Dream Run Club
Run Coaching for Everyone, Powered by Love
Want to know the secret to success in running?
It’s love.
That’s right: love! The more you love running, the more successful you’ll be. Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie set twenty-seven world records. How? “I love running and I always will,” he said.
The secret to success in coaching is also love. Sure, knowledge is important. But not as important as caring—and science proves it. “Either love your players or get out of coaching,” wrote the great Bobby Dodd.
Dream Run Club is a coaching service that puts love first. What does this mean? It means we choose coaches who not only are knowledgeable and smart but who have big hearts. It means that nurturing a passion for running is our number-one priority as coaches, even for our most competitive athletes. And it means we foster connections between our athletes, promoting a sense of community that makes the journey bigger than any individual.
Yeah, we’re different.
There are a lot of great coaching services out there, but there’s none like Dream Run Club. In addition to our love-first approach, three key factors make Dream Run Club unique and special:
1. Pay-What-You-Can Pricing
This is not a misprint. Dream Run Club allows runners to set their own price for coaching. If you can afford to pay market value,* great. If you can only afford to pay $20 per month, that’s great too.
We believe every runner deserves high-quality coaching. Yet only 5 percent of runners have a coach. For too many runners, coaching just doesn’t seem affordable. So we’ve removed that barrier.
2. Coach-Centered Model
In the typical coaching group, only 60 percent of athlete fees goes to coaches. The other 40 percent lines the owner’s pockets. At Dream Run Club, 100 percent of runner contributions goes to our coaches, who in turn donate 10 percent to the Coaches of Color Initiative to cover expenses and support coaching apprentices.
3. Coaching + Community
Running can be a solitary experience. With most online coaching services, there is little or no interaction among athletes. But Dream Run Club is not most online coaching services. Our members feel like part of a team, enjoying regular groupwide communications in the form of weekly video chats, a private Slack group, and our members-only e-newsletter.
How it works
We have a policy at Dream Run Club called “Zero Awkwardness.” This means we do everything in our power to ensure athletes never feel uncomfortable. Zero Awkwardness begins before you even sign up, with an opportunity to have an informal video call with Dream Run Club creator Matt Fitzgerald to chat about you, your running, and the club.
Here’s a quick overview of the process of joining Dream Run Club:
Step 1:
Book a free, no-obligation video call with Matt Fitzgerald, who will help you decide if Dream Run Club is a good fit for you. Alternatively, you can email Matt.
Step 2:
If you decide to give Dream Run Club a try, Matt will help match you up with a coach and agree on a monthly membership rate. Our suggested contribution is $200 per month. By paying this amount, you help make it possible for us to coach runners with tighter budgets.
Step 3:
Fill out our onboarding questionnaire. The information you provide will help your coach get to know you and start you in the right direction.
Step 4:
Enjoy the many benefits of being a Dream Run Club member:
- Weekly customized workout programming
- Continuous monitoring and as-needed training adjustments
- Regular 30-minute video check-ins with your coach
- Free MySkills Sports Personality analysis
- Access to members-only Slack channel
- Weekly e-newsletter
- 20% off Dream Run Camp Experiences
- Special discounts and exclusive offers from Dream Run Club partners
Step 5:
Move on from Dream Run Club whenever you’re ready. Our Zero Awkwardness policy means that runners never feel stuck or guilty about canceling their membership. Heck, it’s a running club, not a marriage!
Meet Our Coaches
Lauren Clement
Favorite quote: “We have more to learn from animals than animals have to learn from us.”
—Anthony Douglas Williams
Certifications: 80/20 Endurance, RRCA, SafeSport
Lauren fell in love with running in her late 20s, when she became passionate about striving to reach her full potential as a runner. Having realized that this pursuit also brings her closer to the best version of herself, she now views training as a key part of her life and loves sharing this passion with others. Lauren takes an evidence-guided, athlete-centered, and joy-filled approach to partnering with runners in pursuit of their goals. A firm believer in the importance of training the mind as well as the body, she particularly enjoys helping athletes explore and cultivate their mental fitness.
Angelina Ramos
Favorite quote:
Certifications:
Angelina has committed to the development of human potential through individualization, empathy, optimism, and command as a coach for more than 15 years. She’s an advocate of nurturing tribe, cultivating curiosity and culture, prioritizing process, and encouraging holistic development. She believes you can’t improve one area of your life without it affecting all other areas. She also believes that you strengthen your voice by using it, that community is where you try on confidence, and that happiness is a practice. Curiosity empowers people to be in charge of their own learning. Courage and character are attributes upon which everything else rests. Building self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-trust through sport and speech is her passion project.
Jessica Schnier
Favorite quote: “Being as kind to yourself as you are hard on yourself is a skill you have to actively nurture.” -Alexi Pappas
Certifications: 80/20 Endurance, UESCA Ultrarunning, SafeSport
Jessica approaches performance with a perspective that she thinks is often overlooked in the athletic world: happiness. Her approach is rooted in science-driven training theories, ensuring that every step taken is backed by evidence, is process-oriented, and is geared towards sustainable, long-term development. Beyond that, with a deep-rooted belief that happiness is fuel for peak performance, she offers athletes an empowering space where self-kindness takes center stage. Jessica coaches both trail/ultrarunners and road runners, primarily running trails herself.
