Learn all about the team's coaches! TNT's coaches are professionals trained to help you succeed on this great journey, with a goal of seeing you cross the finish line! If you have a question about training, please don't hesitate to drop them a line!
My name is Dave Hagan, and I am proud to be a run/walk coach for San Gabriel Valley Marathon Team.
This is my eighteenth season with Team In Training. The teams I have been involved with have raised over two and a half million dollars to fight leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. As a run coach my job is to help all of you reach the finish line, and I am here to help anyway I can!
I have a PASSION for Team In Training. My brother Craig was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 9. He is now a 30 year survivor thanks in part to research funded by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I also have lost two good friends to blood cancers. On December 14th of 2003, my friend Bob passed while awaiting a stem cell transplant – just hours before I was to run the Honolulu Marathon in honor of he and my brother. My friend Lee died of lymphoma almost exactly one year later, so you can see why I am fanatical about TNT.
Unless you have done this before, there is no way you can understand what I am going to say next, but here goes. Team In Training will change your life. You are about to embark on an adventure so rewarding that it cannot be put into words. The quality of the people you will meet while in this program will blow you away, and the Team In Training staff, coaches, captains, and mentors all are wonderfully committed to your success. Together we will make a difference in the fight against these diseases.
Two and a half years ago, my journey with TNT started out with a reluctance about committing to a lengthy program that I didn’t know what I had in store. After several seasons, I’ve come to enjoy each and every season as it were my first. I remember being in high school and thinking that the Cross-Country runners were crazy because they would use 2-3 miles just to warm up, and used to run about 2 miles before races (where I wouldn’t even think of running that far at all). Now, as an assistant coach, I realize that this feat can be accomplished by most everyone, and that with progressive training endurance athletes are within all of us. I think my favorite thing about Team In Training is the positive impact that it has over several groups of people. Being a part of that positive impact affects me so much that I can’t help to want to come back and start the process over again. I can’t wait to meet another amazing group of people, and have a blast over the next few months while we learn about racing and transforming into endurance athletes! GO TEAM!
Welcome to your next life changing experience!
My name is Elizabeth (but you can call me Liz) and I will be one of your assistant run coaches this season. I am also new to the SGV Team, but was introduced to TNT in 2008 as a participant on the Westside team. That spring I ran in honor of a friend; and through training with TNT realized just how many people these awful cancers affect. In June I ran Mayors Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska, which was an emotional, painful, but inspiring experience. After rehabilitating myself (my daytime job is as a physical therapist) I vowed never to run that far again. Spring of 2009 I was back on the Westside team as a mentor and the aches and pains go-to person. I completed my second marathon, Seattle Rock ‘n Roll, with the team that summer and later that fall after training with your fabulous campaign manager, Lindsey, ran Marine Corps Marathon in DC and qualified for Boston!
I look forward to using both my running and physical therapy backgrounds to help guide you on this journey. It won’t always be easy, but we will have fun! I hope you see the importance of the team experience and how we can make a difference in the lives of others. And I look forward to the day, when cancer is only in the history books. Welcome – and GO TEAM!
First of all, thank you for taking a moment to read what we are sharing with you. TNT means the world to us.
When you embark on a journey with Team in Training, you get the VIP treatment. Individual attention to your questions by trained coaches, experienced mentors and wise captains. As you build up the training miles(!!), you are fed and watered by manned Aid Stations donated by your mentors (who sometimes are even in costume!). You earn candy and chocolate for being the best fundraisers. You will train with a super group of individuals whom you will praise as “teammate” sooner than you could imagine.
We are coaches who train because we believe in a bigger cause than an individual’s time across the finish line…we’re here to end the pain and suffering incurred from blood cancers. We want you to enjoy this adventure. I started running about a year ago when I just happened to look up an old friend on Facebook. Oddly enough, he was coaching TNT and doing Ironman Triathlons. He suggested I check out TNT and I never looked back. Sadly, on the day I hit my fundraising minimum, my girlfriend’s mother was diagnosed with Leukemia and given a month to live. The entire team, with special support from Van & Virginia Garner (cancer survivors themselves), were there to support us and disseminate advice to us and her family. Her mother is still very much with us, working away and waiting for a bone marrow transplant. I ran my first marathon in her honor this past January.
You are making a difference in your lives by trusting us to coach you to the finish of your marathon. Millions of blood cancer patients are trusting you will be the one to raise the dollars which supports the research to cure their ailment. Thank you for being a part of this journey. I’ll do my best to make it as special for you as it has been for me.
Hi there! My name is Kim Sobieck. I live in La Canada. I teach math at Arcadia High School. I joined Team in Training in the summer of 2008 for a couple of reasons. First, I went to an information meeting and heard Virginia speak. Need I say more?!?!? Second, my doctors kept nagging me about losing weight. I was concerned that I would not be qualified since I was so out of shape, but our team manager assured me folks at all levels of fitness participate in the program. When I showed up for training, I was intimidated by the fact that almost everyone else was young and fit and capable. There were only a handful of walkers. I was so slow and perpetually far behind. I struggled at strength training. I often could not finish the sets of tasks put before us. I felt like such a loser. I kept asking myself why I was putting myself through this. I wanted so badly to quit. But at every step along the way, the captains, coaches, and mentors kept encouraging me. “You’re here! And you’re trying! That’s half of the battle won right there.” So, I hung in there and persisted. And after awhile, an amazing transformation took place. Even though I continued to be slow, I could sense I was improving. Because the staff had faith in me, I started believing in myself. I gave myself permission to dream that I could actually do this thing. I came to be known as Kim Possible by my team. Despite some problems with my back and knees, I was ultimately able to walk in P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in Phoenix, Arizona in January of 2009. AND I FINISHED!!!!! I cannot tell you what a sense of pride and accomplishment I feel. Since then, I have walked in numerous races. This experience with TNT has been so positive, rewarding, and life-affirming. The fact that I also fundraised to help a wonderful cause was just icing on the cake. I so look forward to working with you this season. I want to “GO TEAM” you while you are training to give you a boost as you start to tire. I want to be part of your “Tunnel of Love” at the end of your walks and runs to let you know how well you are doing and how much you are appreciated. I want to be there if any doubts or concerns creep into your consciousness and tempt you to give up. I welcome the opportunity to support you. I am particularly partial to those of you bringing up the rear. That is where I could typically be found as a participant. I do not want you to feel alone and forgotten back there. I say, “Bring it on! We can do ANYTHING!!!” Ü
This is my 6th season as a member of Team In Training. I was fortunate not to have any personal connections with TNT when I started. I wanted to get fit and meet some new people in my area. I got way more than I bargained for!
I met some of my favorite people and best friends (one of them pictured with me), got fit, went to new and exciting locations and helped to raise money for a charity that has now become very close to my heart.
I am not the most motivated person when it comes to working out. I used to hate it when we had cross-country running at school. But there was something about Team in Training that motivated me to join and start moving. It was the stories of the survivors and memories of those that have passed away that started me moving. And once I joined the team it was the coaches, captains, mentors and other participants that kept me moving. As a walker I learned how to walk properly and with purpose, keep my arms moving and enjoy myself with a great group of people.
My main aim is to show you that if I can do it, so can you! I am so glad you decided to join up and look forward to chatting with you out on the trails! Just keep walking!!!!
Email: 
Email: 
Email: 
Email: 
Email: 
Email: 
