Leslie Payne

Sharron (CoachUp client)

Coach Leslie is terrific! After just one session, I feel like I had a breakthrough. I am looking forward to my next session. She has years of experience as a runner and coach, and she has a heart for running and for helping people.

Jennifer (CoachUp client)

I would highly recommend Coach Leslie! She knows her stuff and sincerely wants clients to succeed. In one session, she was able to identify a problem that other professionals couldn't figure out in over a year. Well worth it!

Laura (CoachUp client)

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Angela (CoachUp client)

Coach Leslie is amazing! My 77 year-old Mom is training to run a half-marathon and has been having a hard time staying motivated. Leslie really helped kick-start her training and has gotten her back on track. She talked to her about the importance of nutrition and gave her a lot of great tips. We now all think that she'll be able to complete this race!

Kristen (CoachUp client)

Perfect. Coach Payne was professional and knowledgeable. She understood my goals and recognized my obstacles and offered a solid plan to help me achieve these goals and overcome obstacles. Can’t wait for or next session.

James (CoachUp client)

Coach Leslie is very knowledgeable and covered a lot of ground (pun intended!) in our first session and in her follow up communications. I am looking forward to working with her to achieve my running goal!

Mike (CoachUp client)

If you're looking for a running coach in the Raleigh area, look no further. Coach Leslie is amazing. She's thorough, explains things well, promptly follows through with video/feedback emails, flexible with scheduling, and (of course) she's extremely knowledgeable. Best of all? She has the best trait you'd want in any coach: she truly cares about her students and wants to help them enjoy running more, regardless of whether you're just getting started as a runner or prepping for your next race. I can't recommend her highly enough.

Julia (CoachUp client)

Leslie was very thorough and observant in the one session that we had. She has a tremendous amount of knowledge with regards to running form, but more importantly, she knows how to teach you and explain the importance of running form. I am looking forward to continuously working with her to become a more efficient and stronger runner.

Lee (CoachUp client)

I recommend Leslie very highly. It had been nearly 20 years since I had received any formal coaching, and my form was suffering. Leslie was able to quickly diagnose my issues and give me advice for correcting them in terms of stretches, exercises and other tips. I was able to feel a difference in my form, energy, and flexibility within only a few days of taking this advice.

Alan (CoachUp client)

Coach Leslie has been an excellent find. Our daughter is a top performing NC cross country and track athlete, and we reached out to Coach Leslie to train our daughter following an injury to get her back in shape. What we got was much more. Coach Leslie first met with our daughter to understand her goals, and then she mapped out a training plan to first build her strength and then to develop her performance. Our daughter has enjoyed the one on one sessions. She says Coach Leslie listens to her feedback and engages her not only as an athlete, but as a person. She feels continued training will help her achieve improvements over last year, and so do we. We highly recommend Coach Leslie.

Ryan (CoachUp client)

It was great to have the knowledge and support! Had a great workout and know those in the future will be the same.

Santiago (CoachUp client)

Coach Leslie is great. She has helped me improve my running form and increase my endurance while staying injury free. Her direction is clear and I can see the results right away.

Kaleb (CoachUp client)

Coach Leslie has been great so far. 2 sessions in but she has gone beyond just the sessions. She takes the time to plan a daily workout until the next session. She is working with my son so he can pass the Opec that is now required before going off to boot camp.

Dana (CoachUp client)

Coach Payne is the real deal! Not only is she an expert on running form, she's created a tailored plan for our 9 year old that's increased his speed dramatically and helped his confidence on the ball field. She's accommodating to parents and so kind to my kiddo but still manages to keep him engaged and working hard during training sessions and at home. We knew we made the right decision when my son touched his toes for the first time in his life after 1 week working with Coach Payne. If you're on the fence, pull the trigger. It's well worth it!

Ginger (CoachUp client)

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Matt (CoachUp client)

Coach Leslie was fantastic! I have been coached several times before (not by Leslie and not through CoachUp) and my experiences were not helpful. Leslie was amazing right away. She diagnosed my problems immediately, showed me how to fix them, and gave me drills to keep my performance up, with an invitation to continue to update her on my progress. I walked into our session doubting my own ability to become a better runner and slightly skeptical of her ability to help me (due to my own experiences) and left our session with that doubt erased and am a believer in her coaching methods and talent. I would most certainly hire Leslie for more coaching sessions.

Angie (CoachUp client)

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Barbara (CoachUp client)

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Nancy (CoachUp client)

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Sharon (CoachUp client)

Knowledgeable, focused on how best to help the client succeed.

Dierdra (CoachUp client)

Wow! I finally found a running coach and my first Session was awesome. Leslie quickly and with accuracy pointed out some errors/things I need to strengthen and improve in my biomechanics. I can’t wait to see how my speed and endurance improve with her! It feels great to invest in my health and fitness. I’m Grateful I found her on #CoachUp #RunningCoach #InAnotherLifeICouldBeATrackStar

Milind (CoachUp client)

Coach Leslie is a great coach! After first session I feel I will achieve more that I wished to achieve from these sessions. Her training and exercises are very innovative. I defenitely recommend Coach Leslie to anyone. She is awesome!!!

Julia (CoachUp client)

I started my search for a running coach when I realized that I had no idea what I was doing while training to attend US Marine Corps Officer Candidates School. Although I have been an athlete for most of my life, I have never been a runner. Playing competitive/travel league softball and heavy weightlifting were my sports, and one doesn't need to run very long or very fast for either of them. 

I found Coach Payne on CoachUp as one of only two running coaches in the Raleigh area at the time. Being that she had a higher certification level and more coaching experience than the alternative coach I opted to contact Coach Payne to discuss my goals and if she thought she could train me. 

My requirements to attend OCS include completing a 3 mile run in 27:00 or less as part of the Physical Fitness Test. At the time of contacting Coach Payne I had only met this requirement twice in a year of self training. I would do a mixture of multiple bursts of sprinting followed by fast walking in order to meet the time requirement, and even then my finish time was still within ten seconds of the cutoff. The self training I had been doing to get to this point (from a starting point of taking over an hour to complete 3 miles) was simply trying to run 3 miles 5 days a week. Coach Payne introduced a variety of workouts every week which helped me avoid burnout as well as prevent my body from plateauing.

When we first got started I couldn't run for more than 3 minutes or so at a time. I explained to her that I would be a challenge, as we only had roughly 8 weeks to improve my abilities before I ship out to OCS. I now have 2 weeks before my ship date and can run at a decent pace for over 20 minutes at a time. I no longer wheeze only 4-5 minutes into a workout, and I've begun to actually enjoy running. 

At my most recent PFT event about three weeks ago my 3 mile time was 26:12, and that was on an off day for me. I am confident my next time will be well below 26:00. There is no way I could have gotten to where I am with my running on my own or with a less experienced coach. I feel more prepared for the extreme physical challenges of OCS after having trained under Coach Payne for the past several weeks, and I look forward to earning my commission and coming back to Raleigh to show her any new progress I make while in training at Quantico. I fully believe that Coach Payne's extensive knowledge of running, form, breathing, and gear are the only reason I was able to improve as much as I have. 

My only regret is not finding her a year sooner.

Pawel (CoachUp client)

Our evaluation was great. Leslie is a very knowledgeable coach!! We are looking to working with her to get my son and daughter better.

Jen/former client (Testimonial)

jLeslie is very knowledgeable and able to relate to any client... regardless of his/her age or goal. She knows how to train people, so they remain injury free. She has a real passion for coaching.