RIP legendary coach Brooks Johnson (February 28, 1934 - June 29, 2024)

bump

Love him ( not many ) hate him ( lots ) he was a mover & a shaker for a better part of 60 years in the sport. RIP Mr. Johnson.

Oh oh. Famous black guy died. Time for this message board to crucify his character.

Brooks, you did well, regardless of your detractors. We spoke many times on many topics. I always valued your insight. When one is an anamoly, detractors are just par for the course. Lke you, as an African American, who coached distance runners, I have also faced that raised eyebrow. There is a false construct in America, that the African American coach is supposed to only coach sprinters, hurdlers and the explosive events. And by the time it gets to the point where the African American coach is coaching white runners, one gets to be seen an interloper by some that don't look like you, and as a sellout by people who look exactly like you. So the problem was always the construct, not people per se. However the world is changing and that construct is being eroded. And you Brooks are an instrumental part of that. Sleep well friend!

STFU…this guy was willing to think outside the box. He was an impressive guy in many ways. Very few of us are saints. RIP Brooks Johnson.

He was easy to pick out in the stands with that straw hat. I remember that Brooks was known for advocating quality over distance in training his runners. This was at a time when all that seemed to matter was how many miles one logged. We are now seeing his views vindicated when you look at the success of low-mileage runners like Keely Hodgkinson and Parker Valby. But I cannot recall the names of the athletes that he had coached besides Regina Jacobs.

I am one of the people that had very little respect for Brooks. It was always “my way or the highway” with him. He said things that no other coach would ever get away with. Some of his athletes loved and respected him, some tolerated him, others hated him. His views on the marathon were way off base. If you disagreed with him or criticized him he would humiliate you and make your life miserable. His belief that the “marathon is an event that people move up to as they get older and slower”, set us back a full decade on the world level. His refusal to fund any marathon development was inexcusable. May he RIP, but we certainly do not need to ignore or remove any criticism of the man.

Kelly and Parker are not low mileage runners. They just replace a lot of the running with cross training. That has nothing to do with the low mileage, high intensity training Brooks advocated.

Whenever I think of Brooks Johnson, the first thing I think of is that big Runner magazine profile on him and the Stanford women's distance runners in the early 80s. I think Marc Bloom wrote it. The top runners back then for Stanford week Ceci Hopp, Patti Sue Plummer, Alison Wiley and Kim Schurpfiel (sp?), IIRC.

Sports Illustrated would have sold millions w/that team on their Swimsuit issue.

RIP. Legend. Glad he lived long enough to participate in the Butch Reynolds 40 for 30 doc and help exonerate him.

RIP. Legend. Glad he lived long enough to participate in the Butch Reynolds 30 for 30 doc and help exonerate him.

RIP

At Brooks height of power, USATF gave him all "high-performance" funding, and he would waste a ton of it to hold court in Las Vegas for a week of training presentations. White presenters would get torn apart; it was hilarious, but very unproductive.

Same here and not at all in a good way. Has to be one of the most sexist pieces of garbage ever written. Go back and find it. Read it and then tell me you don’t agree. Ranks right up there with Brooks. Claiming in “Got speed if you want it”, that African Americans are better sprinters because they are used to keeping their eyes down and used to falling without mommy picking them up. Good Lord! I’d also agree with the comment about the High Performance funding. Total waste of money. I recall getting shut out of all funding after working with Doctor Dave, Robert Vaughan, Joe Vigil, and Bob Larsen when Brooks told us our proposal for marathon prep for Athens wasn’t “science based”!!

Can anyone find and post the Runner Magazine - Stanford, Brooks Johnson article? I’ve tried to find it, to no avail. Thx

I knew Brooks rather well and thought very highly of him... We had severe differences in training philosophies.....but our discussions were really on a high level with no argue. Brooks did s lot for this sport RIP.