Christine Huelster

2010 Henwoods Hounds

“I was referred to John in March 2010 by Dr. Peter Duggan.  At age 61, my goal was to run a half-marathon, but I had been struggling with minor injuries and was feeling very discouraged.  I began a comprehensive training program that included twice-weekly training sessions, a weekly running schedule, and a nutrition plan.  As a result of John’s coaching, along with his patience and steady encouragement, I successfully ran two half-marathons.  In September 2010, I ran the ING Philadelphia Half-Marathon in 1:52:22, an 8:32 pace, finishing third in my division.  Running strong and injury-free was the best feeling ever, and I will be forever grateful for the influence John and the Henwood Hounds have had on my life.”

Melissa Raddatz

Went from a 3.09 marathon to 2.56 in the New York Marathon 2010

I started working with John in July 2010. I had run two marathons previously, and felt I needed input from a coach who was successful at racing this challenging distance. John helped increase the intensity of my training and gave me the confidence to push myself harder. I ran competitively in high school and college, however, this is the first time I have experienced such a dramatic improvement in my running. I feel prepared for my races and am thrilled with the results. Thanks so much John!

Ellen Basile

New York Marathon 2010 Henwoods Hounds

Before I joined John’s group, I had a goal of breaking 3:30 and I knew I wouldn’t get there on my own. John’s program gave me the structure and customization I needed to reach my goal. I quickly started to see improvements and with John’s guidance, I was able to navigate through some minor injuries throughout my training.  Leading up to the marathon, I dropped nearly 3 minutes from my half marathon PR and crossed the line at the marathon in 3:12:51 – well ahead of my goal – and spot on John’s predicted finish time!

I managed to win the race by 1 second in a 5min07sec pace after leading most of the way. The 2nd guy was 15th in the New York Marathon this year. 3rd place was 2mins behind.

Jingle Bell 4 miler – Prospect park Dec 11th

Kelly Chin ran her best pace ever to finish 2nd women overall with a 5.47 pace . Great run Kel! I won the race with a 5min flat pace per mile. (1st and 2nd for the Hounds!)

Joe Kleinerman 10km Central Park Dec 5th

The Henwood Hounds finished 3rd overall in the womens team race for a great result. Melissa raddatz finished 5th overall for her best ever performance around Central Park and after knocking her marathon time down in New York from 3hr09mins to 2hr56mins. Great run Melissa! Jeanna Composti ran strong for a 6.22 pace to be second women in from the team. Laura Kirk then with a 6.34 pace , showing some lack of fitness. Then Mary darling with a 6.40 pace, also just after having some time off. And stephanie Gehrsitz made up the womens team with a 7.46 pace which was her best performance over 10km as well. Nice!! Christine Heulster ran a great race to round out the women with a 8.39 pace. In the mens, Max chen ran a solid race with a 6.06 pace to be the first Hound home. Solid Max! Marcus Wilhelm ran strong after some time off from the Marathon with a 6.13 pace and then Dan Osias ran his best race around the park with a 6.19 pace. Top run Dan! Michael Darling ran his 2nd best performance around Central Park and he has now raced for the Hounds 17 times. Super run by Mike! Jesse Du Bey pulled his calf muscle at mile 2 when in 7th place overall, so wasn’t able to finish. Hard luck Jesse.

Turkey Trots – Nov 25th

Nikki Nolan ran an awesome race for her with a 7.34 pace in prospect park. Huge run! Daniel Osias is back and racing with a solid 6.20 pace in the Turkey Trot in Port Washington. While I finished 2nd in a Turkey trot 5 miler (5.01 pace) in Southport.

Race to Deliver 4 miler – Central park Nov 21st

Super runner Christine Huelster had her first race back to finish in her second best performance around Central Park and finish 5th in the 60-65yr age group. Great running Christine!

Son Kee Chung 2010 10km – Seoul , South Korea Nov 21st

New Yorker kristine Carleton finished 2nd in 41min22secs to run her best time in 6 years for the 10km. Great running from kristine who now lives in Vietnam but I train over the internet. She finished 2nd overall female.

Nyack 10km – Nov 20th

Stephanie Gehrsitz took off 35 secs per mile from her previous 10km race best yesterday as she ran the Nyack 10km and finished 2nd overall female. Awesome stuff Stephanie! She ran a 7.49 min mile pace.

New York Marathon 2010

Mostly highs with a few lows from the group in the NY Marathon. Antonio Oliveira finished up in 2hr33mins in his first marathon today, although there is no record of that in the results yet. Great run from Antonio! Jesse Du bey came across the line with a time of 2hr47mins.27 secs which was a personal best and he had to slow down the last few miles with a sore hamstring. Marcus Wilhelm ran a PR time by 6-7mins to run 2hr51mins.47secs. Nice! Melissa Raddatz had the run of the day from the team. She took 13mins of her best time to run 2hr56mins48secs to finish 52nd women overall. Awesome Melissa! Kelly Chin who had a couple of days off with stomach issues last week wasn’t able to push the Marathon and finished in 3hr04mins. Darren Muller ran a solid 3hr07mins16secs which was very close to what he was looking for. Good effort Darren! Ellen Basile ran a fantastic marathon debut and right on her predicted time of 3hr12mins51secs. Ellen looked awesome going through mile 23! Nicholas Florio finished in 3hr16mins54 secs. The time wasn’t so good for Nick but he has had a lot of work commitments and travel and has not been pain free during his build up. Julia Knittel ran 3hr18mino6secs which was about 6mins short from where she wanted to be. Still her best NY. Rose Ann Serpico smashed 10mins off her PR with an awesome run to finish in 3hr22mins33secs. Rose Ann has turned into a completely different runner over the last 8 months. Michael Darling finished in 3hr42mins19secs after his hamstring starting hurting at mile 21. Still close to his PR and a solid effort. Marynella Hernandez had a great run to finish in 3hr45mins.19secs which was right on goal pace. Marynella beat her best Marathon time by about 40mins! Sam Lehr ran 3hr48mins50secs to beat 4hrs on very limited training after calf problems. He looked great at mile 23. Karen Mateo finished up with 3hr54mins27secs which was her best NY Marathon. It wasn’t the time Karen was looking for but still respectable for her. Julie Warshaw ran her goal of breaking 4 hours with a time of 3hrs57mins35secs. Well done Julie! Adam Silver managed to just sneak under 4hrs with a time of 3hr59mins44secs. He improved dramatically over the last 5 weeks. Faith Paris , who was sick with a cold all of last week just missed out breaking 4hrs with a time of 4hr3mins. It was a PR for Faith but she was well ready to break the 4hr barrier if it hadn’t been for her cold. Great effort Faith! Anthony Berritto ran an awesome first time marathon running 10mins faster than his predicted time. Anthony ran 4hr15mins44secs and 4 months ago his best half marathon was 2hr15mins so he has improved a huge amount. Beth Browde was next with a time of 4hr29mins49secs to take about 25mins or so off her best time. Great running beth! Mary Darling unfortunately had to drop out at mile 21 with hamstring problems. Hard luck Mary !

