I first started coaching recreational distance runners for a living in 1979, forty-six years ago.
I wasn’t good at promoting myself, so I made a deal with Dick Hoyer, the president of the Mid-Pacific Road Runners Club at the time. If he would recruit five paying athletes into my first marathon training, I would coach him for free. That year I had seven athletes, most of whom have disappeared from the running scene, including Dick Hoyer who passed away about ten years ago.
In Business 46 years. Do you know why I’ve been able to remain in business for 46 years? I know how to slow people down (to the right effort level, so they improve, without injuring themselves).
What are your qualifications (certification, degrees, awards)?
Masters. I have a master’s degree in organization theory from the University of Oregon. I’ve used what I learned at Oregon my entire professional career.
I knew from the start that I would have to understand the training process thoroughly so I could train my athletes effectively, without injuring them.
Each of my three books is like a doctoral thesis on the Hard-Easy System. My 2006 book, 5K and 10K Training, was published by Human Kinetics, the foremost US publisher in the sports field.
In addition to my running and coaching experience, these are some of my qualifications for teaching and coaching long distance runners, joggers, and walkers. It’s a long and sordid history. :>}
Where and why did you start coaching?
The running boom was happening in Hawaii in 1979. I was used to seeing eight people in local marathon races. That year, there were eight thousand doing the Honolulu Marathon. I was blown away by the numbers.
I immediately saw an opportunity to do what I wanted to do in life: coach, teach, write, and run, and, as I realized later, organize. I’m an anal organizer, which is one of the main qualifications for directing large marathon trainings.
The best part of what I do is working with adult recreational endurance athletes, many of whom shared the same training and racing values: being injury free, building five racing abilities, and running great races.
Diversity of people. Through the years, I’ve worked with a diversity of people from every profession and walk of life. I’ve never gotten tired of what I do.
Do you coach individually, in groups, virtual or online? How much do you charge?
In-person Training Programs. Except for a couple of years during the pandemic, I’ve always done in-person training programs. Before the pandemic, I trained about 150 people each year for the marathon. (Our attendance on Saturdays was usually between 80 and 110 people. We usually had 12 or 13 ability groups with at least 2 group leaders per group.)
The pandemic put me temporarily out of business. So, I decided to create a pandemic proof, year-round training and education program. I now have the skills and the means to train people remotely should we be hit by another pandemic.
Gradually Building Numbers. And, now for the second year in a row, we are gradually building again towards a community of 150 athletes on Oahu.
I currently charge $60 per month, with discounts for people who sign up for three, six, and 12 months. The details are under enrollment on our website.
“Every workout you do is either too hard, too easy, or just right for injury-free training and improved race performance. So, how do you know when you have it right?”
What is your coaching specialty; trails, marathons, short distance, track, or do you do it all?
Life-style Program. We think of our year-long program as filling a need for life-long health and fitness. The program is not only about fitness training, but includes courses on sensible eating, seven effectiveness habits, gentle movement stretching, and injury-prevention, among other things.
Trails. I started a trail training program in 1996, and that continues as a component of the BC Endurance summer strengthening program. That program features ten Saturday morning trail workouts on Oahu’s most runnable mountain trails.
Our year-round program prepares recreational athletes for racing events ranging in distance between 10K and the marathon.
But my specialty, if I have one, is coaching and teaching beginner, intermediate, and advanced athletes how to train and race effectively, without injury.
Was there a coach or anyone who influenced you as a runner and coach the most?
I was fortunate enough during the 1960s to have trained under or learned from some of the most knowledgeable and famous coaches in the world. They are now considered the original innovators of the hard-easy system.
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- Norman Tamanaha, whom many consider the father of distance running in Hawaii, was my high school track and cross-country coach. I broke the Hawaii State high school records for the mile and half mile under his tutelage.
- Arther Lydiard who was the New Zealand national Olympic coach in the 1960s was also an inspiration. I attended his clinics after track meets at Alexander Field. Lydiard wrote a very influential book on training Olympic level gold-medalists, which I read many times.
- Stan Hattie coached me for two years at the University of Hawaii. He trained in England under Franz Stampfl, who advised Roger Bannister, who ran the first 4-minute mile.
- Bill Bowerman was also a major influence on my coaching career. I ran the mile and the half mile under Bowerman at the University of Oregon in the mid-1960s. His Oregon System, which I call the Hard-Easy System, made so much sense to me that I wanted to follow in Bowerman’s coaching footsteps.
How would you describe your coaching style?
When I first started coaching, I wasn’t confident enough about my knowledge of the training process to be assertive. I’ve learned that a coach has to be willing to interrupt the harmful practices of his players.
Teacher. As a coach, I mostly come from being a teacher. If my athletes aren’t doing our workouts correctly, I know it’s because I’ve failed to teach them. I keep working at it until they get it.
Then I turn them loose to do our workouts in small ability groups with minimal direct supervision from me (though I watch carefully, to see whether further coaching and teaching is necessary).
I also teach our group leaders and mentors how to lead our workouts within our hard-easy system.
What can you do for a runner as their coach to help make them a better runner?
Our BC Promise. I make a promise to all my athletes: you’ll do the marathon, safely, competently, and enjoyably with a proven training program, expert coaching, and friendly group support.
Schedule. We organize three workouts a week, fifty weeks a year.
I also teach a course on the Hard-Easy System. The course teaches athletes how to optimize the effort of their workouts.
Think about this. Every workout you do is either too hard, too easy, or just right for injury-free training and improved race performance. So, how do you know when you have it right?
Perennial Problems. The answer to that question solves the perennial training and racing problems: how to build five racing abilities without getting injured, how to run great races every time, how to sustain your interest in fitness training until you’re an old man, like me.
I realize I won’t be around forever, so I have a 10-year plan for eventually turning over the business to my deputies. I’m very proud of my athletes because they are learning a sustainable way of being in the sport of long-distance running.
Some of my deputies are in the audience this evening. Could you stand, please? Thanks, Everyone, for being here to engage with and make new friends with the Mid-Pacific Road Runners Club membership.
Listen to Brian’s answers to audience questions HERE.