Office Hours: Peninsula Distance Club’s Dena Evans On 25 Years Of Excellence In Coaching + Developing Talent And U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifiers

Office Hours: Peninsula Distance Club’s Dena Evans On 25 Years Of Excellence In Coaching + Developing Talent And U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifiers

“One of the things we talk about on our team is if everyone is giving 51% or more and never taking more than 49%, your ecosystem is always going to be in balance. But if everyone isn’t willing to give more than 49% and they’re always taking more than 51%, then the ecosystem is never going to be in balance. We just try to keep an environment where people are waiting for other people to go to the bathroom, giving each other rides, taking turns at the lead, doing the little things.

My guest for today's episode is coach Dena Evans of the Peninsula Distance Club, one of the most experienced, influential, and quietly impactful leaders in American distance running. What happened at CIM just doesn't come out of nowhere. It was the product of more than 25 years of coaching spent moving between youth athletes, post-collegiates, pros, and learning how to build something that lasts.

Along the way, Coach Evans has worn just about every different hat that this sport has to offer. She was the women's head coach for Team USA at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, she’s served on nearly a dozen international team staffs over the past two decades, and she currently sits on the USATF Women's Long Distance Running Committee after years of leadership across track and across country. At the center of all of it is the Peninsula Distance Club, a post-collegiate team that she founded in 2007 – and that she still leads today.

It's a grassroots operation built on belief, patience, and also community, so if you're feeling generous, you can support them at the link here. Before PDC, Coach Evans was at Stanford from 1999 to 2005, where she led the Cardinal to a national cross country title and was named the NCAA Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2003. During that time, she coached many of the athletes that you've heard on this show or seen us cover.

In this conversation, we trace the long arc from that quiet moment at CIM to the very beginning where she was growing up in multiple sports, the influence of coaches like Vin Lananna and coach Frank Gagliano, and what she's learned by spending so much time with athletes in the often overlooked post-collegiate phase.

Coach Evans has seen the sport from nearly every angle. She's built her career patiently, deliberately, and with deep care.

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Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠

Guest: Dena Evans | @dizneena on Instagram

Produced by: Jasmine Fehr | ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr on Instagram⁠⁠⁠

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Episoder(961)

Kyle Merber Of the HOKA One One NJ-NY Track Club Answers Your Listener Questions

Kyle Merber Of the HOKA One One NJ-NY Track Club Answers Your Listener Questions

We finally deliver one of the most requested episodes. Kyle Merber joins the CITIUS MAG Podcast to take all your listener questions. Thanks a lot to all of the listeners who sent in questions. We did our best to get to as many of them but definitely ran out of time and will have to bring Merber back on the show at another point. Here are some of the questions discussed: - Who has the best kick in U.S. middle distance running right now? - Most intense Gags story from practice - Best race that he's witnessed in person or was part of? - Any plans to move up from the 1,500 meters to the 5,000 meters? - Is Merber considering dual Irish citizenship? - Most memorable David Torrence story? - Why does he wear a headband? - More talk about seltzer than you'd expect to hear on a podcast - What's the story behind his Twitter avatar? - Are we ever going to get a Real Maine 2? All that and more in the latest episode. You can catch the show on iTunes so subscribe and leave a five-star review. We are also now on Stitcher and Google Play!

8 Des 20171h 12min

Rob Conner on Portland XC's surprise runner-up finish at NCAAs + much more

Rob Conner on Portland XC's surprise runner-up finish at NCAAs + much more

Portland Pilots cross country coach Rob Conner joins the CITIUS MAG Podcast to discuss the surprising runner-up finish by his men's team at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country National Championships last weekend. Conner delves into the history of the Portland cross country program, recruiting in the same state as Oregon, breaking down his coaching philosophy and much more. We also delve into the controversy that followed when some of Portland's top guys did not race at the Western Conference Championship and let to an editorial on LetsRun.com. We'll have a separate post on the site with Rob's comments transcribed. Other questions include: Do you feel closer to a national championship now more than you did five or ten years ago? Who would be on the Mt. Rushmore of Portland Cross Country runners? What is his coolest piece of wrestling memorabilia?  You can catch the latest episode of the podcast on iTunes so subscribe and leave a five-star review. We are also now on Stitcher!