Bay State Marathon – Oct 17th

Nikki Nolan achieved her goal to break 4 hours to qualify for Boston 2011 with a time of 3hr59mins03 secs. She really was in about 3hr50min shape but went out in 1hr45mins for the first half to pay for it during the second half. She managed to just do the time but will be improving a lot more after as she learns to run the Marathon better.

Hi Seoul Marathon Oct 10th

Kristine Carleton finished an awesome 2nd female in the Hi Seoul marathon with a time of 3hr13mins 50secs in very hot weather. Kristine is from New York but now based in Vietnam. She took over 11mins off her best marathon time. Huge break-through for Kristine!

Chicago Marathon Oct 10th

Not a great day for the Henwood Hounds runners as Ana Johnson and Max Chen both suffered bad stomach cramps after going through the half way right on pace. Ana went through the half in 1hr22mins looking great (as I was there) but then the cramps came and she had to sadly pull out at 17 miles. Max went through the half in 1hr24mins (says he was holding back) but also suffered some cramps and came in with a time of 3hr07mins.40 secs in his first marathon. Solid performance with cramps. Laura Kirk came in with a time of 3hr05mins50secs which was 10mins off her best. Laura hasn’t had the time to train hard with her new job so can’t be disspointed with that time.

Staten Island Half marathon Oct 10th

Karen Mateo ran a strong 1hr45mins for her second fastest half Marathon time. Nice run by karen! Anthony Berritto took 11mins of his half marathon time running a 9.16 min/mile pace which was a faster pace than his 4 miler back on June 20th when he just joined the group. Not only that. He ran 7 miles before the race to make sure he got in 20 miles. Wow!

Can Lake Ultra 50 miler: Oct 9th upstate New York

4.5 months ago Alex Appeal joined the group with high goals of running a 50 miler, when the longest run he had ever done was 17 miles. Alex finished a fantastic 8th place out of 98 starters . There were 2 climbs of over 2000 ft and lots of rolling hills. Alex still ran a 9.21 pace with a total time of 7hrs.47mins49secs. Amazing guts!

Lausanne Switzerland 10km Oct 9th

Antonio Olivera won the 10km in switzerland (where he is based) in a time of 31mins44secs as he prepares for the New York Marathon. Antonio won by 3mins which basically makes it a time trial for him. Great running Antonio!

Gretes Half Marathon October 2nd

Kelly Chin ran a strong race to finish 2nd in 1hr21mins33secs as she heads towards the New York Marathon. 8-12 weeks ago Kelly was unfit with a little injury, then world cup soccer travel and then flu. The last 8 weeks she has training very solid. Ellen Basille won her age group of 35-40 and took over 2.5mins off her best time to run 1hr30mins 48secs. Awesome run by Ellen as she gets ready for New York. Michael Darling came in with a time of 1hr40mins11secs for a solid effort.Faith Aarons then also ran her best half marathon with a time of 1hr52mins.40 after starting near the back of the field and having to walk for the first 600 meters. Nice! Faith is looking to break 4 hours in New York.

Berlin Marathon Sept 26th

Lidia Elizondo came in with a time of 4hr25mins 14secs in the rain in Berlin for her first Marathon after training with the team for 8 weeks. Lidia came to me with a personal best of 2hr19mins for the half marathon and went through the half marathon in berlin in 2.05. Fantastic result for Lidia!

Philly Half Marathon Sept 19th

8 PR’s out of 11 runners showed the team had an awesome day in Philly. Marcus Wilhelm ran about 1hr19mins flat after rolling his ankle badly at mile 11 to take over 4mins off his PR. Wow! (1st in age group) Ana Johnson then PR’ed with a 1hr19min48sec time with a gutsy run. (2nd in age group) Max Chen held it together to run a PR of 1hr21min12secs for a great run. Melissa Raddatz then PR’ed with a fantastic 1hr25min.55sec run to finish 4th in her age group. Mary Darling came very close to her PR with a time of 1hr26mins29secs for 5th in her age group. Nice Mary! Nick Florio then ran in with a 1hr29min 44sec run. Nick had a few muscle pains on course. Julia Knittel then came in for a PR with a time of 1hr32mins.17 secs as she continues to improve her running each week. Rose Ann Serpico is tuning into her talent as she dropped almost 2mins off her PR while cramping up at mile 10. Rose ann ran 1hr34mins52secs! Tara Conroy took a little time off her PR with a 1hr35min.55sec run. Well done Tara! The run of the day again came from Christine Huelster (age 61) as she was just suppose to break 2hours but came in with a time of 1hr52mins.22 secs. Thats two weeks in a row she’s managed to find a short cut on the course and some-how beat the time chips. WOW! Christine was 3rd in her age group. Ranna Smith then came in with a time of 2hrs02mins.53secs as she makes her way back to her best form. Awesome running guys!

18 mile Tune up – Sept 19th

Some of the 2010 New York Marathoners came out for solid training runs in this event. Tim Mann finished 6th with a 5.54 pace. Kelly Chin ran strong for 4th women with a 6.50 pace. Darren Muller and Ellen Basile ran together for a strong 7.33 pace. Michael Darling ran strong (8min pace) until 13 miles before eventually finishing with an 8.33 pace after taking it easy on the last lap. Faith Paris showed she is ready to break 4 hours this year with a 8.50 pace effort. Karen Mateo then came in with a 8.53 pace. Anthony Berrito broke 3 hours for 18 miles which was a great effort. Beth Browde ran 3hr06mins as she looks for a 4hr20 marathon. Good stuff beth!

