To give our athletes access to the space to run their best race through PREPARATION, DISCIPLINE, AND HARD WORK.

COACH JOHN

Under coach, mentor, and friend Bob Dannegger (then, Head Run Coach of the North Carolina Roadrunners Club), John ran his first marathon in 1997 in Washington D.C. – the Marine Corps Marathon. John went on to run the same marathon in 1998 and the LaSalle Banks Chicago Marathon in 1999 and 2000. It is from those four marathons that set John on an incredible journey of long-distance running that was rewarded with qualifying and finishing the Boston Marathon in 2016.

John embraced his newfound passion and began training to run marathons, half-marathons, and short distance races around the US and locally. The perfect sport that drove his competitive nature and provided a healthy lifestyle.

After moving to South Florida in late 2001/2002, John joined the Palm Beach Roadrunners Club. There, he met a new group of runners who became friends and inspired him to become an even better long-distance runner. So much so, that by the time he left South Florida to return home to North Carolina in 2007, qualifying and running the Boston Marathon was his number one running priority.

In 2008, John ran the Portland Marathon. Although a finisher in Portland, it was the first of many failures on the journey to qualify for Boston.

In 2012 - John traveled to St George, UT to run the St George Marathon. A net downhill marathon, John felt confident that a BQ was achievable. Unfortunately, he missed the qualifying time by 2+ minutes. While another disappointment, it was the closest that he came to qualifying for the Boston Marathon.

“The lesson of running is to train well, and then have full faith in your training and show the proof in the race.”

Eliud Kipchoge

MORE ON JOHN

John's run coach, Bob Dannegger, designed the Boston Marathon training plan with the following guideline: "this plan is to get you to the start line, you will have to figure out how to finish with your bad knee." To scratch from running the Boston Marathon was not an option so the training had to go on in a manner to manage the injury.

John ran and finished – the 120th Boston Marathon – in 2016. Brutally hot and being less than 100% with a torn meniscus (diagnosed a few months afterward), it made for a hard, difficult day. While it was not John’s finest hour, he managed to finish in just over four hours.

Today, John still runs and is enjoying the coaching side. John’s coaching is all about profiling and understanding his athletes and building the best plan that helps each maximize his/her efforts on race day through Speed, Endurance, and Recovery, including strength training.

John began coaching at Life Time Fitness – Cary, NC in 2017 and is currently a coach with Triangle Run Smart in Holly Springs, NC. He has coached over 75 runners who’ve run personal bests at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, the Boston Marathon, New York City Marathon, Marine Corps Marathon, Anthem Richmond Marathon/Half-Marathon, City of Oaks Half Marathon, Tobacco Road Half Marathon, the Wilmington Marathon/Half-Marathon, the Tar Heel 10 Miler, Myrtle Beach Half-Marathon, Run The Alamo Half-Marathon plus others.