Hey, I'm Andy. I'm passionate about the outdoors, adventure, and enjoying a well-rounded, active, and mindful life.

 

Growing up, I was instilled with a love of all things outdoors, adventure, and fitness by my Mom. Mostly a group sport athlete, the first time I “trained” for a run was a single 2k training run in preparation for a sprint triathlon my mom wanted to do for her 50th birthday. Not long after, I found myself on my school’s cross country team where on the first day I ran several kilometers longer than I ever had in my life and got the worst blister I had ever had (then and since).

I also discovered the comradery of running and the benefits of having an awesome coach in your corner to encourage, support, and teach.
 

Fifteen years later, I am still running and have raced nearly every distance between 5km and 100km. It keeps me feeling sane, happy, fit and challenged. As my running progressed, every next distance seemed impossible until it wasn’t. My first longer distance race wasn’t actually a race at all, but an adventure mission during university with a friend where we decided to train for three months to run 25km from our university to downtown Chicago, USA…just for fun. More legitimate road and trail races of traditional distances followed, and since being in Brisbane, I have taken advantage of the extensive local trail network.

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One day I got asked if I wanted to run the Guzzler 100k race. It was more than double the distance of my longest race, a road marathon, with nearly 20x the elevation. I readily agreed, and for the next eight months felt both fear and excitement at the start of each week’s long run, as we slowly increased our distance. As the most experienced runner in my training crew, I took charge of our training plan, with aid from my former cross-country coach. This was 2020, and the Guzzler was postponed. Not wanting to pause our training and start again, we planned our own 100k race around the original weekend. Our friends manned aid stations and acted as pacers, and I found out that 100k was indeed possible.

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As evidenced by my variety of legitimate races and adventurous ideas, I am motivated by all sorts of challenges. I find the training process to be fun and fascinating and enjoy the process as much or more than the race itself.

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In addition to being a long-time runner, I am also a yoga teacher and avid rock climber, hiker, and amateur handstand and movement enthusiast. I believe in training in a way that keeps the body healthy, well-rounded and ensures longevity. I believe training should be fun—we spend so much more time training than racing—and as cheesy as it is, it’s about the journey as well as the destination. I believe our bodies are so much more capable than we often give them credit for and that any distance or elevation is possible with proper training and the right mindset.

 

I love motivating people to push beyond their limits and seeing the excitement of conquering a distance or race style that once seemed impossible.

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If you are interested in achieving any running goal and think we would work well together, hit the button below. I look forward to training with you!