DEVELOPING EMERGING TALENT…

Many of you will have seen the recent teaser(s) about an exciting initiative I’m launching with legendary social media “influencer” Marcus Brown. Here’s a snippet from my recent post on Strava: 

“Are you an athlete tinkering in and around national level over cross-country, 5000m, 10000m, or the marathon, but haven’t quite made the breakthrough? If so, read on… 

Stazza’s Stable Elite Racing is now recruiting talented runners who hope to compete in the World Championships and the Olympics. We’re offering a range of fantastic perks, including year-round, free accommodation at our high altitude training camps, free coaching, free physio, free nutrition, free strength and conditioning, and many other benefits. 

Maybe you know someone struggling to get that break—if so, let them know. For more details, you or they can contact me at : stazzastable1965@gmail.com. Places are limited.” 

Here’s the spiel: 

As a young runner, many people helped me for free. As a coach, I coached for 30+ years for free. Many of you know, I was coaching up to 50 people on Strava for free. It took up a lot of time and many of you demanded I charge. Eventually, and reluctantly, I succumbed and started charging. I kept the price very low and, arguably, with more added value than anyone out there. 

Stazza’s Stable has grown quickly and effectively. We’re producing excellent results and transforming peoples’ lives. Aoife Cooke is a great example. A few years ago, Aoife was a struggling club runner with nowhere to go. Through our group, in the space of 10 months, she went from 2:46 down to 2:32 and Irish national champion. She then went on to win the Cheshire Elite Marathon and qualify for the Olympics. The rest is history, and hopefully she’ll press-on to better things. Through The Stable, we changed her life for the better. 

But there are loads of Aoifes out there and we’re going to help them.  

Many talented runners are ploughing on trying to get faster over the 5000m and 10000m, with no chance of ever qualifying for the major champs, as the standards are too high (without altitude training, top class coaching, and support). 

The window of opportunity is the marathon. The qualifying standards for both the men and women are “soft” compared to the 5000m and 10000m. For the men, a 2:11:30 in the marathon is really a 2:15:30 (cheater shoes and Maurten) and for the women, 2:29:30 is really 2:33:30. But too many athletes in the 20-30 age range will spend years trying to take a few seconds off their 5000m and 10000m PBs/PRs, when they should move up, while they are at their strongest and fastest. Many coaches, wrongly, believe you should move up after working your way from 1500m up to HM, etc. Yes, there are outliers who perform well in their late 30s and into their 40s, but most who wait to move up, regret not moving up earlier and they miss out on the huge opportunities; they break down and are plagued with injuries. 

I’m going to invest money and time back into emerging talent, while also helping many of you develop as coaches and runners too. 

Over the next few days, Marcus and I will launch the Stazza’s Stable Elite Racing Team and other initiatives to help people become successful coaches. We’ll do this through Marcus’s brilliant podcast (probably the best running podcast out there), A Runner’s Life. 

While I can offer free coaching, free year-round accommodation at our high altitude camps, and many other perks (shoes, S&C, nutritional advice, and some sponsorship deals, etc.) for the emerging athletes, it would be great if we could help them with living costs, travel, and other benefits, too. If you are a business owner or in a position to help, give me a shout at: stazzastable1965@gmail.com 

#stazzalove #stablelove