Dathan Ritzenhein has lived two lives in running: first as one of America's most decorated distance runners, and now as the head coach of the On Athletics Club (OAC).

As a coach, Ritzenhein has been at the center of some of the sport's biggest moments in recent years. Under his leadership, Yared Nuguse set the indoor mile world record on Feb 8, 2025 (3:46.63) before it was lowered five days later by Jakob Ingebrigtsen and stormed down New York's Fifth Avenue to win the storied road mile that fall.

On the roads, he's masterminded Hellen Obiri's back-to-back Boston Marathon victories in 2023 and 2024, and helped her remain a fixture at the front in 2025 when Sharon Lokedi's course-record run edged her for the win.

Before he was a world-class coach, Ritzenhein was one of the fastest Americans ever. A three-time Olympian, he set the U.S. record in the 5,000 meters in 2009 with a blazing 12:56.27, claimed bronze at the World Half Marathon Championships that same year in exactly one hour, and ran 2:07:47 for the marathon in Chicago in 2012.

From Boulder, Colorado, he now leads a team that competes and wins at every distance from the 1500 meters to the marathon.

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Fleet Feet CEO Joey Pointer has made a career of combining community-driven retail with cutting-edge data insights.

His journey into running retail wasn't a straight line. Raised on a North Carolina farm, he began his professional life in accounting at Ernst & Young before joining Fleet Feet in 2004 as a financial manager.

Over the next decade, he rose through the ranks: Director of Operations, CFO, and ultimately CEO in 2017. Along the way, he transformed Fleet Feet from a small specialty chain into a national leader with nearly 300 stores.

What sets Pointer apart is his conviction that data can differentiate running retail. Under his leadership, Fleet Feet launched fit id® 3D scanning across its stores in 2017, collecting millions of scans to personalize footwear like never before.

Of course, growth hasn't come without challenges. Pointer has been candid about navigating competitive pressures from powerhouse brands like On, Nike, and Hoka, while also integrating major acquisitions like JackRabbit and Marathon Sports.

In recent months, Fleet Feet has kept expanding, marking anniversaries across nearly 300 shops in 2025 and pushingforward with its goal to make community-based retail thrive in the digital age.

Pointer also deepened his community ties, joining the national board of Girls on the Run International, reflecting his belief that running should be a force for good.

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Andreas Almgren returns to the show, this time fresh off a bronze in the 10,000 meters at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo.

This marked Sweden’s first World Championships medal in a long-distance track event—and the nation’s first ever in the 10,000m. For Almgren, it was the culmination of a journey from middle-distance prodigy to one of Europe’s most versatile runners.

He burst onto the scene with a World U20 bronze in the 800m in 2014, followed by a 1:45.59 personal best in 2015 after setting the Swedish U20 record (1:45.65) in 2014.

In January 2025, Almgren became the first European to break 27 minutes for 10,000m on the road, clocking 26:53 in Valencia. Months later, he ran 12:44.27 in Stockholm to break the European 5,000m record. He also holds Swedish records of 13:05 in the 5,000m on the road and 59:23 for the half marathon.

His Tokyo bronze now sits alongside these marks, proof he can pair records with championship hardware.

As of September 2025, Almgren is preparing for Valencia again, this time to chase the European half marathon record of 59:13. At 30, he stands at the peak of his powers, showing how patience and adaptability can redefine both an athlete and the record books.

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Amid a pro reset in Eugene and a new flag next to his name, Charles Hicks is aiming his firepower at the marathon.

Stanford’s first NCAA individual cross-country champion turned Nike pro joins the show amidst a change. He’s shifting his firepower to the roads and is making his marathon debut at the TCS New York City Marathon on November 2, 2025.

He trains in Eugene with Nike’s Swoosh TC (launched Feb. 7, 2025) and has been based there since 2023. He’s also fresh off a USATF 10 Mile title in Washington, D.C., set in course-record time.

On the track, you’ve seen the range: 13:09 indoors for 5k and 27:33 for 10k at “The Ten.” Now, he’s translating that speed into 26.2 on one of the world’s toughest courses.

He’s also a two-time European U23 XC champion (’21 Dublin, ’22 Turin) and the European U23 5000m champion (’23 Espoo).

And there’s a timely wrinkle: World Athletics now lists him under the United States after switching from GBR, opening fresh conversations about U.S. teams and majors.

Charles also co-founded Scholarly, a platform that links applicants with successful students’ essays and insights. Between the racetrack and the startup world, he’s clearly on the rise.

