Meet Your Coach: Brendan Hunt

I started running competitively in 1997, during high school. I trained with Mississauga Track Club in Ontario and raced both track and cross country throughout Ontario regularly and at a highly competitive cross country race in New York every year. I quickly improved, from a 31st place finish at the Ontario high school cross country championships in grade 9 to a 4th place finish in grade 11.

Between 2002 and 2007, I ran with the University of Guelph Gryphons, and was awarded All-Canadian status twice for finishing in the top 14 individuals at the varsity national championships. While racing for the Gryphons, we won 2 national varsity gold medals and a silver medal. I joined Speed River Track Club in Guelph each summer so I could continue training with the same athletes and be coached by the same (and highly successful) coach.

After university I lived in New Zealand for 2 years and competed on both roads and trails. Since 2013, I’ve lived in Squamish, where I continued trail running competitively and moved up to racing ultramarathon distances, winning and breaking the course record in several local races.

I retired from competitive running following the Capes 87k ultra marathon in Nova Scotia, knowing that it would be my final dedicated race. Now I prefer to give back to the sport I love by integrating the knowledge I’ve gained throughout my running experiences that began 28 years ago, and apply it to others to help them succeed.

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I owe much of my successes in the sport to my past coaches, who have provided a wealth of knowledge that helped me understand what was required to be the best you can be as a distance runner. These were highly accomplished coaches. My coach throughout high school was the former Canadian record holder in the 3,000m steeplechase (8:36 set in 1977), and represented Canada at 15 international events (including Pan American Games, Commonwealth Games, World Cross Country Championships, and the World University Cross Country Championships). My university coach is considered the most successful varsity coach in Canadian history. These coaches showed me how to lead and inspire as a coach through communication, support, and getting things done. They taught me that there is a balance between being precise and when you can free form it a little more. I have integrated their training methods and techniques, and applied these to my own coaching philosophy for trail running.

The core principles are: personalized training focused on the athlete’s abilities and the goal race; and making the process fun and memorable. I focus on designing workouts that simulate the profile of your goal race, and adapting your body to manage what it needs to handle on race day. Many ultra runners assume that high mileage equates with success, but if you just go and run a ton of volume without planning it sensibly, you’re going to break down. Based on principles of adaptational physiology, The Shire Racing Team training plans will help you to optimize your training and achieve your racing goals.

If you'd like to learn more more about coaching services with The Shire Racing Team, please click the link below.