Kevin Beck summarizes his running philosophy: "I love running for its whole spectrum of benefits and the range of experiences I've had, many of them outside the competitive milieu. But I have one basic reason for doing what I do. The rest is gravy, basting the raw, tough, but often tender and delicious meat of competing against the rag-tag army of my alleged constraints - going into some awful yet welcoming zone, headed straight into downtown Hell to rip it up yet another time."

Kevin Beck, like Pete a senior writer for Running Times, competed sparingly in college, recording bests of 15:51 for 5K and 32:56 for 10K. A few years after graduating he made the marathon his event of long-term focus, running 2:39:37 in his initial attempt at the distance in 1994. Since then, the New Hampshire native has steadily carved his personal best down to 2:24:17 - good for seventh among Americans and 28th overall at the 2001 Boston Marathon. That his development as a runner occurred almost entirely on the roads as a post-collegiate athlete gives him a world of insight when it comes to advising motivated marathoners with relatively limited or non-existent high-school or NCAA running backgrounds.

Kevin's earliest experience with coaching young runners was at Bishop Brady High School in New Hampshire. In 1998, the year before Kevin arrived, the boys' team finished 18th in the State Meet, only a few slots out of the cellar. Kevin's knowledge and enthusiasm breathed life into a moribund program, and in 2000, the team took 4th, qualifying them for the NH Meet of Champions for the first time in anyone's memory. Kevin also coached the girls' team, which also enjoyed significant improvement.

Nearly coincident with Kevin's taking the reins at Bishop Brady was his Running Times article, "How To Run Your Best Marathon -- Really." This thorough treatment of contemporary marathon training -- which invoked not only his own experience but that of world-class, regional-class and recreational marathoners from around the globe -- demonstrated the value of alloting ample training energy to running at marathon pace; since the article's appearance, Kevin has guided numerous marathoners to personal bests using the principles underscored in this still-popular piece. Since then, Kevin has produced numerous training-related articles for Running Times on a variety of subjects, including hill training, tempo runs, progression runs, multi-pace training, and preparing for a range of road distances simultaneously. All throughout, he has had the good fortune to meet and speak with renowned athletes and coaches such as Bob Hodge, Bill Squires, and others, opportunities he naturally has used to further his own knowledge of the sport.

Since joining the DistanceCoach.com team, Kevin has coached athletes of various ages and abilities, ranging from runners seeking to qualify for Boston for the first time to age-group world record holders. His chief focus has become career- and family-oriented marathoners for whom running -- while a driving passion -- is only one of several meaningful, time- and energy-consuming life facets.

In 2003, Kevin was seventh at the USATF-New England 13.1M Championships and ran 1:49 to win the Eastern States 20M, but was hampered by adverse weather and injuries in his efforts to qualify for Olympic Marathon Trials. But he began 2004 with a series of personal bests: 13.1M (1:08:22), 10M (51:33), and 5,000 meters both on the track (14:58.2) and on the road (15:16). In November, he placed 2nd at the USATF National 50K Championship, averaging a shade under 6:00 pace on a gently rolling course. He began 2005 by placing second in the Disney World Marathon, fighting off 97% humidity to run 2:28:31.

Kevin, who is the editor of Run Strong, a training book published in April 2005, is also the DistanceCoach.com webmaster and the site's creator. He and Pete -- who share not only very similar training philosophies but a sweeping passion for helping runners of all abilities -- have enjoyed a successful collaboration on many levels, and Kevin is pleased to be a part of the DistanceCoach.com coaching staff.

"Advice I was given, and never forgot... "When I was 15 years old I raced small sailboats. One particularly windy day, my father and his friend were standing next to my boat while I prepared for racing. "'If in doubt, let it out!' my dad's friend offered as advice. "'No, no, no,' interjected my father. 'If in doubt, give it heaps.'"

The Runner

With a track, cross country and road-racing career that spans three decades, Craig brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to his coaching. In 2001, Craig had his finest year as an athlete, running his debut marathon in London and finishing 16th in 2:16. Later that year, he finished 13th in the Chicago Marathon in a personal-best time of 2:13.17.

In high school, Craig consistently placed in the top three at National Championship events that ranged from 800m to 10km on the road. At age 18, he was recruited to the University of Oklahoma. In 1994, Craig won the Drake Relays 10,000m, and in his senior year he placed third in the Big 12 Cross-Country Champs.

After college, Craig continued to run on the track and road, setting personal-best times. Craig began his representative career for his native New Zealand at the World University Games in 1997, then went on to compete in the following global events: IAAF World Half-Marathon Championship (1998), two IAAF World Cross-Country Championships (1999 & 2000), the Manchester Commonwealth Games (2002), and, most recently, the WRMA World Mountain-Running Trophy (2006).

Craig PR's: 1:55 for 800m, 3:49 for 1500m, 8:01 for 3000m, 13:55 for 5000m, 23:11 for 5 miles, 28:38 for 10,000m, 1:03.25 for the half-marathon and 2:13.17 for the marathon.

The Coach

Craig's coaching philosophy and knowledge has developed over his whole running career. Growing up in New Zealand, Craig read as much as he could from the legendary coach, Arthur Lydiard. Applying these ideas and theories, Craig wrote his own training programs, and achieved great success.