Fitness Games 4 miler in Central park – Sept 11th

The mens race was first up and Tim Mann came in with a 5.25 pace( PR) as he builds up for a marathon. Marcus Wilhelm ran awesome for his first time under 6min miles with a 5min46sec pace. Ilan Stern ran also under 6min pace for his first time with a 5.53 pace. Great stuff Ilan! Mad Max Chen ran in with a 6.39 pace after he started with a 5.40 pace. He managed to hand out oranges to every runner on the team. Michael Darling ran a solid 6.50 pace to show his fitness is picking up and then Sergios Tsianos ran 28mins 09 secs for the race for a nice Personal best. Great results from the men! Next up were the women. Ana Johnson came in with a new PR of 5mins46secs per mile and 5th place overall. Awesome Any! Kelly Chin (Saucony) showed she is on her way back from a bit of injury and illness with a 5.53 pace and 7th place overall. Great run from Kelly! Laura Kirk was next with a PR of a 6min06sec pace which she did with incredible guts with her long hours at work. Melissa Raddatz then came in with a PR 6.13 pace as she searches for a sub 3 hour marathon in New York and then Mary Darling ran her best pace in a couple of years with a 6.17 pace. Ellen Basille came in strong after with a 6.39 pace . The top 5 women gave Henwoods Hounds 3rd place overall!! Just after Ellen, came in Julia Knittel with a 6.44 pace which was her best in a few years followed by Tara Conroy with a 6.49 pace. Maryella Hernandez then finished with a solid 7.12 pace which is just off her best. Rebecca Attwell ran a little too fast at the start and ran an 8.06 pace. Christine Huelster (61yrs old) ran the run off the day with an 8.14 pace which was a massive PR!! She took about 21secs off her PR per mile with an 8.14 pace which completely blu me away. I was thinking about short cuts Christine might have taken in the park. Ranna Smith came in next with a solid 8.22 pace and then Beth Browde ran a fantastic PR (8.51 pace) as she ran under 9min pace for her first time. Nice beth! Overall, fantastic results from the team.

Club Championships – August 7th

Ana Johnson was the first home for Henwoods Hounds with a 6th place overall female. An awesome effort considering she was running a 90 mile week as she trains for the Chicago Marathon. She ran a 5.54 pace. Tara Conroy ran a 6.42 pace for her best time around the park for being the second runner on the team to finish. Great run Tara! Then we had Julia Knittel (7.14 pace) after running a Marathon 2 weeks before and Suzanne Wirtz was next with a 7.21 pace. Christine Heulster ran a fantastic PR at 61 yrs old with an 8.38 pace. She is smoking! Nice running, Hounds!

San Francisco Marathon – July 25th

On a very hilly course, Julia Knittel ran 3hr33min15 secs which was well off her best but a good solid run with a cold. Ken Yoshioka Ran 3hr41mins42 secs to easily beat his previous best marathon of just over 5 hours. Show what training does! Nice job!

Queens Half Marathon – July 24th

In 86 degree heat, the Henwoods Hounds did a fantastic job today. Laura Kirk was 3rd women overall (1hr30min33secs) and Mary Darling was 5th women overall. (1hr32mins53secs). Brad Gerderman ran his first ever half marathon to finish in 1hr25mins43secs and sec in his age group (45yrs old). Marcus Wilhelm came in 4th in his age group in 1hr28.56 and 61 yr old Christine Heulster came in 3rd in her age group in her first ever half marathon. Wow Christine! Daniel Osias decided to turn it into a training run with the heat and finished in 1hr36mins31secs as did Mad Max Chen . (1hr37mins07 secs). Anthony Berritto who has really just taken up running ran a solid 2hr15mins. Well done Anthony! Overall, a good strong effort by the team.

Run For Central Park 4 miler- July 17th

A big turn out for the team in Central Park for this “very hot” 4 miler race. In the womens event, Ana Johnson was 5th women overall with a nice 5.53 pace. New runner to the team, Melissa Raddatz, ran a solid 6.20 pace as she hopes to be on her way to break 3 hours for a marathon this year. The next female runner for the team, Mary Darling ran a 6.22 pace which is one of her best races in a while. Good stuff Mary! 17 yr old Ann Powers tempo’ed a 6.35 pace after recoverying from an injury. Another new runner to the team, Tara Conroy, ran a 6.50 pace after a solid Thursday workout, which made the race tuff. Ellen Basile, who is still in a low milage phase ran a 7.03 pace. She will smash this around as her fitness increases with the mileage. Suzanne Wirtz ran a 7.16 pace after a long spell out. She ran very well. Dani McIntyre ran her best race in her 12 race history around Central park with a 7.47 pace for the 4 miles. She has only been with the team for a few weeks and I expect much more improvement to come. In the mens race, Brad Gerdeman ran awesome again with a 5.53 pace, while Mad Max Chen ran a nice 5.56 pace (Which probably included no stoppage time). Nice! Marcus Wilhelm ran a little better than I expected with a 6.03 pace after taking some down time. Good run marcus! Daniel Osias ran a nice 6.15 pace, to be the next runner from the team. Daniel will also be looking to break 3 hours for a marathon this year. His brother Brian, ran a solid 6.33 pace for his best run around the park. Nice going guys!

Half Marathon in Germany -June 27th

Julia Knittel ran 1hr37mins for 23rd place out of 1539 women in hot humid conditions. Nice running Julia!

FRNY Lesbian and Gay Pride Run – June 26th

7 Henwood Hound athletes were in the top 4 of their age group Saturday. Fantastic running! They were Brad Gerdeman – 3rd, 5.59 pace and a big PR!, Max Chen – 4th, 6.03 pace, Marcus Wilhelm – 3rd, 6.03 pace and a big PR!, Ana Johnson -3rd and 4th overall women, 6.03 pace, Laura Kirk – 4th and 7th overall women, 6.21 pace, Mary Darling – 3rd and 10th overall women, 6.30 pace and Christine Heulster – 2nd , 8.48 pace. New comer Daniel Osias ran a 6.22 pace and will be around 6min pace soon. Karen Mateo ran a solid 7.48 pace while Blossom Coryat ran a 9.03 pace.

Mini 10km – Central Park June 12th

Kelly Chin finished in 32nd place with 37mins 19secs after a little break from training. Solid performance on that note. Julia Knittel ran solid also with a 7.03 pace during a phase of high mileage training for a Marathon at the end of next month. Kristine Carleton ran a 7.09 pace after a long spell from training. She currently lives in Vietnam. Blossom Coryat AGAIN ran another personal best for her with a 8min11sec pace per mile. Awesome Blossom!

Japan Day 4 miler – Central Park June 6th

Max Chen finished 54th place overall with a 6.03 pace 4 miler after having to stop twice in the race with cramps. Brad Gerdeman ran a 6.11 pace which is right at his best after just returning to training after a break from the Boston Marathon. Brad has stepped up to another runner and will run a lot faster in the next few months. Michael Darling (Charlie) ran a solid 6.54 pace. These times were all very good considering the humidity as well.

