John Ferris

I’m a Level I certified coach with the Road Runners Club of America, bringing over 30 years of experience as a competitive runner. Throughout my career, I’ve coached athletes at every level—from high school and college runners to post-collegiate competitors—helping each of them reach their full potential.

Whether you’re aiming to improve your 800m or mile performance in school, complete your first marathon, qualify for Boston, or set a new personal best in the 5K, 10K, or half marathon, I’ve coached across all distances and can tailor a training plan to suit your goals, schedule, and fitness level.

My coaching goes beyond the plan—I’ll work with you during your workouts to ensure proper pacing, technique, and training within the right zones, so you avoid overtraining or undertraining.

I’ve helped runners achieve major breakthroughs, and I bring both a love for the sport and the insights gained from training under a variety of coaching styles. Nothing motivates me more than helping others achieve their running goals.

My personal best times are as follows:
800m: 1:58
Mile: 4:17
5K: 15:45
4 Mile: 21:20
8K: 27:11
10K: 32:55
Half Marathon: 1:15:09
Marathon: 2:52:00

Every training session is customized based on where you are in your running journey. Before our first in-person session, I recommend a quick call or message exchange to get a sense of your current training, goals, and experience level.

If you’ve selected an online or hybrid coaching option, our initial conversation will cover both the physical and mental aspects of your running, including past training, any current concerns, and what you’re hoping to achieve.

For in-person sessions, we’ll start by warming up together, followed by dynamic stretching. The main session will depend on where you are in your training cycle. If you’ve already built a base, we may jump into a structured workout—whether on a loop, hill, or track—where I’ll coach you through each rep, both physically and mentally, to help you build strength, confidence, and efficiency.

For hybrid coaching, you’ll receive weekly personalized plans. After our initial discussion, we’ll decide which key sessions we’ll meet for—typically tempo runs, hill work, threshold efforts, or speed workouts—where I can provide live coaching and adjustments.

For fully online coaching, we’ll stay in close contact. I like to check in at the beginning of each week and follow up regularly to address any schedule changes, missed sessions, or how your body is responding to the training. This helps us keep the plan adaptable and effective.

Running is something I take very seriously, and I approach coaching with even greater care. I want to see you succeed. Because everyone’s experience, goals, and current fitness are different, I don’t take a one-size-fits-all approach—our first session will be based entirely on what we determine together in that initial conversation.