A Data-Driven Environmental Scan of the Trail and Ultra Coaching Industry – iRunFar

When Pam Smith won the 2013 Western States 100, she was self-coached and working as a medical doctor. Reflecting on the state of the sport two years later, Smith wrote a tongue-in-cheek blog post in which she acknowledged that athletes like her were increasingly rare. By 2015, Smith said, two emerging trends among ultrarunners were that: “You NEED a coach,” and you should also, “Become a coach.”

Smith was onto something. She added some humor, but the data support her observation. More trail runners and ultrarunners than ever have worked with coaches, and the number of professional trail running and ultrarunning coaches continues to increase.

Pam Smith after winning the 2013 Western States 100. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell

This month, we dig into trends in the growing industry of professional trail and ultra coaching. How many coaches are there? What proportion of runners use their services? Are there trends in the types of services that coaches offer? These questions can be challenging to answer. As small business operators, coaches have a vested interest in keeping data private that might give them a competitive advantage — they have bills to pay.

We may be more aware of which athletes are coached compared to which athletes are self-coached because, as Pam Smith pointed out, a solid race performance might result in the athlete acknowledging the role their coach played when recounting the race on social media, while the coach may also post about the race to publicly congratulate their athlete.

The range of services and pricing in the industry can be challenging to summarize because not all coaches publish their rates or fees on their websites, and there isn’t currently — to my knowledge — a single reliable database of all coaches.

That said, I am curious and I have the internet. I reached out to various organizations, and I collected publicly available data, including via the Internet Archive. The resulting data starts to answer some of these questions about the current state and continuing growth of professional coaching services for trail runners and ultrarunners. Do you have insights of your own to share? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.

A Note about Methodology

This article has a North American focus. I pulled data from “UltraRunning Magazine” and the Western States 100. To create a sample dataset of coaches, I predominantly selected coaches operating in North America (or who are employed by North American-based coaching businesses), who maintain websites in English. I readily acknowledge the limitations of this methodology, which I used to keep the scope of this article feasible. As always, I view this article as mildly educational fodder for good conversation on a long run with friends.

Zach Miller hugs his 10th-grade track coach, Jeff Bradley, at the finish line of the 2023 UTMB. A good coach can leave a lasting impact. Photo: Luke Webster

Trends Among Coaching Clients

The American Trail Running Association (ATRA) reported in 2023 that 13% of respondents to its survey had a coach. I suspect survey respondents to an ATRA poll are disproportionately likely to be passionate trail runners, for whom running a trail race, or an ultramarathon, isn’t a one-time event. With that in mind, I believe the percentage of trail runners and ultrarunners who work with a coach varies widely, depending on the group of athletes you have in mind. Among the 35,695 runners who finished their first North American ultramarathon in 2023, as counted by “UltraRunning Magazine,” the number of coached athletes may be lower, if those athletes are new to the sport, unfamiliar with the coaching options, and unsure how much they will commit to the sport over the long term.

Kuni Yamagata finishing the 2021 Western States 100 during the Golden Hour before the cutoff, as photographed in the book “Second Sunrise.” The proportion of runners who use a coach for this race is high, which may be in part because it is a bucket-list race, which many runners will have only one chance to finish. Photo: Gary Wang

In contrast, the percentage of athletes working with coaches appears to be higher for the Western States 100, which is a bucket-list race where runners cannot assume they will be able to try again next year if they are disappointed in their result. In 2023, 36% of all runners who started the Western States 100 had a coach. Interestingly, in 2023, 47% of runners who finished in less than 24 hours had coaches. That’s nearly identical to the proportion of runners who did not finish who had coaches, which was 46%. This may indicate the two types of athletes who are most likely to make use of coaches — those chasing a competitive result, and those for whom a finish is not guaranteed. It’s logical runners in both groups are looking to gain an advantage where they can.

Percentage of Western States 100 Runners Who Finished in Under 24 Hours Who Trained for the Race with Support from a Professional Running Coach

The above chart shows that the percentage of sub-24-hour finishers working with coaches has generally increased since Western States participants started responding to surveys in 2014. The percentage of coached runners in this category peaked in 2023, when 47% of sub-24-hour finishers had coaches. Please note that surveys were not conducted in 2021 or in 2020.

Table of Western States 100 Survey Data on Race Participants Who Had Coaches, Since 2014

A table showing the types and percentages of runners who used coaches before running the Western States 100 from 2014 to 2023. Source: Western States 100 surveys from wser.org/category/surveys (1). Please note that from 2017 to 2018, the survey changed some of the categories it used to track which runners paid for coaching services, so data is not available for all categories for all years.