Ridgewood 5km – New Jersey May 31st

Kelly Chin finished 2nd with a 5.55 pace after having a few days off with a small injury. Nice run kel.

Brooklyn Half Marathon May 22nd

Kelly Chin “Won” the Brooklyn Half Marathon in 1hr19mins 51 secs. She cruised most of the way and then kicked hard the last 50 meters. This was very special to Kelly as Brooklyn is her home. Blossom Coryat also ran well for her second best half marathon pace of 8.34. Ira Wolfson ran an 8.27 pace which seemed solid but he has been busy with other commitments over the last few weeks.

Healthy Kidney 10km May 15th

Eric Rahe just keeps getting better as he gets older (41 yrs old) with a 6.23 pace for his best performance in Central Park. Hopefuly a sub 3hr marathon for Eric this year in New York! Christine Huelster finished 5th in her age group with a 9.02 pace. Fantastic run by Christine as well!

Mothers Day 4 miler – Central Park – May 9th

Christine Heulster finished 7th in her age group and ran an 8.57 pace today at 61 years old. Awesome effort and her first race in about 2 years.

Newport 10km in New Jersey – May 8th

Max Chen finally had a race! He ran 38mins 24secs for a 6.11 pace in the race. That’s a good start although Max can go a lot faster in the coming months.

Cincinnati Marathon – May 2nd

Marcus Wilhelm took over 3mins of his best marathon to run 2hr58min54 secs in a storm in Cincinnati Sunday. In horrible weather, on a hilly course, Marcus rocked out a top run and will run much faster in better conditions next time.

School track meet – April 30th Icahn Stadium

17 yr old Trevor Day runner Ann Powers ran a best time for the 1,500m’s with a time of 4min51secs for 3rd place. That is about a 5.10 mile pace. Ann is flying right now!

More half Marathon -April 25th

Ranna Smith continued her improvement as she ran 1hr56mins 22secs for the hilly course around Central park. Well done Ranna!

London Marthon -April 25th

Laura Kirk(2hr55mins29secs) and Mary Darling(3hr11mins29secs) both ran personal records in the 2010 London Marathon. Laura finished 18th non-elite female and Mary 125th non-elite female out of about 13,000 female runners. Awesome job ladies!

Boston Marathon – April 19th

Brad Gerderman runs 2hr57mins46secs to take about 12 mins off his best marathon time and running his goal of breaking 3 hours in the process. An awesome effort as he battled through his build up. Nicholas Florio ran 3hr7mins33secs after having a lung infection for 6 of the last 8 weeks. Great run for Nick considering the circumstances! Gail Winiecki Ran 3hr55mins06secs for her Marathon time. She has been running with the group for the last month.

Run for Central Park 4 miler – Central Park April 18th

Michael Darling ran his best time for Central Park with a 6.50 pace 4 miler. Nice effort Mike.

New York track relays for schools – Icahn Stadium April 16th

Ann Powers ran 10mins25 secs for 4th in the 3,000m’s. Her performance was only 10 secs off qualifying for the USA Track and Field Junior Nationals and a huge best time. (5.35 pace). Fantastic run from Ann!

JP Morgan Chase 4 miler – April 11th

Eric Rahe ran his best race in Central Park with a 6.13 pace for the 4 miles. Nice run Eric!

Schools track meet – Icahn Stadium April 10th

Ann Powers ran 4min57secs to finish 5th in a windy 1,500m’s in her race. Solid run by Ann!

Scotland Run – April 3rd

Betsy Burke ran a 6.04 pace to finish 8th on tired legs as she continues her marathon training for Ottawa. Blossom Coryat ran yet another best time. This time for 10km with a 8.17 pace. Ranna Smith ran an 8.29 pace after running long a couple of days before. Steve Beck ran a 9.04 pace and he trys to get in some consistant training.

New York Half marathon – March 21st

It was a great day for fast times on a rolling course around Central Park and down to Battery Park. Max Chin came in steady for 1hr22mins54 secs. Marcus Wilhelm ran his best time by about 4mins coming in at 1hr23mins37 secs. Laura Kirk ran her best time of 1hr24mins10secs but was a little disappointed as she had a lot of aches and pains in the race. Nick Florio ran 1hr27min08 secs after being sick for 2 weeks a week ago, so a fantastic run from Nick! Mary Darling had her best race in over a year with a 1hr27min42 sec half marathon which is her second best time. Great run Mary! Darren Pollack ran a solid 1hr33min18 secs after having most of last year off. Nice! Michael Darling took 3mins of his best time with 1hr36mins 34 secs. A stunning run by Mike! Julia knittel also ran 1hr36mins34secs even though she finished behind Michael at the line. That was just a solid tempo for Julia so she did very well. Blossom Coryat ran her best time by 1min40secs with a time of 1hr49min06 secs. She has grown wings with her new orthotics! Kelly Chin had to pull out at 8 miles after a very hard work week. That’s New York for you. It’s not easy to run fast when working long hours.

Coogans 5km – March 7th

Ann Powers ran a solid 6.05 pace today which was outstanding for a 17 yr old on a hilly course! Blossom Coryat flew today as she ran her best race in her 58 race history with a 7.34 pace. That’s a huge run for Blossom! I finished 14th in a 4.58 pace after blowing up at half way. Eric Rahe ran a solid 6.17 pace. Nice! Glen Tacinelli just joined a week ago and ran a 9min20sec pace. Good improvement for him on his last couple of races.

Paris Half Marathon – March 7th

Ilan Stern ran 1hr26mins34secs for a solid run in Paris today. Solid run on limited running!

Thursday night at the races- Armory Track Feb 25th.

17yr old Ann Powers won the 1,500m’s easy with a time of 4mins 53secs. This is a 5min 14sec mile pace. Awesome effort Ann! Huge PR.

Breast Cancer Marathon in Jacksonville , Florida – Feb 21st , Caroline Qualifies!

Caroline Bierbaum-Lefrak qualified for the Olympic trials with 2hr44mins and 33secs to finish 9th in a humid day in Florida. Awesome! This took 2mins of her best when she finished 22nd in the New York Marathon in 2008 and the course yesterday included 2.5 miles in the sand on the beach. Caroline was set to run the Myrtle Beach Marathon last week but it was cancelled last minute so she had to pick herself up mentally to run this marathon a week later. Great performance!

