COACHES

Nicholas Panebianco

Nick has been an Asha DC marathon coach since 2003. Nick is a certified 'Road Runners Club of America' runner coach and chairman of the 'Big Brother Big Sisters (BBBS) Run for Kids Marathon Challenge'. He has been a Prince George's county Big Brother since 1993 and has been training BBBS runners to run the Marine Corps Marathon since 1997. Nick is a staunch supporter of children's charities and marathon running. Nick has completed thirty marathons which include 5 ultra-marathons. His marathon PR (3:16) allowed him to qualify and run the 2003 Boston Marathon. He has run the JFK 50 twice and he has finished three birthday ultras (running his age in miles) at age 40, 43, and 44.

Jay Wind

Jay Jacob Wind has been coaching since 1987.  He has taken both RRCA and USATF Level I coaching courses.  He has finished 117 marathons as of March 2008, with a lifetime best of 2:27:25 at Boston 1980 and a recent best of 3:11:28 at Washington's Birthday 2004, good for second place overall.  He also runs many shorter races each year.  He directs Potomac River Run Marathon (this year on Sunday, May 4), a benefit for Asha and the other Marathon Charity Partners. Jay will be inducted into Arlington Sports Hall of Fame at its annual banquet on Wednesday, May 28, and you are invited. For more information, see http://mysite.verizon.net/arlsportshof195

Kevin Dopart

Higgledy, Piggledy Kevin P. Dopart’s run Twenty-three marathons -- Oh, what a man. Finished them all a bit Hypoglycemic’ly (Running on empty’s not Part of our plan.)

John Steitz

Coach John lives in Alexandria, VA, and has completed 17 marathons in his 6+ years of training and racing.   He is a USATF-trained coach, entering his fourth year with Marathon Charity Partners.  He is a member of the Marine Corps Marathon Runners Club, enabling him now to run that marathon every year, and has only 44 states to go before he gets his "50 States + DC" T-shirt. With a 5:26 marathon PR (so far), Coach John works closely with the "Penguins," the back of the pack runners, who complete marathons in five to seven hours.  "Speed is great if you have it, but you don't have to be a speed demon to complete a marathon. So long as you can run or walk/run faster than 15 minutes per mile, you can complete the Marine Corps Marathon, and most other marathons, too.  And there is no reason why anyone, at any pace, cannot become more fit and healthy by race walking or running a half marathon.  In the MCP training program, we can help you accomplish either feat."   In addition to the walk/run method, Coach John trains runners in hydration, intervals and fartlek, negative splits, warmup and stretching techniques, strength and cross-training.  He leads Tuesday and Thursday evening runs for MCP trainees in Arlington.     In addition to coaching MCP, Coach John coordinates the "Walk-to-Run" new runner program of Arlington Cooperation Foundation each winter/spring, and serves as race director for a half marathon and 20 mile training race.

Humaira Qureshi

Humaira’s track record should be a source of encouragement to all new runners or non-runners. She is an MCP graduate who has stepped forward to become an assistant coach. Humaira started her running career as recently as May 2007, and that with a bang, i.e., a marathon (Marine Corps 2007), after training for just 5 months with MCP. While she did workout regularly for some years, she had never run a mile in her life prior to joining MCP marathon training program. Having successfully completed the marathon, she also ran three other races (Riley’s Rumble Half Marathon, DC Road Runners 20-Miler, Cherry Blossom 10-Miler) and assisted coach John Steitz in Arlington Cooperation Foundation’s new runner’s "Walk-to-Run" program in spring of 2008. Humaira loves to share her experiences with running and is a great example of having three basic and essential attributes to be a long distance runner -- can do spirit, resilience, and trust in one self.