Mark Coogan (@mark_coogan) is the coach of Team New Balance Boston (@teamnbboston), an elite distance running team that sent three athletes to the 2021 Olympics. He was previously the distance running coach at Dartmouth College and also coached at Tufts University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Phillips Exeter Academy. Among the athletes Coogan has coached are Olympians Elle St. Pierre, who holds the U.S. indoor records for the 1-mile and 2-mile races and is a world championship silver medalist; Heather MacLean, the 2022 U.S. indoor 1,500-meter champion; and Abbey D'Agostino Cooper, whose seven NCAA titles make her the most decorated distance runner in Ivy League history.

Before becoming an elite coach, Coogan was a professional runner from 1988 to 2004. He was on the 1996 U.S. Olympic marathon team, won the silver medal in the marathon at the 1995 Pan American Games, represented the United States in the 5,000-meter race in the 1995 World Track and Field Championships, and ran in seven World Cross Country Championships. He had unique range, ranking in the top 10 in the United States in the mile, steeplechase, 5K, 10K, and marathon during his career. He was also the first Massachusetts native to run a mile in less than 4 minutes. He lives in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

Scott Douglas (@mescottdouglas) is a contributing writer for Runner's World and the author or coauthor of several well-known running books, including Advanced Marathoning, Running Is My Therapy, and the New York Times best sellers Meb for Mortals and 26 Marathons. His writing on fitness and health has appeared in The Atlantic, Washington Post, Slate, and Outside. He lives in North Yarmouth, Maine.