[FarmTeam]

Fascinating.  Not surprised.  Do you know where the women stand on this?  Also, is it possible to be competitive at an elite level (i.e., top 5-10 in the NCAAs) without them?

No idea about the women, but I seriously doubt they have altitude tents. And the video that Hicks posted that showed his and Sprout's altitude tents also showed that teammate and superstar Ky Robinson didn't have one.

To your other question, the answer is "of course." Most of the top college runners in the country are not training at altitude nor do they have altitude tents. To the latter, there's quite a bit of controversy in the running world whether altitude tents actually work. Altitude tents aren't actually altitude of course and apparently the physiological impact is not necessarily identical. Also, the best pro group in the country -- the Bowerman Track Club -- is based in Portland not at altitude. They go up to altitude for training stints on occasion, but certainly don't train there nor use altitude tents year-round. Finally, not all elite runners are "altitude responders" as some have experimented with training at altitude and fared poorly and some have really thrived. So altitude is certainly not a requirement at any level. I can think of top US pros (Ben True) who are famously old school and wouldn't dream of using this kind of tech nor live at altitude.

[FarmTeam]

Fascinating.  Not surprised.  Do you know where the women stand on this?  Also, is it possible to be competitive at an elite level (i.e., top 5-10 in the NCAAs) without them?

No idea about the women, but I seriously doubt they have altitude tents. And the video that Hicks posted that showed his and Sprout's altitude tents also showed that teammate and superstar Ky Robinson didn't have one.

To your other question, the answer is "of course." Most of the top college runners in the country are not training at altitude nor do they have altitude tents. To the latter, there's quite a bit of controversy in the running world whether altitude tents actually work. Altitude tents aren't actually altitude of course and apparently the physiological impact is not necessarily identical. Also, the best pro group in the country -- the Bowerman Track Club -- is based in Portland not at altitude. They go up to altitude for training stints on occasion, but certainly don't train there nor use altitude tents year-round. Finally, not all elite runners are "altitude responders" as some have experimented with training at altitude and fared poorly and some have really thrived. So altitude is certainly not a requirement at any level. I can think of top US pros (Ben True) who are famously old school and wouldn't dream of using this kind of tech nor live at altitude.