Run for Haiti 4 miler – Feb 20th

Great placings with the females in Central Park! Laura Kirk finished 3rd female with a 6.12 pace best time around the park. 17yr old Ann Powers finished 5th female overall with a 6.15 pace. Wow! Mary Darling finished 7th female overall with a 6.27 pace. Suzanne Wirtz ran a huge best pace of 6.34 per mile to finish 13th overall female. Awesome Suzanne! Emily de la Bruyere had some breathing issues and ran a 7.06 pace. She ended up 3 secs ahead of Julia Knittel who ran a 7.06 pace after a slow start. Ranna Smith ran a huge best time with a 8.09 pace. Fantastic result for Ranna! Blossom Coryat ran a 9.05 pace after some limited training. In the males, I managed to win the race with a pace of 5.09. (same as my marathon pace from NY Marathon 2005). New Runner Marcus Wilhelm ran a solid 6.10 pace. Brad Gerdeman is on the come back with a 6.20 pace. Michael Darling had a good effort with a 6.51 pace while Darren Pollack has finally committed to some running with a 6.55 pace. Mac Jakubowski ran with a sore groin and ran a 7.01 pace. Steven Beck ran his fastest pace since 2004 with a 8.31 pace. Mason Haupt who also is coming off a groin strain ran a good 10.33 pace. Well done guys!

Thursday night at the races (Indoor track) – Feb 11th

In the 2 mile race, 16yr old Emily de la bruyere finished 8th in 11mins37.20secs while 17yr old Ann Powers finished 10th in 11mins 46secs. Well done girls! I was the ambulance boy at the back of the field in the 800 m’s with a time of 2min08.5 secs. Ouch!

Gridiron Classic 4 miler – Feb 7th

Michael Darling charged his way around the course for a 6.52 pace in this Central Park race. This is around his best. Good stuff Charlie!

Miami Marathon – Jan 31st

Marcus Wilhelm finished 44th overall and 8th in his age group (40-44) to run a best time of 3hr02mins.18secs in 71 degrees. He ran his best half marathon last weekend in the Manhattan half so can obviously go a lot faster with a better recovery between races. Marcus has just joined the group a month ago. Mary Darling ran a solid 1hr30min13sec to finish 14th in the half marathon in Miami. She gained 2nd place in her age group (40-44) from this. Well done Mary!

Manhattan Half Marathon – Jan 24th

Caroline Bierbaum-Lefrak showed she is in great form for a marathon in 3 weeks by being the first female across the line, beating the second female by 5min30secs. Caroline ran 1hr16mins 52secs to be only 3 seconds off her best. Great result! Nicholas Florio ran a fantastic time of 1hr26min 18 secs which is his best 1/2 marathon in New York. Great stuff on a hard course! Marcus Wilhelm ran his best half marathon with a time of 1hr27mins28secs which will qualify him for the New York Marathon this year. Michael Darling (Charlie) who has not had many of the angels to train with lately, ran a solid 1hr41mins59secs. Nice run but bring back the angels! Ranna Smith broke the 2hr mark with 1hr59mins 31 secs. Good run Ranna!

Thursday Night at the races tack meet: Jan 21st:

17 year old Ann Powers easily won the second heat of the 3km race with a time of 11min04secs (5.56 pace). Ann should have probably ran in the first heat which was a little faster as the winner was only 3 secs faster.

Houston Marathon: Jan 17th – Kelly Chin!

Kelly Chin qualified for the USA Olympic Trials with a time of 2hr44mins 42 secs! She never flinched as she had a super consistant pace the whole way. She started out at a 6.15 pace and ended with a 6.16 pace . This results gave her 9th place female finisher. Awesome! Blossom Coryat ran the half marathon to run 1hr58mins 13 secs at a 9.02 pace which was a great result for her. Nice run Blossom!

Fred Lebow Classic 5miler: Central Park – Jan 9th

Caroline Bierbaum-Lefrak ran a best 5 miler time for her with a 5.41 pace to finish second women. (only 3 secs from the winner). She looked very strong. Ilan Stern finally raced and ran a 6.13 pace . Laura Mistretta-Kirk was right with him, but then ran into some stomach issues in the last mile and dropped to a 6.19 pace. Mary Darling looked strong with a 6.31 pace while husband Michael Darling ran in with a 7.02 pace without any long runs in his training so far. Ranna Smith ran her first race with me. She ran her best pace around the park (8.43 pace) while Mason Haupt continues to improve rapidly with a 10.38 pace after a long time off.

Brad Gerdeman

Boston Marathon 2010 Henwoods Hounds.

I ran my first marathon at 42 yrs old and my second at 44 – both NYC.  I qualified for Boston but I knew that if I wanted to achieve my goal of a sub-3 hr marathon I needed an expert to take me to the next level. I chose John because he is a former Olympian and I believed he’d develop a better training plan for me than I would do myself because he’d know how to effectively mix distance, speed-work, etc. in a way that would improve my results.  That’s initially why I signed up.  But the added-value John provided was in things you don’t think about – how to recover faster and re-calibrate training plans when little injuries occur (e.g., hamstrings and an illness), how to work around business commitments that resulted in missed days, how to identify my weaknesses and focus on improving them, how to use weights in the right way for a marathoner to strengthen and get faster, and importantly, how to actually pace my runs and then get a game plan for the race that would allow me to achieve my desired results. I worked hard and had to overcome a lot of adversity but with John I also worked smart and as a result I shaved nearly 12 minutes off my best marathon and blew past my goal by running a 2:57:46 at Boston.

Katarina Janosikova Won the Womens race with a 5.50 pace workout while Caroline Bierbaum came in 2nd with a 5.53 pace. I finshed second in the mens race with a 5.15 pace about 7 secs behind the winner. Michael Darling came in with a a solid 7.23 pace.

Holiday 4 miler in Prospect Park: – Dec 12th

I won the race in my first race for a few months (5.04 pace). Mac Jakubowski came in with a solid 6.45 pace which was a big improvement on the weekend before while Michael (Charlies Angels) Darling ran a 7.06 pace in his first race back since the New York Marathon. Nice!

California International Marathon -Dec 6th

Nicholas Florio ran 3:00.00 on the dot with high wind gusts and cold temperatures only 5 weeks after running a 3hr4min New York Marathon. Awesome effort by Nick! He was 15th overall in his 50-54 age group.