The proportion of athletes working with coaches appears to be even higher among the elite runners. Looking online and consulting with editor Sarah Brady, I could find references to 75% of men’s and women’s top-10 finishers at the 2023 Western States 100 having coaches (2). Of the five men and women for whom I couldn’t find coaching information, they may still work with coaches. It’s relatively common for elite athletes to operate their own coaching businesses, where the job’s flexibility supports their own training. Possibly to build their own brand as coaches, not all elite runners make it obvious who coaches them.

The top 10 men at the 2023 Western States 100. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks

These statistics suggest that many trail runners and ultrarunners work with coaches, and the percentage of athletes with coaches is trending upward. It’s worth noting that many of these athletes spend time being self-coached, too, and/or switch coaches at some point in their athletic careers.

In that same vein, when runners are not working one-on-one with a professional coach, they frequently use other tools and services to support their training. For example, runners can purchase training plans, either from individual coaches or major training platforms like Training Peaks. Vert.run, a relatively new app, allows runners to access training plans developed by well-known elite athletes and receive regular feedback, for a subscription fee that is less than the going rate for personalized coaching. Vert.run has reported over 150,000 downloads over the past three years and states that it is on track to triple its customer base from 2023.

Some coaching services offer group coaching, which mixes some of the benefits of one-on-one coaching with the camaraderie and lower fees that typically come from group training. There are also coaches who offer consultations at an hourly rate, allowing athletes to tap into their expertise.

Vert.run founders (left to right), Max Keith, Moisés Jiménez, and Kirsten Kortebein. Photo courtesy of Vert.run.

These options may be among the most common for runners, if a 2022 report by Running USA is any indication. It reported that 44% of survey respondents spent between $1 and $300 on coaching in the previous 12 months. Since, as we’ll discuss below, $300 is unlikely to get you a full year of individualized coaching from a full-time professional coach, this suggests that a sizeable minority of runners spend at least part of their year using lower-cost options like running clinics or training plans that are not customized on an ongoing basis.

In case you skimmed this section of the article, you can get the general gist of it if you’re familiar with capitalism: lots of people will pay money for stuff they care about; what they pay for and how much they spend varies.

Trends Among Professional Coaches

“Either you don’t need a coach to finish Western States, or there is a huge untapped market out there for the coaches. You decide. With or without a coach, your chances of a sub-24 and finishing are about the same.” This gem appeared in the 2014 report on the survey data collected from that year’s Western States 100 participants. In the years since, hundreds — possibly thousands — of people decided there was an untapped market for coaches and took up the profession.

Ian Sharman, a decorated ultrarunner with a bevy of top-10 finishes at the Western States 100, had already been coaching full-time for three years when this Western States 100 survey data was released in 2014. That year, he hired two more coaches. His coaching business has since grown to include eight running coaches, plus additional coaches available for supplementary services like nutrition and strength training. This trend of adding coaches is visible in other coaching businesses as well. According to the Internet Archive, the roster of coaches at CTS who coach ultrarunners tripled from seven in June 2018 to 22 as of August 2024.

As of early August 2024, the United Endurance Sports Coaching Academy (UESCA) had certified 1,239 coaches from an estimated 65 countries — and counting. UESCA certification is not a requirement to become a professional running coach, so the actual number of coaches working in the trail running and ultrarunning spaces is likely higher.

The participants of the 2023 United Endurance Sports Coaching Academy’s Ultrarunning Coach Conference. Photo: Tony Hill

I looked at a sample of the 218 coaches who had uploaded their information to the Trail Sisters directory of female running coaches, and not all of the coaches whose websites I visited mentioned the UESCA certification.

The untapped market referred to in 2014 may still exist. As of September 16, 2024, “UltraRunning Magazine” reports that 70,135 unique runners have finished an ultramarathon in North America this year. Of those, 25,917 were described as first-timers. It’s an awkward comparison, but that works out to roughly 93 unique ultramarathon finishers for each American UESCA-certified coach (3).

Suppose a part-time coach has around five to 10 clients at a time, while a full-time coach might have 30 to 40 clients at a time, if they budget approximately one hour per week to each client. These rough estimates would certainly indicate room for growth in the coaching industry, if coaches can convince more athletes to take advantage of their services.