22 Nov 201758min

Isaac Wood (The Wood Report) previews the 2017 NCAA Cross Country National Championship

Isaac Wood (The Wood Report) previews the 2017 NCAA Cross Country National Championship

Isaac Wood, author of The Wood Report, joins the show to break down the individual and team races at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country National Championships. Isaac is also the director of track and field operations at BYU and with the Cougars being one of the best teams in the country, he's able to share some insight into their program and how they became a national championship contender.  On Thursday, Isaac released his final projections you can find the links below: Men's individual projections and All-Americans: http://citiusmag.com/ncaa-cross-country-championship-mens-projections-individuals/ Men's team projections: http://citiusmag.com/ncaa-cross-country-national-championship-mens-team-projections/ Women's individual projections: http://citiusmag.com/ncaa-cross-country-championship-womens-individual-projections/ Women's team projections: http://citiusmag.com/ncaa-cross-country-national-championship-womens-team-projections/ We take some listener questions from people on Twitter including: How would the races be different if they were both 8K as opposed to 10K for the men and 6K for the women, who could be the biggest disappointments and much more. If you have any more questions for Isaac before the championship, he can try to answer them on Twitter by reaching him: @Wood_Report. You can catch the latest episode of the podcast on iTunes so subscribe and leave a five-star review. We are also now on Stitcher!

17 Nov 201742min

Jeanne Mack – Meet one of the biggest surprises of the NYC Marathon

Jeanne Mack – Meet one of the biggest surprises of the NYC Marathon

Get to know Jeanne Mack after she stunned us with her 24th overall (10th American woman) finish at the 2017 New York City Marathon. In addition to writing for CITIUS, Jeanne is an MFA student at NAU. She previously ran at Harvard. Jeanne shares a little insight into her running trajectory, what it's like to be coached by Stephen Kersh, a wild start to her race and what's next as an emerging sub-elite athlete. Jeanne actually just wrote her own reflection on her race, which you can find and read here: http://citiusmag.com/running-with-men/

10 Nov 201746min

Shalane Flanagan on her NYC Marathon goals, the rest of her career, training and more

Shalane Flanagan on her NYC Marathon goals, the rest of her career, training and more

Decided to share with you some of the audio from my interview with Shalane Flanagan from a story that I wrote earlier this month for Sports Illustrated. There were a couple of nuggets of information that didn't make the final edit of the story but I feel like it would be particularly interesting to our listeners.  The big story in the lead-up to New York was that Shalane revealed to me that this could be her final marathon. I'm not inclined to totally buy into that idea but we discuss her goals for New York City, what she hopes to accomplish in the remainder of her career, what still surprises her about Jerry Schumacher, training in Mammoth and more. Here's the link to the SI.com story –https://www.si.com/edge/2017/10/25/new-york-city-marathon-shalane-flanagan-career ---------- This episode was brought to you by Maurten. If you’re interested in marathon investigations then there’s a chance that you’re also a marathon or road runner. If so, you should fuel properly for those long distance races and we recommend Maurten. It’s the world’s most carbohydrate-rich sports drink and it’s being used by the top marathoners in the world. Eliud Kipchoge used it during the Breaking2 attempt and the Berlin Marathon. Kenenisa Bekele has been using it since winning the 2016 Berlin Marathon. Mo Farah even used it prior to his gold medal runs at the world championships. It worked for me at the Berlin Marathon and it could work for you. They have two drinks with 40 or 80 grams of carbohydrates and they’re now available in the U.S. Check them out today at Maurten.com CITIUS MAG PODCAST LISTENERS GET 20% OFF THEIR NEXT ORDER: Use promo code CMP20 at checkout.

