Give Hudson Some Love: By Daniel Wallis

A couple of months ago I travelled about 45 miles for a coffee and a chat with American coach Brad Hudson; a man who is rather unfortunately most well known as the architect of Dathan Ritzenhein’s fitness prior to his run of extraordinary success in 2009 under the then very brief supervision of Alberto Salazar. However, far from mentioning Messer’s Ritzenhein and Salazar, our discussion revolved around his recent move back to the city of Boulder, his new group and coaching venture, as well as his influences and passion for the sport. With his athletes almost entirely dedicated to the US Olympic Marathon Trials, I decided to await the outcome before commenting on his new group and their results.

After only a short stint of conversation, it became clear to me that Brad Hudson is a coach for one reason: he loves the sport of running. It is his life as well as the source of his living. A true intellectual of the sport, he is unashamedly public about his methods and influences – speaking enthusiastically about the dialogue he maintains with other elite coaches both domestically and abroad, most notably his former roommate Terrance Mahon, as well as Australia’s Nic Bideau. The theme is simple – ‘old school’ a throwback to the established training methods from the 1960’s and 70’s. “This is an aerobic sport, even the 1500m is 50/50 in terms of anaerobic/aerobic function. That’s the approach I take”. While many (although it can be argued, none that are truly successful) still believe one can avoid the hours of running necessary to become truly elite, Hudson is quick to mention the marathon Peter Snell ran six weeks before recording 1:43 for 800m on a grass track in New Zealand in 1962 as a response to any claims that running a lot will make an athlete ‘slow’. There are no secret workouts, no cloud of secrecy, “running is a simple sport”.

Hudson professes that he desires to make a difference as a coach. He loves the sport, and his athletes reflect that - none more so than the young Tyler McCandless, who at 25 was one of the youngest qualifiers for the 2012 Marathon Trials. Although finishing a disappointing 50^th place, his quality and potential as a marathoner is not in dispute. “Tyler loves what he is doing, and he has an incredible work ethic and ability to absorb large amounts of training. In five years he is probably going to be a 2:11 guy”.

In a financially top-heavy sport, where only two of his athletes command wage-earning contracts, Hudson recognises the importance of establishing a group that is financially sustainable. The model for Hudson’s group reflects both in theory and practice Greg McMillan’s squad in Flagstaff, Arizona - the chief principle being an online coaching service open to the public that utilises the expertise of elite athletes, while concurrently enabling them to pursue their own athletic careers. At a time when marathons and ‘Fun-Runs’ across the globe are receiving massive participation and attention, this Running Renaissance could quite well be a lifeline for many ‘elites’ to continue with the sport. Like Greg McMillan before him, Hudson is creating a system of runners helping runners. With Hudson Training Systems, a runner of any level can be coached and encouraged by athletes truly at the top of their sport – a situation unique to the world of running and a sustainable model of development at a time when only a minority can earn anything that resembles a living solely off of the sport of athletics.

As for Hudon’s charges, it is not difficult to make the case that Benita Willis is one of the greatest distance runners in recent history. With that being said, imagine approaching your first marathon or road-race under the guidance of her. As a result of Hudson’s public coaching venture, this is very much a reality, and akin to free-throw practice with Steve Nash.

Hudson is upfront about the fact he cannot ‘buy in’ training partners or athletes for his group, and while he thrives on working with ‘dark horse’ runners such as McCandless, he makes no secrets about his desire to coach the absolute best of the best. “I want to help guys that just need a few years to be stars, but I also want to coach the stars – I want to coach German Fernandez, athletes like that”. Hudson may not quite have German Fernandez or Alan Webb just yet, but what he does have is 3 athletes in the top 13 at the men’s US Marathon Trials, a multiple representative at the World Championships over the marathon in Tera Moody, and at least one athlete who has already qualified for London 2012 – Benita Willis of Australia.

In the often nauseating atmosphere of the Boulder running community, where gossip and conflict are rife, Brad Hudson appears to represent what the sport is all about: passion, hard-work, and camaraderie. He has his detractors, but the results from the weekend of January 14^th and 15^th are enough to assume that putting money on a Hudson athlete is a safe bet for the future.