Oh, and the total pool of athletes is growing. “UltraRunning Magazine” reported there were 87,347 unique finishers of North American ultras in 2023. That’s an increase of over 80% since 2014.

Polina Hodnette, the 2023 Tunnel Hill 50 Mile female winner — one of 87,347 unique finishers of North American ultras in 2023. Photo: Colson Photography/Micki and Chad Colson

Services and Pricing

If you thought my guestimates above where imprecise, you’ll want to skip this section. The reality is that it’s very challenging to compare coaching services. Running coaches are not part of a regulated profession the way that, say, registered dieticians are. As a result, there are no required qualifications. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since great coaches can all offer different combinations of experience, education, communication skills, client service, and business savvy.

But this does mean that comparing coaches isn’t exactly an apples-to-apples situation. For starters, not all coaches list their prices on their websites. When I created a sample dataset of 115 service packages from various coaches in the United States and Canada, seven coaches did not publish their pricing information online. Secondly, the 10 most affordable coaches in my dataset did not commit on their website to a schedule for communicating with their athletes outside of their training logs. These coaches were available for emails, text messages, and/or calls as required, but I’m reluctant to compare their services to, for example, the coaches who have monthly or bi-weekly phone calls with their athletes.

Generally speaking, one-on-one coaching typically includes the following components:

• A training log, with clear expectations on how frequently the coach reviews and updates it. This is frequently through specialized software, but is sometimes done via Google Sheets.
• A training plan that is tailored to the date, distance, and terrain of a runner’s goal race(s), with consideration to a runner’s unique needs regarding injury history, access to race-specific terrain, available time, and performance goals.
• Ongoing opportunities for the runner to ask questions and the coach to provide guidance and feedback. Most coaching packages set a minimum amount of access athletes can expect with their coach, such as a weekly email and monthly call.

As for pricing, I believe there are three factors that influence a coach’s pricing structure:

• Time: Coaching packages that commit more time to an athlete result in more customization and support, and cost more as a result. I would say this is the single most important factor, because it impacts the total number of clients a coach can work with. It drives the individualization of the coaching plan, and the quality of the relationship between coach and athlete.
• Qualifications: Coaches with more years of experience and more education commonly charge more.
• Demand: Coaches who are still building their businesses and have openings to take on new clients tend to price themselves more competitively, whereas established coaches who consistently have full rosters aren’t pressured to undercut the price of their services.

A personalized training plan will take into account the terrain the runner has access to to trail on. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi

You’re here for the data, though. And I’m in the client service business, too, in a way. So, let’s look at what I saw in my dataset. To create the dataset, I collected pricing information for dozens of coaches and all of their respective service tiers. I converted their prices to U.S. Dollars, where necessary. I coded their services to identify which coaching plans included a minimum schedule for communication (as opposed to all communication occurring through the training log, except at the coach’s discretion).

I also coded the offerings for each coach’s least expensive coaching package, if a coaching business offered multiple tiers. Here are the findings:

• The least expensive one-on-one coaching option in my dataset converted to $110 per month.
• The average monthly coaching price was $335.
• The median monthly coaching price was $277.
• When I only included the “base model” coaching packages for each coach or business, the average monthly price was $219.
• However, when I excluded coaches or businesses that did not commit to a minimum amount of monthly communication outside of the training log, the average monthly price for “base model” coaching rose to $242.

When I created price groupings for all of the coaching packages from all of the coaches (who list their prices online), I got the histogram below.

Distribution Chart of Coaching Services in a Sample Dataset, by Price Per Month

Bar chart showing the price distribution of various coaching services in a sample dataset.

Again, I am not making value judgments on the different coaching packages on offer. I’m not a coach and you’re probably in better shape than me right now, so I honestly don’t care how you train. I focused on the least expensive coaching packages because they were generally the easiest to compare.

I calculated an average price that excluded certain coaching packages because it was challenging to evaluate the level of communication involved, making them hard to compare.

At the end of the day, coaches can only sell services for which there is a market. And clients get to decide for themselves whether they will perform best when coached by an experienced professional who pulls out all the stops; a passionate professional who makes coaching services accessible to more runners, by maintaining a larger roster and spending less time per athlete; or a sticky note on the bathroom mirror that says, “I believe in you, did you go for your run yet?”

Should You Have a Coach?

As we discuss the growing popularity of professional coaching services, I don’t want to alienate any athletes. I was originally attracted to trail running and ultrarunning because of the welcoming atmosphere and the simplicity of running. I don’t want this article to make anyone feel left behind or priced out of an activity that brings them joy.

