Running For The Hansons: An Insider's Account of The Brooks-Sponsored Marathon Training Group Made Famous by Olympian - Softcover

Sage Canaday grew up in the backwoods of Sheridan, Oregon, where he started running seriously in 6th grade because his soccer coach told him that he was better off without a ball! A part of the very deep Oregon high school class of 2004 (Galen Rupp, Ryan Vail, Stuart Eagon, Scott Wall), Canaday’s best cross-country finish was 13th at the Oregon State Cross Country meet (large-school division) his senior year of high school. Lacking natural foot speed, Sage was “just another 4:30 miler” who didn’t even make states in track and never got to race at Hayward Field in Eugene. At Cornell University, Canaday slowly developed as a distance runner under the guidance of LetsRun.com co-founder and Cornell distance coach Robert Johnson. After a disastrous freshman year of running sabotaged by iron-deficiency anemia and a poor diet involving the infamous “freshman 15,” Canaday slowly built his mileage up over 100 miles per week. A gradual, but steady progression of improvement eventually resulted in a trip to the DI NCAA Cross Country Championships as an individual in the fall of 2007, and an Ivy League Conference individual title on the track for 10k in the spring of 2008. Also in college, Canaday convinced his coach Robert Johnson that he should try to qualify for the 2008 US Olympic Marathon Trials. After receiving permission from his coach, Canaday trained between cross country and track seasons and debuted in the 2007 Houston Marathon with a 2:22:21, missing the trials “B” standard at the time by a margin of only 21 seconds. Determined to qualify for the trials (his dream since his sophomore year of high school), Canaday tried his hand at the marathon 6 months later at the 2007 Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. Despite racing in sunny temperatures over 70 degrees, Canaday succeeded in qualifying for the trials in his second marathon with a 2:21:43. He was the youngest participant in the 2008 US Men’s Olympic Marathon trials at the age of 21. Sage joined Hansons in August 2009 after graduating from Cornell University with a Bachelors of Science in Design and Environmental Analysis, and a concentration in Human Factors and Ergonomics. Most recently, Sage ran a 2:16:52 at the 2011 Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Marathon and qualified for his 2nd Olympic Marathon Trials.