Joe Kleinerman 10km – Dec 6th

Kelly Chin finished a strong 3rd in her fastest pace ever around Central Park and did a 10km PR by 30secs. She ran 36mins 10secs (5.50 pace). Fantastic Run! Other runners came in treating the race as a workout after just starting up training again after the NY Marathon. These were Mac Jakubowski (6.55 pace), Ira Wolfson (8.01 pace), Stephane Larochelle (8.06 pace) and Blossom Coryat (9.09 pace)

New York Marathon Nov 1st:

19 starters, 10 Personal best Marathons, 2 first time marathoners, 3 pulled out.

Some great personal best Marathon times yesterday. Laura Mistretta finished in 2hr56.30 for a PR by 13 mins. That was a great run. Nick Florio finished in 3hrs.04.23 trying to get as close to 3hrs as possible. Mary Darling ran her best time by 3mins of 3hr12.28. Mac Jakubowski ran 3hrs 19.35 which was a best marathon time by 24mins. Awesome Mac! Julia Knittel is coming back to her best with a great time of 3hr20.30. Eric Rahe ran a fantastic time on a unprepared build up of 3hrs21mins. Joanne Ottaviano ran 3hr24.04 for her best time by 4mins while Sungwon Hwang also ran her best time by 5mins of 3hrs24.13. Erica Grasmick ran 3hr37.59. Ira Wolfson ran a best time by 10mins. He ran 3hr40.42. Michael Darling ran his best marathon by 6mins of 3hr41.47. Cory DeForrest ran his first marathon very untrained and ran an awesome 3hr45.22. Not sure how he pulled that off! Shuian Wu ran her best time by 5mins and got close to the 4hr barrier. She ran 4hr.03.33. Robert Flower ran a great 4hr.o8.59 for his first marathon while Faith Paris ran 4hr.11.04 for a best time by 17mins. Blossom Coryat came in at 4hr35mins as she looks to be more ready for Houston in January. Unfortunately, Katarina Janosikova had to pull out at mile 19 with ankle pain while Ilan Stern pulled out at mile 15 with some hip pain and Rose Ann Serpico at mile 10 with ITB (knee) pain.

20 Tips for the New York Marathon

1) During the last 3 to 4 days before the Marathon run easy/lightly or rest and sleep well.

2) The night before the big race, have a big meal of pasta and don’t try anything eating anything your stomach is not use to.

3) The morning of the race, check the temperature/weather conditions before going to the race.

4) Bring lots of warm disposable clothes as you will be arriving at the start early and be sitting outside. Keep warm so you can save your energy for the running the race. Don’t waste your energy by fighting the cold. Also move around a lot. Don’t sit for more than 25mins at a time.
Also bring food/snacks that you would normally eat in the morning and eat 2hrs before you start.

5) Don’t use new socks.

6) Warm up with a 5min -10min jog about 40mins – 60mins before you start. Then stretch and stay loose.

7) If you are going for a race time, try and get close to the front of your starting corral.

8) Make sure you have a prepared drinking/eating plan before starting the race. Don’t just drink when you feel thirsty. Drink regularly.

9) Take extra Gu’s in your pocket in case you start to not feel good. This will help prevent “hitting the wall”.

10) The first mile is up hill. Take the first mile a little slower than your goal pace in order to not expend to much energy when your body is just finding it’s rhythm.

11) If you start off slow because of the crowds or the uphill first mile, don’t try and make up your loss too quickly. Bring it back gradually.

12) Make sure you are relaxed for the first half of the race. Mentally break the race down to an upbeat Sunday run feeling for the first half marathon and prepare to work for the second half marathon.

13) When running, work the hills, stay steady on the flat and relaxed on the down hills.

14) Enjoy the crowd. Take the crowd in. Don’t block them off. Have fun.

15) Going over the Queensboro Bridge towards mile 16 into thousands of screeming supporters in manhatten on a down hill can be a trap for fast running. Run relaxed and just let the crowd move you. If you run too fast here, you will pay for it later in the race.

16) Mile 19 to mile 22 you have to start to really focus. The crowds are thinner and you are getting tired. Bring out the Gu’s and work though it.

17) During the whole race, you are going to have good stages and bad stages.
If you start to not feel good, don’t lose it mentally. This is normal in the marathon. Just slow down a little and maybe take a Gu if you have to and slowly you will start to get back to feeling strong if you have done the training.

18) The 5th Avenue mile is the hardest part of the course. It’s long and you’re tired and hurting. Make sure you have some energy in reserve for this hill.

19) If you get a stomach cramp, try slowing down/walking and holding your breath. Please “don’t” hold for as long as you can. Just hold it in a controlled manner for a few seconds at a time.

20) if you have a bad muscle cramp, stop and try and stretch the muscle out. Either ask a supporter to help you or sit down on the road and do it yourself. Also maybe take a Gu and water if this happens as you are probably dehydrated.

Twin Cities Marathon: Oct 4th

It ended up a day of bad luck for Kelly Chin who was trying to go for the Olympic Trials qualifying time of 2hr46mins flat. At half way, kelly was flying going though the half marathon in 1hr21mins28 secs which eventually cost her a qualifying chance. It wasn’t her fault. The mile markers were off on the course. Hence she thought she was going to slow and panicked. A very bad mistake by the marathon organizers. This suppose to be an Olympic Trials qualifying race. At 22 miles Kelly hit the wall and came home in still a good time of 2hr49mins32 secs. This was a 1hr28min second half of the race. Kelly obviously would have really given the qualifying time a run for its money if the race was more even. Bad Luck Kel!

Gretes Gallop: Oct 3rd: Great best times on a tough course!

This race was the big lead up race for the New York Marathon for many clients and produced some great results.

Katarina Janosikova looked awesome and finished 2nd with her best time of 1hr16mins11secs. Ana Johnson also ran her best time to finish 4th in 1hr21mins27secs on a bad hamstring. Other best time performances on this tough course were Mac Jakubowski (by 2mins)with a time of 1hr34mins34secs , Sungwon Hwang (by 3mins) with a time of 1hr37mins.08 secs, Joanne Ottaviano (by 2mins) with a time of 1hr39mins36secs, while Charles Angels “Michael Darling” ran a best time of 1hr39mins07 secs. Justine Gordon also ran her best with 1hr42mins 26 secs. The best personal record of the day went to Rebecca Attwell who ran 1min per mile faster than she ever has in a half marathon and dropped her time from 2hrs to 1hr46mins55secs. Awesome becks!! Robert Flower ran his first half marathon with a time of 1hr55mins. Nicholas Florio who has been training well lately finished in 1hr28mins08 secs. Erica Grasmick ran a solid performance of 1hr39mins20secs and Rose Ann Serpico suffered stomach cramps to come home in 1hr42mins04 secs.

