I’m excited for many reasons to announce that Sean Meissner has joined iRunFar as its newest running coach and we’re truly fortunate to have him. Sean’s been running for decades including over a decade of ultrarunning experience. Since 2003, he’s been a sponsored ultrarunner with Montrail and he’s logged plenty of wins (i.e., Bighorn 50 mile, Tahoe 72 mile, Canadian Death Race) during his 120+ ultras. While Sean’s a trail ultra animal, he’s always racing whatever the surface or distance. It’s not usual to hear of him running a local 10k, shooting for a marathon PR, or tearing up the local cross country, when he’s not out tackling the ultras or multiday events at which he excels.
It’s clear that Sean knows how to find success whatever the running challenge. On top of that, he’s coached high school cross country for a decade, so he’s got plenty of experience working with runners to get the most out of them in both the short and long term. In addition, Sean’s been coaching adult runners and ultrarunners under the radar for a couple years. Here’s what one of Sean’s coaching students, Gina Guss, had to say about him:
Sean is a fantastic coach, full of enthusiasm for running, racing, and coaching. In 2010, he coached me to a 16-minute road marathon PR and to the finish of my first trail 50K. In 2011, he prepared me perfectly for my first 40-mile trail race finish. A trail 50-miler is next, and he’s coaching me toward that goal as well. In between these races, he has also helped me improve my 5k, 10k, and half marathon times. Having personalized coaching and a training plan fine-tuned for me has made all the difference! Thanks to Sean, I continue to make steady improvements and I’m looking forward to what’s ahead.
I must underscore Sean’s enthusiasm for running and place as one of the friendliest guys in the already friendly sport of ultrarunning. He’s just a great guy who goes out of his way to help those around him. For instance, he’s been giving back to his local trail running community for years as the race director for the Peterson Ridge Rumble races, which benefited the cross country team he coached.
I fully recommend Sean as a person and a coach and am excited that he brings coaching services back to iRunFar. For details on Sean’s coaching program and how to get in touch with him, check out iRunFar’s coaching page.
As suggested early, there are numerous reason why I’m excited to have Sean join iRunFar as a coach.
First among them is that iRunFar will be taking on new coaching clients. While I’ve greatly enjoyed coaching, I’ve been unable to take on new coaching clients for some time and would not be able to do so for the foreseeable future. Sean is a more than capable replacement, who’s been doing the running and ultrarunning thing longer than I have!
Second, I’m looking forward to having my good friend Sean be a member of the iRunFar family. As iRunFar continues to expand past a one-man operation, I hope to work more closely with him and to bring other friends into the fold. One’s life is only as good as the people with whom one surrounds himself or herself. With Sean and, behind the scenes, Meghan Hicks, I couldn’t ask for better folks to work with on a regular basis and that’s only bolstered by iRF’s ace reviews Travis Liles and Tom Caughlan, its race coverage team, and iRunFar’s newest editorial voice…. well, you’ll just have to wait for Friday to hear about that one!
Finally, having Sean take over iRF’s coaching responsibilities means I can further concentrate on my roll as editor and publisher of iRunFar, a trend I’ll be working toward going forward. So, thanks, Sean for joining iRunFar and making it an all around better place!
