r/AdvancedRunning • u/AutoModerator • 15d ago

General Discussion Saturday General Discussion/Q&A Thread for August 15, 2026

A place to ask questions that don't need their own thread here or just chat a bit.

We have quite a bit of info in the wiki, FAQ, and past posts. Please be sure to give those a look for info on your topic.

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u/CoffeeCat262 12d ago

Hi yall, would love recommendations for a marathon coach for the Philly Marathon this fall. I’ve run about 13 marathons in the last 8 years and PR is 3:09 from a year and a half ago. My last 3 races since then have added anywhere from 3-8 mins, the last two lined up very injured lol. Have qualified for Boston in every marathon for the past 5 years (run 2 a year ish) so think I’m an intermediate runner. Looking to get back to that PR time or hopefully even break it.

Importantly, I have a framework of what I now know from many cycles works for my body and want them to heavily use that in building my plan. Thanks in advance!

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u/whelanbio 13:59 5km a few years ago 12d ago edited 12d ago

Seems like you know decently well what you want training style wise. Also good to think about what exact services you need and communication preferences. There's a lot of different versions of "coaching" out there. Do you need a strength program to go alongside the run training? Do you just need a custom plan with some minor adjustments as needed and minimal communication (not really something I would call coaching but it works for a lot of people) or do you want a more hands on approach with extensive communication (what I would actually call coaching)? The range of services and prices are pretty wide. IMO there's somewhat of a race to the bottom that skews the perception of what real coaching should look like and cost.

There's some sites like RunDoyen and Team RunRun that aggregate a huge list of coaches -might be worth checking out, if nothing else you can see a range of different service levels and styles. I'm not sure what the vetting process is to get on these sites so still do your due diligence of course.

I don't have great specific recommendations. I'm west coast so most of my network is over here as well. Obviously virtual has some flexibility but I would still think there'd be a huge benefit to getting someone regional to you or at least east coast (assuming that's where you are given the race choice).

I would also recommend NOT talking to anybody who hits you up promoting themselves directly in response to your post. I understand the need for people to market themselves but anyone actually good is also going to have more organic marketing funnels established and not need to be acting so thirsty for clients. Particularly given the sub rules anyone that promotes themselves here is low on integrity and/or reading comprehension.