` wrote:
I think you're overstating the value of his "brand". TME only has 75k followers on Instagram, not "several hundred thousand". And "selling out" is a classic marketing trick to make the items seem exclusive. I guarantee they just have an artificially low supply.
Further, the TME brand is connected with how well Drew does as a runner. If he faded into obscurity, why would high schoolers care about his merch anymore?
Finally, why do you Tinman fans continuously move the goalposts and say that Hunter isn't actually very talented? If you had mad the claim in 2016 that Hunter would max out at 3:35 and 13:17, then you would have been laughed off the boards. He's underperforming, and it's ok to admit that. Tinman is a fine amateur and high school coach; he doesn't have great a track record with elites.
Yes 75k is not huge but the followers are very loyal and buy the stuff they are selling.
No one believes that Hunter isn't extraordinarily talented. He is. Both his parents were good runners. He had an athletic childhood, and got contact with a good coach at young age.
But at the very highest levels, even small differences in talent (like VO2MAX or speed) or "injury resistance" can mean the difference between making a team or getting 10th in a race.
Fact is,
Fisher as as good/better than Hunter at 50 mpw vs 70-75 mpw.
Hobbs Kessler is as good/better than Hunter at 30 mpw vs 70-75 mpw (apparently he runs more than the 30 mpw that Warhurst prescribes him, but I doubt it's anything close to what Hunter trained).
Just because Hunter is extraordinarily talented, doesn't mean there isn't someone who is even more talented. Also people here often say he is undertrained, and lacking speed work, but forget that he already had some major injuries in his professional career (broken foot etc.). So unless there is reason to assume he could have got injured from doing too much of something else, adding even more stress/stimulus was not an option as it would just break down his body even more.