Brigham Young University's success in distance is due to the Latter-Day Saints community's discipline and work ethic

Hayduke wrote:

Dillllllllllll wrote:

Who is the best post college Mormon runner ever? Jared Ward? Are they particularly good in high school? The fact that their success is mostly confined to the NCAA makes me think it has more to do with age than life style. If it was about life style, their success should be pronounced in high school and continue into the professional ranks.

Jared Ward? Who is that? Is he better than Doug Padilla, Henry Marsh, Ed Eyestone, Jason Pyrah? That's 4 olympians off the top of my head who went to BYU.

I think an over looked factor is the mormon runners living with wives and having a quiet and consistent home life.

Unlike most ncaa runners living in frat like team houses.

1. Eyestone. He’s the biggest reason. He’s been there and done that, both mission and world class runner.

2. Lifestyle. No alcohol, no drugs, not even coffee. No late night carousing or poor social mistakes.

3. Group think. Same values, same religion, same work ethic, same background. All in a loving, supportive, understanding unit.

4. Miscellaneous. Altitude; physical and mental maturity from generally being two years older than typical college freshmen; one day per week of rest for religious reasons, allowing recovery, re-energizing for sustainable, consecutive hard training weeks.

It’s true. After the 10k, Clayton walked over and hugged his wives. Just watch the video.

Napolean wrote:

It’s true. After the 10k, Clayton walked over and hugged his wives. Just watch the video.

Your just jealous that we can get two and you can't even get one! :)

TAA wrote:

Thank you Hardloper for providing truth.

No prob. There's so much propaganda and Fake News pushed to everyone's phones these days so I try.

posting list here wrote:

Dillllllllllll wrote:

Who is the best post college Mormon runner ever? Jared Ward? Are they particularly good in high school? The fact that their success is mostly confined to the NCAA makes me think it has more to do with age than life style. If it was about life style, their success should be pronounced in high school and continue into the professional ranks.

They actually have a pretty impressive list of Olympians, a few more than I thought:

https://byucougars.com/story/m-track-field/82622/olympians

In the distances, Jared Ward, Josh McAdams, Jason Pyrah, Ed Eyestone, Henry Marsh, Doug Padilla, Paul Cummings, and more if you go further back

Admittedly many of their runners also lose interest after college and have little to no pro career (like Shaquille Walker and Miles Batty)

I had no idea Henry Marsh was on the '76 Olympic team. Making 4 teams in the steeple is very impressive.

Let’s just get this all straight.

After high school running is global and ageless.

Youngsters get the idea that college is a continuation of high school out of your heads.

Hardloper wrote:

Not age. A 25-year-old has no inherent advantage over a 23-year-old. American runners tend to peak later because they have more years of aerobic training, but that advantage is negated if you spend 2 years on a mission with minimal exercise. Many talented runners at BYU lose interest in running when they go on a mission and never get back in shape. But the ones who stick with it succeed due to their dedicated training and avoidance of vices such as alcohol.

Runners. Visit a local mall. Look at all the fat bodies. Many are in their mid-twenties. There is no athletic advantage possessed by twenty-five year olds. Non-drinking is better than drinking for all athlete. Alcohol is a performance inhibitor. BYU's advantage is their sans alcohol environment.

grumpyoldman wrote:

posting list here wrote:

They actually have a pretty impressive list of Olympians, a few more than I thought:

https://byucougars.com/story/m-track-field/82622/olympians

In the distances, Jared Ward, Josh McAdams, Jason Pyrah, Ed Eyestone, Henry Marsh, Doug Padilla, Paul Cummings, and more if you go further back

Admittedly many of their runners also lose interest after college and have little to no pro career (like Shaquille Walker and Miles Batty)

I had no idea Henry Marsh was on the '76 Olympic team. Making 4 teams in the steeple is very impressive.

Agberto Guimaraes is missing from that list (1980 Olympic 800m - 4th). I went on some easy training runs with him while at BYU.

I don't know if Agberto Guimaraes was a student at BYU but he did train there for a good part of the year 1979-1980.

Lasse Viren ran on BYU's xc team for one season.

blamb61 wrote:

Lasse Viren ran on BYU's xc team for one season.

But they wouldn't allow him to drink coffee, tea, or reindeer milk, so he left.

Napolean wrote:

It’s true. After the 10k, Clayton walked over and hugged his wives. Just watch the video.

I watched the video but only saw one wife. Where were the others hiding?

Did you watch the guy who won the NCAA Pole Vault? Not from BYU but after he won the event he did the same thing. He went over and hugged his wife and child. He should transfer to BYU.

Can you please tell them stop doing missions in Frushing NY. Nobody even speaks English over here. A total waste of time.

Hardloper wrote:

TAA wrote:

Thank you Hardloper for providing truth.

No prob. There's so much propaganda and Fake News pushed to everyone's phones these days so I try.

No one supporting Trump has any grounds for complaining about propaganda or 'fake' news. Zero. None.

...and yet wrote:

Hardloper wrote:

No prob. There's so much propaganda and Fake News pushed to everyone's phones these days so I try.

No one supporting Trump has any grounds for complaining about propaganda or 'fake' news. Zero. None.

Trump is the unwanted love child from that time Fake News and Propaganda got drunk on Russian tide pods and had sex behind a dumpster fire.

Hardloper wrote:

Not age. A 25-year-old has no inherent advantage over a 23-year-old. American runners tend to peak later because they have more years of aerobic training, but that advantage is negated if you spend 2 years on a mission with minimal exercise. Many talented runners at BYU lose interest in running when they go on a mission and never get back in shape. But the ones who stick with it succeed due to their dedicated training and avoidance of vices such as alcohol.

Rupp's progression from 23 to 25 strongly suggests otherwise:

Shawn H wrote:

1. Eyestone. He’s the biggest reason. He’s been there and done that, both mission and world class runner.

2. Lifestyle. No alcohol, no drugs, not even coffee. No late night carousing or poor social mistakes.

3. Group think. Same values, same religion, same work ethic, same background. All in a loving, supportive, understanding unit.

4. Miscellaneous. Altitude; physical and mental maturity from generally being two years older than typical college freshmen; one day per week of rest for religious reasons, allowing recovery, re-energizing for sustainable, consecutive hard training weeks.

I am impressed with the body of work created by Eyestone and earlier, and suspect this post is pretty accurate as to why. It does NOT, however, explain a near complete lack of female success. Is there even 1 on the alum Olympian list? How many qualifiers/medals in NCAA this year or ever? Future BYU runners don't exist in FL/NXN at any rate higher than random.