Dena Evans is a running coach, mother of two (soccer mom!), and a passionate runner herself. She recently completed her 6th star in the World Marathon Majors! An athlete herself- she played both soccer and ran track while in college… and now that she still coaches and is heavily involved with her daughters playing soccer, she is still heavily involved in both sports.
She is a name that those in the running scene will know- from 1999-2005, she served on the Stanford Track & Field/ Cross Country staff where she earned NCAA Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year honors in 2003 as Stanford won the NCAA Division I Championship. She was named Pac-10 Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2003-04, and West Regional Coach of the Year in 2004. She has coached some of the most well known names in the sport, including Sara Hall, Malindi Elmore, Lauren Fleshman and Alicia Vargo.
One of my regular listeners (Hi Mimi) who I have had the opportunity to meet in person is coaching by Dena and has been nudging me to have her on the show for far too long- I’m embarrassed I’m just now making it happen but really happy to share this conversation with you all! Dena and I talk about her career and what it’s been like to be a woman on the coaching side of the sport both in the earlier years and now with her club that she runs. We got to talk abut body image and how to talk with young women about this very important topic as they are running in college and post college. Dena also has some interesting and valid points about how we classify someone as a professional athlete.
Enjoy my conversation with Dena Evans!
Show Notes:Â
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