Mireille Siné
Favorite quote: “And I still rise.” —Maya Angelou
Certifications: 80/20 Endurance, USTAF Level 1, SafeSport
Mireille has always been drawn to service and feels she’s the best version of herself when she gets to support and help others. As a coach, she is on a mission to facilitate community and personal growth while making running fun, diverse, and accessible to all. She believes that a great coach is someone who is willing to continue honing their craft and skillfully guiding athletes through the twists and turns of running while celebrating the wins and lessons in every season. She enjoys working with runners of all abilities, distances, and surfaces who are ready to commit to their training, new and old alike! Mireille, who has lupus, especially encourages athletes with autoimmune conditions to inquire about taking their endurance career to the next level. She resides in Los Angeles, and aside from running, enjoys hiking, camping, watching movies, and gathering snacks from Trader Joe’s.
Ruby Wyles
Favorite quote: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” —Benjamin Franklin
Certifications: 80/20 Endurance, NSCA CSCS, B.S. Exercise Physiology, SafeSport
A true running nerd and endorphin junkie hailing from the UK, Ruby was lured to the US by her love for endurance sports. She competed in cross country and indoor and outdoor track at the NCAA Division I level, and since graduating has transitioned to triathlon, pursuing it at the elite level with aspirations of competing in the World Championships and Olympic Games. Coupled with her own athletic experience and passion, Ruby draws upon her a degree in exercise physiology and additional education in psychology and sports nutrition when working with athletes.
Combining the latest research and training science with the art of understanding individuals and the realities of daily life, Ruby has been helping athletes find joy in running for the past four years and believes the majority of athletes are capable of much more than they imagine. From high school and masters track athletes targeting a fast mile, to experienced marathoners looking to qualify for Boston, to beginner runners unsure if the sport is for them, Ruby has a diverse coaching background centered on her philosophy of meeting athletes where they’re at with a highly personalized approach.
Not sure you’re ready for one-on-one coaching?
Try our custom training plan service! Learn more below.
Frequently asked questions
How good can your coaches really be if they're willing to coach athletes for below market value?
That’s one way to look at it. Another way to look at it is that the best coaches aren’t in it for the money.
Aren’t you worried that people will take advantage of your pay-what-you-can policy?
Of course not! You would never do that.
I understand the whole pay-what-you-can thing. But how does payment actually work?
You will be invoiced monthly by your coach and pay them directly. Individual coaches use different billing services (Stripe, QuickBooks, etc.).
Which platform (TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, etc.) do your coaches use to deliver training plans?
This also varies by coach. In most cases we’re able to keep runners on their preferred platform.
Y’all seem kind of “woke.” Are you political?
We have clear values, but we aren’t overtly political. Let’s face it: There are some intolerant people in this world, and it’s unlikely they’ll feel at home in a running club that’s all about love!
Dream Run Club seems too good to be true. Is it a cult?
Ha-ha! We get that a lot. No, we’re not a cult. In fact, all of our coaches are SafeSport certified and committed to the highest ethical standards. If being unafraid to talk about love makes us seem a little weird to some folks, we’re okay with that.
What happens if my financial situation changes?
If your financial situation changes in a way that negatively affects what you can afford to pay for coaching, let your coach know and an appropriate adjustment will be made. If you’re currently paying less than $200 and your financial situation improves, we ask that you consider increasing your monthly contribution.
Aren’t you devaluing the entire coaching profession by allowing athletes to pay what they can?
Nope. Many coaches offer sliding scales or accept pro bono clients. We just don’t like the idea of distinguishing “charity cases” from “regular clients,” so we make it pay-what-you-can for everyone. Our goal is not to undercut other coaches but to bring coaching to more people.
Is Dream Run Club for a certain kind of runner?
Absolutely not. We want our club to be as inclusive as possible. Whether you’re young or old, new or experienced, “fast” or “slow,” you are welcome here.
Get a Matt Fitzgerald-Designed Custom Training Plan for Your Next Race!
Our custom training plan service is perfect for runners who want better results than they can get from a cookie-cutter plan but aren’t ready for full one-one one coaching. For just $15 per week, you will get plan built from scratch just for you by Coach Matt Fitzgerald. Here’s how it works:
Step 1: Email Matt, using “Custom Training Plan Request” as the subject line.
Step 2: Matt will send you a link to a questionnaire designed to gather all the information Matt will need to build your plan.
Step 3: Matt will build your plan on your choice of the TrainingPeaks or Final Surge platform.
Step 4: When the plan is complete, Matt will send you an overview document containing helpful information about the plan and an invoice.
Step 5: Custom training plans don’t come with ongoing monitoring or adjustments, but you will have one opportunity to request changes when the plan is delivered.
Step 6: Enjoy journey!
Our Partners