4 Nov 201735min

New York City Marathon Preview - LIVE Podcast From the NYRR Run Center

New York City Marathon Preview - LIVE Podcast From the NYRR Run Center

Chris is joined by Kit Fox of Men's Journal (previously at Runner's World) to preview the 2017 TCS New York City Marathon before a live audience at the NYRR RUNCENTER feat. the New Balance Run Hub. We discuss the major players in the men's and women's race before also chatting a little bit about the celebrities running and then a little trivia for our guests. Thanks a lot to NYRR for giving us the time and space. Shout-out to the Citwits who came and then tagged along for a little shakeout run. Be sure to subscribe on iTunes and leave a 5-star review.

4 Nov 201739min

Abdi Abdirahman on NYC Marathon, Being Old, His Best Race, LeBron Mile

Abdi Abdirahman on NYC Marathon, Being Old, His Best Race, LeBron Mile

Four-time U.S. Olympian Abdi Abdirahman joins the CITIUS MAG Podcast ahead of Sunday's TCS New York City Marathon. He is this year's top returning American after his third place finish in last year's race, which resurrected his career after a string of injuries. He's 40 years old so he shares his thoughts on how much longer he may be able to go, Meb's retirement party and what is was like missing a fifth Olympic team. Abdirahman also touches on some fun topics like his plans to develop runners in Somalia, the nutrition and hydration strategy of East African runners, what's his greatest race, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Blue Jeans Mile (people forget that he use to make his own jeans) and a heated debate on what LeBron James can run for the mile.  This episode was brought to you by Maurten. If you’re interested in marathon investigations then there’s a chance that you’re also a marathon or road runner. If so, you should fuel properly for those long distance races and we recommend Maurten. It’s the world’s most carbohydrate-rich sports drink and it’s being used by the top marathoners in the world. Eliud Kipchoge used it during the Breaking2 attempt and the Berlin Marathon. Kenenisa Bekele has been using it since winning the 2016 Berlin Marathon. Mo Farah even used it prior to his gold medal runs at the world championships. It worked for me at the Berlin Marathon and it could work for you. They have two drinks with 40 or 80 grams of carbohydrates and they’re now available in the U.S. Check them out today at Maurten.com CITIUS MAG PODCAST LISTENERS GET 20% OFF THEIR NEXT ORDER: Use promo code CMP20 at checkout.

2 Nov 201749min

Derek Murphy of MarathonInvestigation.com on how he cracks down on cheats

Derek Murphy of MarathonInvestigation.com on how he cracks down on cheats

I've been excited to do this episode for a while and it's probably one of the most interesting ones that we've done. Derek Murphy of MarathonInvestigation.com joins the CITIUS MAG Podcast to discuss how he got started cracking down on cheats, why he does it, how he does it and much more. Murphy tells us his process for investigating some of the red flags that come up in race results, what does it feel like to catch cheaters, his most high profile catch as well as if there is any backlash to revealing his findings. Murphy appreciates the sport much like all of us and we ask him what he likes to do for fun and how much of a runner he is.  Fun topics include: Investigating Matthew Centrowitz from the Chicago Marathon and how he would've approached the Rosie Ruiz or Kathrine Switzer situations. This episode was brought to you by Maurten. If you're interested in marathon investigations then there's a chance that you're also a marathon or road runner. If so, you should fuel properly for those long distance races and we recommend Maurten. It's the world's most carbohydrate-rich sports drink and it's being used by the top marathoners in the world. Eliud Kipchoge used it during the Breaking2 attempt and the Berlin Marathon. Kenenisa Bekele has been using it since winning the 2016 Berlin Marathon. Mo Farah even used it prior to his gold medal runs at the world championships. It worked for me at the Berlin Marathon and it could work for you. They have two drinks with 40 or 80 grams of carbohydrates and they're now available in the U.S. Check them out today at Maurten.com You can catch the latest episode of the podcast on iTunes so subscribe and leave a five-star review. We are also now on Stitcher! Details for the CITIUS MAG Podcast NYC Live Marathon Preview Show Date: Friday, November 3rd @ 5:00PM Where: NYRR RUNCENTER, 320 W. 57th St. NY, NY 10019

27 Okt 201738min

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