As one of the privileged few who have run for the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, I can tell you that my years as a member of the team were some of the best of my life. I was able to learn from two of the best marathon coaches the United States has ever known, Kevin and Keith Hanson, and I was able to train every day with some of the toughest athletes I’ve ever encountered.
One of those athletes was none other than Hansons Marathon Method author Luke Humphrey. Even as rookies, Luke and I shared several common bonds. First, we were both human sponges, soaking in everything Kevin and Keith had to say about marathon training. We also both fell head over heels in love with the event from the start. And we both believed in the Hansons training methods because we saw success, not only in our own careers but everywhere we turned as our teammates continued to shock the running world.
Fast-forward 10 years, and I now coach a professional training group of my own in Flagstaff, Arizona. I am proud to say that many of our accomplishments—including multiple national championships, representing the United States at the international level, and a slew of world-class times in events ranging from the 5K to the marathon—can be directly attributed to the training methods I learned from Kevin and Keith. And now you can learn them too. Luke, a 2:14 marathoner who has used this system himself for more than a decade, explains the training in a way that only an insider could. Luke has suffered (in a good way) through workouts like 3 × 3 miles, 2 × 6 miles, and the 26.2-km Simulator so often that he can break these sessions down like a Harvard professor. But perhaps the best part of the book is that he breaks the program down not only for elites but for anyone and everyone who is willing to work toward their running goals.
The Hansons Marathon Method is an invaluable resource for runners of all ages and abilities. I’ve witnessed its success firsthand as an athlete in the Hansons program, as an observer of the training groups based out of the Hansons running stores, and as a coach of my own athletes. Is the method easy? Heck, no. It requires a lot of focus and commitment. But the results will make it all worthwhile. And from a lifetime in our sport, I can tell you this: Runners are tough, no matter what their speed. The Hansons method is not afraid to challenge runners by giving them exactly what they want: rigorous, effective training plans that will make them faster!
— BEN ROSARIO, HEAD COACH,
NORTHERN ARIZONA ELITE PROFESSIONAL RUNNING TEAM