Hansons-Brooks South is located in Lakeland, Florida and is an Olympic Development program for athletes that meet standards in the following events with the following times:

Men

5K - 14:00

10K - 29:00

Marathon - 2:20

Women

5K - 16:15

10K - 33:45

Marathon - 2:42

These standards are the basis for the selection process although they are not set in stone. Other factors such as the athletes willingness to relocate to the Lakeland area, the meets where they ran their times at, and also the size of the college that they attended come into play when the athletes are selected.

The Hansons-Brooks South location is directed by Rick Moody and will work hand in hand with Keith and Kevin Hanson out of the Rochester, MI location.  This South opportunity provided by Moody and the Hansons will enhance the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project by giving distance runners in the southern states a location to train with a team.  This is the best opportunity out there for runners coming out of college who have demonstrated the ability and wish to continue running, but haven't quite advanced to the next level. The Olympics are the ultimate focus of the runners but more importantly all the runners here are taking part in this program to see how fast they can become. Everything here focuses around time to train. Our lifestyle is most accurately described as being like college only we don't have classes or homework.

The approach realized in the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project incorporates the following four principles:

• Create an opportunity for successful college athletes to continue training beyond their college years.

• Provide an environment in which training can be the focus of those post-collegiate athletes (without the financial necessity of working full time or chasing after money in road races).

• Develop a center for those athletes to train together as a team.

• Incorporate the team members in local community activities to foster an excitement in the sport of distance running, and motivate future distance runners.

The Lakeland area is home to some of the best training areas in Florida.  With the best tempatures to train in during the winter time, Hansons-Brooks South will spend 6 months of their time in Lakeland with the other 6 months traveling during the summer.  There are over 60 miles of clay roads and trails within a 30 minute drive of home.  Whether it be races for cross-country or track, the colleges in Florida prove to be an excellent resource for the program. Both these factors make it a great place to start a distance training program.