Coaches provide valuable services, but not all runners have them. Of the athletes who do use coaching services, those services come in many forms. If you are considering working with a coach, I’ll humbly suggest asking yourself the following questions and seeing how many you answer “yes” to.

You’ll note that I’ve separated the questions into two parts. This is to emphasize that some athletes who choose to use professional coaching services may buy a training plan, sign up for group coaching, or sign up with a coach who provides limited customization and feedback. Other athletes will choose to work directly with a coach for more communication, feedback, individualized training, and attention.

A Vert.run group run at the 2022 UTMB. Photo: Etienne Valentin

1. General Coaching Services

• Can you generally (say, at least 75% of the time) adhere to a structured training plan?
• Can you generally follow a structured training plan and still enjoy your training?
• Do you have specific performance goals, such as finishing a particular event or distance, or finishing with a certain time or placing?
• Are you open to feedback and guidance?
• Do you struggle to find the time or confidence to develop your own training plan?
• Would you have more confidence in your training if you knew your training plan was developed by someone with experience and expertise?
• Would you benefit from the accountability of a training plan, and someone who reviews it?

2. Personalized Coaching Services

• Are there circumstances — such as injury history, life commitments, or performance goals —that mean you would benefit from a customized training plan?
• Are you at risk of overtraining, getting inadequate rest, under-fueling, or neglecting “prehab” components when training on your own?
• Do your performance goals call for a customized training plan that is tailored to your fitness, aspirations, and races?
• Have you reached a point in your athletic journey where you’ve already got the “low-hanging fruit,” and now require customization and advanced knowledge to pursue marginal gains?
• Can you afford one-on-one coaching?
• Would one-on-one coaching be an optimal way to use funds to enhance your training as opposed to, for example, working fewer hours or running tune-up races?

Looking Ahead

If I had to forecast the future of professional trail- and ultra coaching and sum it up in a single word, it would be: More. I think in the future we’ll continue to see more coaches, more runners working with coaches, and more coaching options.

I think the increase in coaching options is particularly salient. A few years ago, a running coach’s standard offering might consist of a personalized training plan and a prescribed schedule for providing feedback via training logs, emails, and/or calls. This continues to be the bread-and-butter of most coaching services in our sport, but we are seeing innovations that offer greater accessibility at one end of the spectrum, and greater customization on the other.

As mentioned previously, there are training plans, apps, and individual coaches who provide relatively low-cost options to support a runner’s training. Vert.run reports major growth in its customer base of runners looking to follow training plans developed by elite athletes, with the opportunity to ask questions of coaches along the way.

On the other end of the spectrum, Jason Koop wrote earlier in 2024 about what he considered the new model for elite performance. He described a coaching team, coordinated by one coach, that provides wraparound services that supports a high-performance athlete by giving that athlete guidance on run training, strength training, nutrition, sports psychology, and more.

At the 2023 United Endurance Sports Coaching Academy’s Ultrarunning Coach Conference (l-to-r) are Kelly Lange, conference organizer Jason Koop, conference organizer Rick Prince, and Molly Schmelzle. Photo: Tony Hill

The various subject matter experts communicate with each other and see each other’s programming so the athlete doesn’t have to assume all of the coordination work, or risk sacrificing performance on a run because of an overly ambitious strength training plan or inadequate nutrition. In early September, Koop announced the launch of a service that would do just that, the CTS High-Performance Program for Elite Ultrarunners.

Many runners are drawn to our sport because there’s such a variety of challenges, race formats, distances, and terrain. There is room in the sport for multiple coaching models, too.

Call for Comments

• What has your experience been with the growing industry of professional coaching?
• Do you have any advice for runners considering or selecting a coach?
• What do you think the future of coaching will be?

Notes/References

1. I reached out to the Western States 100 organization to see if they could provide percentages for the gaps in this table, but didn’t receive a response before our publication deadline. Nonetheless, Western States has provided some of the best publicly available data on the usage of professional coaching services among ultrarunners.
2. I used the 2023 Western States 100 here to remain consistent with the most recent year for which Western States survey data on all participants was available. Plus, I had already done some digging into which athletes had coaches for a previous article on the cost of being a competitive trail runner.
3. According to UESCA, 61% of its certified coaches were based within the United States as of August 2024. This is admittedly an imperfect comparison to “UltraRunning Magazine” data, which is for all of North America (including Canada and Mexico). Bear with me here.