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Few coaches have reshaped a running program the way Laurie Henes has.

For more than three decades, she’s been at the heart of NC State running, first as a competitor, then as a builder of champions.

As an athlete, Laurie was an eight-time All-American, the 1991 NCAA 5,000-meter champion, and later competed for the U.S. at the 1995 World Championships (10,000m).

She had personal bests of 15:31 for 5,000 meters and 32:05 for 10,000 meters.

She knows the grind of the sport firsthand: the glory of winning and the sting of just missing an Olympic team by two places at the 1996 Trials in the 10,000m.

That perspective carried seamlessly into her coaching career.

Since joining the Wolfpack staff in the early ’90s, Laurie has shaped the program into a national powerhouse.

She became the women’s cross country head coach in 2006, and in 2019, she was elevated to head coach of women’s track & field.

Since summer 2023, she has served as Director of Track & Field and Cross Country.

The results speak for themselves: under her leadership, NC State women’s cross country teams captured three straight NCAA titles from 2021 through 2023.

She’s coached NCAA champions like her daughter Elly Henes and Katelyn Tuohy, as well as countless All-Americans.

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Cordell Tinch just struck gold in Tokyo, and he’s back on the show to tell us how it happened.

This isn’t just about a gold medal. Cordell’s career is about resilience, reinvention, and the razor-thin line between heartbreak and glory. Just a year ago, he missed making the U.S. Olympic team by one place after undergoing mid-season surgery.

Fast forward to 2025, and he’s running 12.99 to capture the World Championship title in Tokyo, only weeks after becoming Diamond League champion with a blazing 12.92, equaling the meet record in Zurich. Earlier this season, Cordell clocked 12.87 in Keqiao, a performance that made him the fourth-fastest 110m hurdler in history.

His journey has been anything but linear. From winning the Big 12 title as a Kansas freshman in 2019, to leaving the sport for nearly three years, to storming back at Pittsburg State with a world-leading 12.96 in 2023, Cordell’s arc is one of resilience and belief.

Now, after sharpening his rhythm and composure to consistently break the 13-second barrier, he’s here to unpack the mindset shift that turned him from nearly quitting the sport into a global champion.

Because of that, this isn’t another victory lap. It’s a raw and dynamic inside look at how belief, resilience, and technical mastery can transform an athlete’s career and inspire a generation.

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At just 18, Sadie Engelhardt has lived the kind of running career most athletes dream about: national records, Olympic Trials, and head-to-head battles with pros.

Now, she’s back on the show as her next challenge looms: the grind of NCAA competition at NC State.

Sadie’s remarkable journey from rewriting the record books to embracing the challenges of collegiate running are sure to be primetime viewing. This is coming from the girl who set the high school outdoor mile record at 4:28.46 in St. Louisthen lowered it again indoors with a 4:27.97 at the Millrose Games.

She’s already left an indelible mark on prep distance running. Along the way, she gained invaluable experience racing the pros; competing at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, finishing 7th at the Sir Walter Miler, and running a 4:07.78 1500m personal best this summer.

Sadie has talked about bringing a “free feeling” approach into one of the most competitive NCAA programs, even after setbacks like managing an achilles issue late in her high school career.

With a new NIL partnership with Brooks Running, her debut as a freshman at NC State, and fresh goals on the horizon, Sadie Engelhardt is redefining what’s possible at the next level.

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Tim Surface’s path runs straight through the heart of the sport of running.

Tim is a University of Tulsa Academic All-American who kept competing after college, carving out a 2:24:39 marathon at Chicago and logging PRs of 1:09:12 for the half and 30:35 for 10,000m, before channeling that discipline into coaching and product building.

Today, from Raleigh, he wears two hats: that of a high-school coach at North Raleigh Christian Academy and co-founder/CEO of Final Surge, where he’s bringing an athlete’s empathy and a coach’s realism to endurance tech.

His north star is simple: save coaches time so they can spend it with athletes. That philosophy shows up in practical tools like attendance and roster features for teams, deep device integrations, and a mobile Structured Workout Builder that letscoaches create, edit, and sync sessions on the fly.

Tim is here to help guide coaches on how to communicate clearly and keep the human side of coaching front and center.

Tim has a great perspective on what high-school athletes truly need in 2025, how to cut noise from data, and where endurance technology is headed next.

This is a story of mileage becoming momentum—of a runner who never stopped building—and a playbook for coaches and athletes who want their tools to work as hard as they do.

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