Craig's formal coaching experience started when he returned to New Zealand in 2002 and offered to help a junior athlete who needed an interim coach. During the three months with Craig, he improved his 3000m PB from 9:05 to 8:42. While working as a personal trainer and coaching friends, Craig decided to seek out a formal coaching qualification, and in 2004 he received his Athletics New Zealand Coaching Certificate.

"Having evolved from a full-time athlete to a father with a career, I fully appreciate the pressures that runners have in balancing the priorities of work, running and life," says Craig. "No doubt your running doesn't always come first on the priority list for your spouse, kids, friends, boss or colleagues. I look forward to working with runners with full lives who like a challenge."

A runner once asked Greg Lautenslager what he had done in the sport. Greg told the man of his four U.S. Olympic Trials appearances, his romps through the European track and field tour, and his more than 100 victories during his 20-year running career. The man stared at Greg and said, "You are the greatest runner I've never heard of."

Greg the Coach

Greg is steadily making more of a name for himself as a coach. He took over the distance program at the University of North Texas in 1998 and built the program to the distance power of the Sun Belt Conference. His 2000 cross-country team won the men's SBC title with four freshmen and a junior-college transfer. He coached seven runners to conference titles in his 3 1/2 years there.

As an example of Greg's success at UNT, he developed Debbie Thornhill from an 11:45 high school two-miler into a 17:05 conference champion 5,000-meter runner in just two years. She took 1 1/2 minutes off her 5K time between her freshman and sophomore years. Thornhill, who transferred to Baylor after Lautenslager left UNT, won two Big 12 10,000-meter titles and became a NCAA All American. At UNT, Greg proved to have a knack for peaking his athletes for the important meets. Almost all of his athletes ran their seasonal-best times at the outdoor conference track and field championship meet.

Greg moved to New Zealand in 2001 with his wife, former New Zealand distance champion Debbie Elsmore, and their three sons. He quickly became the cross-country and distance coach of two clubs, Athletics Nelson and the Waimea Harriers. His runners have dominated the top of the South Island region. At the New Zealand Secondary Schools Athletics Championships his seven runners finished 1-2-3-4-6-7-9 in various distance events. His runners also had one third-place finish and three fourth places in the junior and open division races at the New Zealand Track and Field Championships last March. His top female distance runner has improved by 27 seconds in the 1,500 meters since she started training under Greg two years ago. His top male runner has improved 32 seconds in the 1,500 meters during the past 1 1/2 years of training.

Greg also has had success with open and masters athletes. Louise and Tom Vaughan moved from England to New Zealand in 2003. Louise, a former 400-meter hurdler who had never run more than 2 1/2 miles in training, was running for over an hour at a time within a few months of starting Greg's program and finished fourth in the 800 meters at the New Zealand Track and Field Championships last March. Tom, a high-school physical education teacher who had not competed for 10 years, improved his 1,500-meter best from 4:14 to 4:07. Greg also devised a program for Maria Hillier, who responded with silver medals in the half-marathon and 10K at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Auckland in April. Maria's 1:32 for the half-marathon was a New Zealand record in the 50-54 age group.

Greg the Runner

Greg ran 4:12.5 to win the Texas state high-school mile in 1976 and won 28 races at Texas Tech University, where he has held the 5,000-meter record (13:44.1) the past 27 years. He trained for five years in Eugene, Oregon before moving to Boston in 1986.

Greg's big breakthrough came in Bern, Switzerland in 1987, when he defeated 1984 Olympic 10,000-metes champion Alberto Cova of Italy and 1984 Olympic 5,000-meter silver medallist Markus Ryffel of Switzerland in a still-standing meet record 13:33.39. His 28:08.39 in the 10,000 meters in Paris eight days later was the third-fastest time in the U.S. and the 28th fastest in the world that year. He also ran 8:31 for two miles in Gateshead, England that summer.

Greg finished seventh in the 5,000 meters and 10th in the 10,000 meters at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. He returned to Dallas in 1990. At age 34, he placed 10th at the 1992 Olympic Trials 5,000 in New Orleans, and missed making the team by seven seconds.

More recently, Greg has won eight national masters team and individual medals in New Zealand cross-country and road events the past two years. He finished second in the 2002 New Zealand Cross-Country Championships and led his club to the national title. He also has put on numerous camps and clinics and directs an annual cross-country race.

Greg was a sportswriter from 1990 to 2001 at The Dallas Morning News, where he wrote more than 3,000 stories and a weekly running column. He continues to write a bi-monthly column for Runner Triathlete News and recently completed his first running novel.

Greg's Running Philosophy

Greg believes in a long-term approach with long-range goals. He likens training to building a house: "You have to lay a strong foundation first," he explains. "Then carefully put up the frame, the walls, the roof, and lay the bricks. Eventually, you meticulously do the interior and the landscaping and the fine-tuning that turns the house into a palace." Greg asks his athletes for their running background and then devises an individualized program, based on what each athlete can handle. He has his runners start with some long, steady miles and gradually adds some fartlek, timed runs on the grass, and tempo runs before heading into interval training.

Greg says his job as a coach is to get the most out of his athletes and put them on a path toward reaching their potential. He says success is based on three things: talent, coaching, and motivation. "The talent is God-given," he says. "There is nothing anyone can do about it. Coaching is a matter of being lucky and resourceful enough to find a good one, who paves your way to success. Motivation is based solely on the athlete. It comes from within. The athlete must have that burning desire to succeed and then have the discipline to make sacrifices, the dedication to put in the work, and the determination to reach the goal."