Cow Harbor 10km: Sept 26th

Don Hinrichs paced an 8.28 pace to run his fastest 10km. Good stuff Don!

Queens Half marathon: Sept 20th

Lin Yu ran 1hr47min.06 secs for her second best half marathon performance on a much tougher course than Brooklyn where she ran her fastest.

Philadelphia Distance Run Sept 20th.

Mary Darling runs 1hr28min.06 secs for a fine performance which gained her 5th in her age group. Nice run mary!

Fitness Games 4 Miler. Sept 12th – Awesome results!

Some big Personal records all around for the race on Saturday. In the female race , Katarina Janosikova finished 2nd by half a stride with a best performance of a 5.35 pace. Ana Johnson finished 7th and also recorded her best performance of a 5.47 pace after a hard weeks training. Others who ran there best ever pace in Central park out of both the female and male races were Max Chen, (5.44 pace), Nicholas Florio (6.09 pace), Eric Rahe (6.13 pace), Gustav back (6.32 pace), Maciek Jakubowski (6.41 pace),Sungwon Hwang (6.49 pace), Rose Ann Serpico (6.51 pace), Justine Gordon (7.11 pace), Karen Mateo (7.17 pace), Lin Yu (7.31 pace) while Rebecca Attwell (7.36 pace) and Donald Hinrichs (8.05 pace) ran almost a minute faster per mile than their best. Julia Knittel (6.51 pace) ran her best in about 2yrs while Erica Grasmick (6.51 pace) ran her best since this race last year. Christine Hoffmann finished 13th overall to run a 5.50 pace which is close to her best. Kelly Chin finished in 5.55 pace after running 21 miles Tuesday and a long run Thursday. She is in great shape for her Marathon in 3 weeks. Mary Darling ran a 6.32 pace , while Paul Denaro (6.42 pace) and Blossom Coryat (8.38 pace) ran steady. Robert Flower had a calf issue and ran an 8.27 pace. Bad luck Rob! Onwards and Upwards guys!

New Haven 20km: Sept 7th

Suzanne Wirtz ran an outstanding 6.50 pace which would have given her a sub 1hr30min half marathon. Her best half marathon is 1hr32mins. Awesome Suzanne! She finished the 20kms in 1hr24mins45secs.

Westport Labor Day 10 mile Road race Sept 5th:

Laura Mistretta (Henwood Hounds) won the race and almost broke the record for the event. The record has been held since 1986. She won on the hilly course in 1hr4mins46secs, missing the record by 14 secs. She only had 8 males in front of her. Nice!!

Percy Sutton Harlem 5km: August 22nd

Joanne Ottaviano ran her best race in a year with a 7.10 pace to finish second in her age group. Well done Joanne!

New York Half marathon: August 16th.

The hot humid weather took it’s toll on the athletes times. Katarina Janosikova ran 1hr18mins.23secs for 17th overall which was solid. Laura Mistretta took 6mins of her best half marathon time to run 1hr24mins 33 secs . Awesome! Kelly Chin was off her pace in the heat with the same time of 1hr24mins.33secs. Everyone else were well of their wanted pace also but with the weather , times didn’t mater. Nick Florio 1hr29mins.11secs. Mary Darling 1hr32mins.15secs. Rose Ann Serpico 1hr40mins.10secs, Erica Grasmick 1hr41mins.47 secs, Justine Gordon with a pulled hamstring in 1hr50mins.10secs, Lin Yu 1hr51mins10secs and William Gilles 1hr51mins18secs.

Club Championships: August 8th.

In the womens race Katarina Janosikova finished 5th (5.41 pace), Caroline Bierbaum 7th (5.46 pace) after time off training , Kelly Chin 11th (5.53 pace), Christine Hoffmann 14th (5.58 pace) and Ana Johnson, who just joined the group 3 weeks ago smashed her best pace with 16th place (6min pace). Laura Mistretta ran her first race and finished 31st place with a pace of 6.13. All these ladies ran around their best and on their goal pace. Mary Darling was next with a 6.37 pace after having some problems in the race. Eric Grasmick ran a solid 7.04 pace while Blossom Coryat ran her best race in a year with a 8.41 pace.

In the Mens race, Chris Ellis-Ferarra ran a 5.03 pace for NYAC. Another solid run by Chris.Ilan Stern ran his first race ever for a 6.26 pace. Ilan finished 3 secs ahead of Eric Rahe. Eric dropped 19 secs per mile off his race times in 5 weeks of being with the training group. Awesome stuff! He was also a 6.26 pace. Michael Darling ran a best 5 mile race for him with a 6.49 pace and William Gillies continues to improve on his best shape with a 7.09 pace. Great stuff Will! Robert Flower race his second race ever and improved on his 4 miler with a 7.58 pace. Lets chase the 4 hour marathon barrier Rob!

Run for Central Park 4 miler : July 18th Great results!

Michael Darling (6.46 pace), Rose Ann Serpico (6.54 pace) , and Karen Mateo (7.42 pace) all ran their best time for a distance event around Central Park today while most others came close. Chris Ellis-Ferrara ran back to his best of a 5.03 pace to finish 15th overall while Katarina Janosikova who just came back from injury ran a 5.42 pace. (Her second best) for 6th overall women. Christine Hoffman had 5 months off with injury and then joined the camp a couple of months a go to run her second best time (6.05 pace). She has transformed herself back into her best shape hugely in the last month. William Gillies ran his best time for a couple of years (7.14 pace) while Kelly Chin (5.55 pace), Erica Grasmick (7.01 pace), Nick Florio (6.21 pace), Justine Gordon (7.28 pace) , all ran well and around their best form. Robert Flower ran an 8.01 pace for his first race which was awesome while Blossom Coryat ran a solid 8.39 pace. Congrats guys!

Hope and Possibility 5 miler : June 28th

Michele Cameron ran a 7.38 pace in her first race since joining the training group.

Lesbian and Gay Pride 5 miler: June 27th

Nicholas Florio ran a solid 6.22 pace to finish 6th in his age group (52 yrs old). William Gillies ran a 7.24 pace which was his fastest pace for over 2 years in any long distance race. Sungwon Hwang race her second fastest pace of any race with a 7.17 pace. Erica Grasmick ran a solid 7.11 pace while Joanne Curran came home with a fast finish with a 7.29 pace. All of these runners were having their first race since joining my training group.

Thursday nights Corporate challenge – June 11th

Katarina Janosikova won the female race with a fast 5.38 pace after only running a few times since her Marathon 2.5 weeks ago. This shows how fit she got for the marathon. She ran 22secs faster than she did last year.

