Week 3

Monday, October 1

The Hansons-Brooks Distance Project

A modern American training camp

On November 3, the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project out of Rochester Hills, MI, will field one out of every 10 men at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon in New York City. That’s 13 qualifiers sponsored by two brothers, Keith and Kevin Hanson, who own four running stores in suburban Detroit.

“Before anything else we were fans,” says Keith, the older Hanson brother, sitting outside one of the four Hansons Running Shops.  “We started when, like many Americans, we were frustrated with where American development of distance running was at the time.” 

“We watched the major marathons and thought, where are the Americans?” continues Kevin, the head coach of the 14-man, four-woman team. “We were just unrepresented there. Technology had improved, everything is better, but we weren’t running any better.”

So, they were frustrated. Who wasn’t? America had gone from Olympic medals in the distance events in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1984 to not fielding a complete Olympic marathon team in 2000. The Hansons chose to focus their energy (and money) on making changes in their own backyard.

“The only way to accomplish anything is outside the system,” says Keith Hanson matter-of-factly. “One thing that appealed to me in having a small business is that decisions could be made on what you wanted to do, not whether in was profitable.  “Lots of people struggled with how that would be a smart business move. And it wasn’t. It was very expensive, but we did it to see if we could have an impact, and didn’t mind spending some money to do so.”

When they opened their first store in their hometown of Sterling Heights, MI, in 1991, Kevin worked at the store while Keith kept his job in Lansing at Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals. On weekends Keith would join his brother at the store and keep the books. A year and half later Keith quit his job, and the brothers added the Grosse Pointe Woods store. Eighteen months later, the Royal Oak store joined the list, and in 1999, the fourth Hansons Running Shop was opened when they started the Distance Project because, frankly, they needed extra store hours to employ their recruits.

Three Men and an Abode
They started with three men and one house. Kyle Baker and Jim Jurcevich came by way of Michigan State, and Clint Verran from Eastern Michigan.  

“Clint got his butt kicked by Kyle and Jim in college,” laughs Keith. “He wanted to come train with us, but we hadn’t determined if someone of his level was right for the program. But he wrote saying, ‘Can I move in, and pay rent?’ He’s been here ever since.”

In fact, Verran was the team’s first success, taking 11th place at the 2000 Olympic Trials Marathon in Pittsburgh.  He came in seeded 68th.  Then Jurcevich placed sixth in the 2000 Olympic Trials 10,000 meters. With those successes behind them, the Hansons ramped up. They bought two more houses, and placed 10 men in the 2004 marathon trials in Birmingham, AL, where Hansons runners Trent Briney and Verran earned the Olympic alternate slots in fourth and fifth places. The stores also continued to flourish, in part because of their knowledgeable workers.

“It’s an optional thing,” explains Keith of the athletes working at the Hansons Running Shops. “If they want to work at the stores for supplemental income they can. We start out at $10 an hour. It’s not a ton of money, but if you are running well you should be making plenty from contracts. But it’s nice to have that additional income. And it’s a nice bridge between the elite athletes and the everyday runners.”

With housing and medical insurance as part of their package, the Hansons limit the team to 25 hours per week in the stores to keep them fresh for their daily workouts. After all, running is the primary occupation. The Hansons’s coaching philosophy was developed by both, but is coordinated by Kevin. 

“Right here,” says Kevin pointing at his wrist watch, “is about as new-fangled as I get. I’m not someone who thinks the answer is found sleeping in the proper tent. That might be a fine-tuning after you’re exhausted from running four or five years of 140-mile weeks.  But I don’t think there’s a substitute for hard work.”

“We were impressed with what Arthur Lydiard was able to accomplish,” adds Keith, acknowledging the late New Zealand legend considered one of distance running’s greatest coaching minds.  “It’s a volume-based work ethic and being smart about your segmentation and seasons. And working at a long-term approach.”

Sell-ing the System
In eight years, the Hansons have recruited good, but not great, talent to their program. To date, their top man has been a Pennsylvanian, Brian Sell, whose PR of 2:10:47 came at last year’s LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, where he finished sixth.  Sell has been with the program since 2001.

“Brian is someone we are extremely proud of,” says Keith. “He epitomizes what we feel the group stands for: an incredibly strong work ethic. With hard work, perseverance, and toughness, [our athletes] can compete with the best in the world. Go back to the Lydiard days.  He was able to take people from his neighborhood and make them Olympic medalists. Brian makes Kevin and me happy, because he shows what we’ve always believed. That there are a lot of Americans out there who can compete at a high level if they just put their minds to it.”

The Hansons point to 1980s American star Dick Beardsley of rural Minnesota as their role model. Beardsley ran personal bests in each of his first 13 marathons.

“Dick was here six weeks ago,” says Kevin. He said, ‘You mean you’ve got sub-29-minute men [for 10K]? Wow! I never broke 29 minutes.’ And he was a sub-2:09 marathoner! So when we assume you have to be an NCAA 10K champion to develop in the marathon, that’s just not the case.”

Corporate Support
From 1999 to 2003, the Hansons were the sole sponsors of their program, pouring in upward of $250,000 per year. But after they garnered some favorable notice in the Wall Street Journal, a number of companies in the running world came calling.

“But we weren’t comfortable just having an equipment sponsor,” remembers Keith. “We wanted someone to step up and be at equal level with what we were doing. We ended up signing a deal with Brooks, and that helped us a ton. And more recently we signed a deal with Saturn, and we are excited about getting someone from outside the running realm, because it is important for our sport to get support from the outside corporate world.”

Sponsorship wasn’t something they focused on, though it helped maintain and grow the program. Their greatest pride comes from results like the 2006 Boston Marathon, when they placed four men in the top 15 and seven in the top 22. This past April they made the announcement that with the addition of Saturn they would guarantee any athlete who runs under 2:11 in the marathon—or any female under 2:31, or 10K times of 28-flat and 32-flat--$100,000 a year.

“Many of these athletes will make double or triple that amount,” claims Keith, who handles the business end of the partnership. “This is just the minimum guarantee.  It makes the sport a little more professional.”

Goal Setting
For the Hansons, the primary interest remains in coaching and operating their stores.  So far the results have been worth the effort, says Keith. Their athletes may not have had the highest college credentials, but they share certain traits that the brothers think they can mold.

“They are comfortable handling high-volume training, tend to be pace oriented and might struggle with faster stuff on the track,” says Keith. “There are a lot of 29-flat 10K guys for whom 10,000 meters is too short. Those are the kind of athletes we look for.”

“The athletes have done a great job, and we are really happy with their progress,” continues Kevin, pointing to the 10 sub-2:18 men on the current squad who will be running the Marathon Trials. “In the last five or six years, guys from our program like Brian Sell, Clint Verran, Kyle O’Brien, and Mike Morgan have been on the World Championships teams.”

The Hansons are always looking to improve. Though their athletes compete very well on the American stage, and have had some success at internationally, the brothers yearn for global recognition.

“We need an Olympian,” states Kevin Hanson with clear conviction. “That’s number one. And we don’t have a medal from our group yet, either. Those are the goals we have. And once we achieve them, we will set new goals.”

“There are a lot of people in the country with good intentions who would love to see American distance runners flourish,” says Verran. “But the greatest thing about these guys is that they actually did it. They took money out of their own pockets and started it. Sure they have some corporate sponsorship, but that’s icing on the cake. It goes back to these two guys and their commitment.”