Cole Sprout & Charles Hicks on Leaving the NCAA Bubble: Identity, Expectations, and What “Washed” Really Means
THE RUNNING EFFECT PODCAST
Dominic Schlueter
4.9 • 822 Ratings
🗓️ 4 February 2026
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Cole Sprout and Charles Hicks are here: two Stanford running legends in the same place, ready to chop it up at the exact moment their careers diverge.
Cole Sprout is just stepping into the professional ranks, leaving behind a dominant NCAA résumé to test himself on the roads and rethink how far his talent can stretch. Charles Hicks has already taken the leap to the roads, running 2:09:59 in his marathon debut at the New York City Marathon, instantly placing himself among the top American marathoners in history.
Cole made the transition from a decorated career at Stanford to running professionally under Jerry Schumacher. At Stanford he was a five-time All-American. He placed 4th in the 10,000m at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships and 5th in the 5,000m at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships as a Cardinal.
Since turning pro, he has shifted focus toward road racing, where he placed 2nd at the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K in NYC.
For Charles he became the first-ever Stanford runner to win the individual NCAA Division I Cross Country title in 2022. In November 2025, he completed his first-ever marathon in New York City with a remarkable 2:09:59.
If you want to understand what it really takes to move from potential to permanence at the professional level, Cole and Charles are here to give you some of that insight.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Today on the podcast are two absolute studs, both professional runners for Nike, Charles Hicks and Cole Sprout. I'm sure you've heard both of them on the podcast before or just know their names in general, but I've never had the opportunity to have them both on the podcast at the same time. So this is the perfect podcast to listen to on your next run. It's going to make it fly by because there's a light energy about this podcast while also diving into their training, |
| 0:22.4 | they're racing, their mindset, how they view and approach the sport in their lives. |
| 0:25.9 | But also, again, just like a fun atmosphere, a fun spirit in the air during this podcast, that makes it perfect for your next run, |
| 0:33.8 | almost like three friends around a campfire talking about the sport. |
| 0:36.9 | I love this one. |
| 0:37.8 | I hope you guys do as well. If you're interested to learn more about Cole or Charles, read the show |
| 0:42.6 | notes below. They have accolades beyond what I could ever reasonably say in a quick intro here. |
| 0:48.1 | So read below if you're curious to hear more about them. Also, subscribe to a newsletter written by |
| 0:53.1 | their coach Alex Osberg. It comes out |
| 0:55.1 | every Thursday. Completely free to subscribe to and it breaks down the best insights, science, |
| 1:00.7 | training, wisdom that will ultimately make you a better runner and a better person. Completely |
| 1:05.2 | free. It comes out every Thursday and you can always unsubscribe if you would like to, but |
| 1:09.1 | hardly anyone ever unsubscribes because it's value-packed and it's really good. So I hope you guys subscribe to that. Also, if you want to help this podcast out, give us a five-star review. Hit the follow button so you don't miss another conversation like this in the future and share the podcast with a friend. I would be forever indebted to you if you help me make this everything it can be without further ado |
| 1:27.6 | enjoy this legendary combo with two legends of the sport cole sprout and charles hoax |
| 1:36.7 | ladies and gentlemen i'm joined by two of the studs of uh the united states of america it feels |
| 1:42.8 | great to say that. Same country, |
| 1:44.7 | all three of us are a part of. And these guys, I think they have 14 combined all-American |
| 1:50.2 | titles from their time at the tree from from nerd university, both professional runners for |
| 1:55.6 | Nike, both studs, both good-looking guys. We just talked for 30 minutes before actually |
| 2:00.5 | kicking off. And then now the real pod starts. Charles Hicks, Cole Sprout. How are you guys doing? Couldn't be better. It's great to be here. Excellent. Let's start with this. This podcast will come out after Mill Roast, but I think when we look at the two-mile field there, probably the most historic indoor race. i've seen in quite some time give me your |
| 2:18.4 | winner and then your hot take from the race charles you have you uh looks like you i want to say that |
| 2:23.4 | go for i mean i my winners i think cohocker i think i don't even if i had the full list |
... |
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