Mini 10km in New York – June 7th:

Caroline Bierbaum started up with me a month ago after 3 months off with an injury and ran a fast 35min59secs for 19th place. Wow! Kelly Chin looked strong and ran 37min22 secs for 27th place. Heidi Schaller Improved on her best time again with 39mins 30secs. Blossom Coryat ran the fastest pace she has in a while with an 8.47 pace. Shiuan Wu ran an 8.49 pace after starting out a little fast. Shiuan started a program just 3 weeks ago.

San Diego Marathon:

Jorge Pardo finished 16th with a time of 2hr30mins50secs which was is his second fastest marathon time. Not bad for 40 years of age. I pulled put at 18 miles with calf problems after feeling pretty good at the half and going through in 68min37secs. Have to sort this out.

Japan Day 4 miler May 31st:

David Roeske finished 11th and ran his best pace for a 4 miler with 21mins50secs or a 5min27sec pace per mile. Nice! Michael Darling impressed with a best time of 6mins50secs per mile pace for 4 miles. Well done Mike!

Brooklyn Half Marathon May 30th:

Kelly Chin ran 1hr22mins 45secs for 5th women. Blossom Coryat indicated she is starting to get towards her sub 4 hour marathon shape with a time of 2hr2mins flat. Valerie Horvilleur ran an awesome time for her of 2hr2mins58secs. Not bad for a triathlete who couldn’t break an hour for 10km 5 weeks ago.

Ottawa Marathon May 25th:

Katarina Janosikova finished 7th in 2hr44mins in the Ottawa Marathon after picking up stomach cramps after the first 10km’s of the race. Although that time is an awesome time, Katarina had been training better and wasn’t satisfied with her performance. She will be back!

May 16th: Healthy Kidney 10km

Heidi Schaller ran a best time for 10km’s by 80 secs to run under 40mins. (39mins37secs). Fantastic run! Kelly Chin was only 2 secs off her best 10km with a 5.55 pace and a time of 36min47secs. Blossom Coryat ran the race in an 8.58 pace and will be looking at beefing up the training in the next month.

May 3rd New Jersey Marathon:

With constant rain and some wind Karen Mateo ran a Boston Qualifier and best time by 17mins (3hr41mins) for the NJ Marathon. Her previous best was 3hr58mins. She is an experienced marathoner but I have loved watching her improve so drastically in the last 5 months and she looks like a completely different runner. Michael Darling ran a fantastic first marathon at 48 years old (3hr47mins). He has dropped 35 pounds or so in the last 5 months so has achieved more fitness goals than running.

April 26th More Half Marathon:

This race was turned into a fun run because of the hot weather. Katarina Janosikova decided to race it with USA Olympian Magdalena Lewy Boulet. They ran together and well ahead of the rest of the field. Magdalena pulled away from Katarina with 800m’s to go to beat her by 75 meters. Katarina ran 1hr18mins 15 secs for second.

April 26th London Marathon

May Darling ran a Personal Best 3hr15mins for the London Marathon in fairly hot conditions after going through the half in 1hr33mins. Well done Mary!

April 20th Boston Marathon:

Brendan Donoghue ran 2hr39mins. 53 secs to take 16mins off his best marathon time of 2hr55mins. Awesome effort considering he might have taken another 2 mins off if he hadn’t tempoed a 4 mile race two days before. (Nothing to do with me). Suzanne Wirtz ran 3hr13mins to take 7mins off her best time which was in New York last Year. Great stuff Suzanne! Kelly Chin went out in a blazing 6.08 pace for the first 10km. The pace tooks it toll on Kelly and she had to pull out at 18 miles. She is in amazing shape though and may run another marathon in the next 6 weeks. Rose Ann Serpico also started fast and went through the half marathon in 1hr40mins . She finished in 3hr34mins, which is just of her best, but she was a little disappointed as she knows she would have gone a lot faster with a more even race. All clients were well warned of there splits and about going out too fast and a couple of these results prove that you need to be extra careful in Boston.

Mac Jakubowski

New York Marathon 2009, Henwoods Hounds

“I have been running with John since June ‘08. As a long time triathlete I thought I had hit a running plateau and could not improve. Wrong. Since than my every NYRR race was faster, I ran my fastest ever 10k, half marathon (by 5 min) and the best of all I ran the New York City Marathon in 3:19:37, a 24 min!!! improvement over my previous best. John also massaged away all the pains out of my calves. I look forward to the next year’s races where one of the goals is to run the marathon under 3h. I now think it’s possible. Thank you John.”

Laura Kirk

New York Marathon 2009, Henwoods Hounds

“I began training with John in May 2009 after a knee injury. I had run many marathons before but had never had the structure and discipline of training with a formal running program. John helped me to bring my training to the next level with speed workouts and strength training that not only improved my times but also kept me healthy while training for New York. I was able to increase my mileage substantially without any further injuries. In November 2009, I ran New York in 2:56:30, a personal best by over 13 minutes! I have no doubt that the training I did with John and the team was what made the difference.”

Joanne Ottaviano

New York Marathon 2009

“I began training with John in June of 2009. I had the modest goal of meeting my personal best in the marathon, 3:28, and making it to the starting line in NY without many of the injuries that plagued my former training regimen. Having trained for 6 marathons and only toed the line in 4 due to stress fractures, I knew my training methods were falling short. With John’s personalized program I was able to fit training and weight sessions into an already tight schedule and customize around vacations and business travel. As a result, I shaved over 2 minutes off my half-marathon best with a 1:39 in the 2009 Grete’s Gallop and 4 minutes off my marathon best with a 3:24 in the 2009 NY marathon. Best of all, I was free of injury and toed the line in NY with more strength and confidence than in any previous marathon. Unlike the coaches I had come to know and dread in high school and college, John listened instead of ordered, and was prescriptive instead of pedantic.”

Brendan Donoghue

“I began to work with john after the New York marathon 08. Before I met with him I had hoped he could help me get my marathon time down around ten minutes by the end of 2009. Not alone did he do that but in Boston this year(only 5 months after joining his group) I improved my marathon time by 16minutes from a 2h55m to a 2m39m. And with his training and advice I felt strong throughout the whole race. I truly enjoyed the race and can’t wait to continue with his running group. The training is good and never feels like its too much.John first of all makes you believe in your ability and his training brings it out. He is a great coach and gives every client so much attention. He understands the needs of his team. Thanks john for the great training”.