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Boston Marathon Fila Discovery Project 

In a press conference held on Saturday before the Boston Marathon Fila presented its approach to developing elite athletes in Africa, Europe, and America. 

The project is called the Fila Discovery Project and has produced significant results for the last two years, primarily in Kenya. The project is a way of working that permits the best talents to be discovered and nurtured without abandoning the original family environment. Fila’s approach to sports is based upon pure emotion as an ideal path for individual development and achievement as a competitor and as a human being. In both 1999 and 2000 Fila athletes were victorious in 23 international marathons and the 2001 Boston Marathon offers another opportunity for victory. 

The coach of the Fila Discovery Project is Dr. Gabriele Rosa who has been training Kenyan athletes for more than ten years. The core concept he developed is to identify promising athletes, and offer them the best conditions so they may develop without leaving their home environment and culture. Fila built three training camps in Kenya and has produced the impressive team that dominates international marathoning today. Rosa states that it is important to race internationally for the experience. It is his belief that the US needs a top marathoner to excite the sport. Rosa and Fila are now bringing the Kenyan program to the US. 

The Fila Discovery project is designed to do just that. One of the most exciting long distance runners being developed by Discovery USA is Josh Cox. “To be competitive at the elite level the athlete must train full time,” not work. Cox traveled to Kenya and trained for a month with Kenya’s best. Most days included two workouts at altitude. Josh was impressed by the Kenyans’ passion and work ethic. He said the training sessions were filled with so many elite racers he felt like he was in a road race. This spirit pushes each runner to a higher level. 

The secret to the Discovery Training System is the group training, where each day there is a renewed, correct, and serene challenge between the athletes who are tied by profound friendship and by a tie which living together as a group inevitably forms. 

Joseph Chebet had the best comment about the group training regimen. “We train together so that one may win.”  Jill Gaitenby, another Discovery USA athlete, said that the group training adds competition and camaraderie. She has already seen the big difference that the Fila concept promotes. These athletes are training harder, smarter, and getting more rest than they ever have. They are also producing results with their mileage greater than 100 miles per week. Coach Rosa states that in the US it is difficult for elite athletes to train together. 

It will be interesting to see how many Fila athletes are in the top 25 at Boston. It just might be that they all are. For more information on Fila Discovery Project visit Fila’s web site: www.fila.com.

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