portland area and Eugene. There are advantages and disadvantages to both places.
In the end, I think it comes down to personal preferences. There is no single correct answer for the best place to have a pro running team. Do you prefer a big city (Portland & Beaverton) or a mid-size city (Eugene)? Do you prefer running on Pre’s Trails and the Amazon trails in Eugene or in parks around Portland and on the Nike campus? Do you prefer running intervals in Hayward Field or on the wooded Nike campus track? Do you like living in a funky college town after college or want more of a polished urban or suburban lifestyle? I could go on and on.
Personally, I’d much rather live in Eugene than Portland or Beaverton. It’s TrackTown USA, baby! And Eugene is just a quick trip down I-5 from Portland.
This is disingenuous and misleading and you know it. You can’t compare populations while comparing one metro to a city.
Eugene metro is like 380k. More people live in Eugene than Boulder. If an athlete can't find stuff to do outside of running without being in the 10-20 biggest cities in the US. If they were in a college town of under 50k that would be one thing, but at this point Eugene is a small city.
That's no apples-to-apples comparison, either. Boulder is part of Denver metro. If you want to consider that Boulder has large numbers of in-commuters from the entire county plus primarily Broomfield and Jefferson counties, then Boulder metro is every bit as populous as Eugene, if not moreso.
Living in a college town when you’re not associated with the university is depressing.
Can they not just live in Portland and drive down for the key workouts?
That’s what they are doing, but it’s annoying for them. Imagine your boss changed your commute from 10 minutes to 2 hours (even if just a couple days a week) - how would you feel about that?