The Story Of Marathon Handbook
We Help You Run Far.
Marathon Handbook was founded back in 2016, with the mission from day one of helping other people run far.
At our heart, we are runners and athletes ourselves – every person on our team is a running coach, distance runner, or certified health and fitness trainer.
More About Marathon Handbook:
- Everything we do focuses on helping our readers run, and achieve their health and fitness goals.
- All our articles and guides are written by a qualified expert, and checked over by at least one more expert. Meet them below!
- Over 150,000 runners have signed up for one of our free training plans.
- Our weekly newsletter, the Monday Morning Mailer, goes out to over 125,000 readers.
- We’re a team of dedicated practitioners: we’re all running coaches, distance runners, and health and fitness trainers dedicated to providing the best resources to all our readers!
Our goal is to help other people run – so whether you’re just buying your first pair of running shoes, looking for a marathon training plan, or looking to run your best 100-mile ultramarathon, we want to help you.
Meet Our Team
Katelyn Tocci
Senior Editor at Marathon Handbook
Ultrarunner, and RRCA Running Coach
Katelyn is an experienced ultra-marathoner with a passion for the trails. She trains both trail and road runners in her running club, 30 Grados Trail Running, based in Costa Rica, and virtually with runners from all over the globe.
She loves sharing her knowledge and experience and has a great desire to motivate others to hit the trails alongside her. In the running community, she is known for her ear-to-ear smile, even under the toughest race conditions, and for her motto, run for fun!
Originally from Newton, Massachusetts, I grew up playing soccer just about every day of the week from the time I was 5 years old through high school. Playing center mid-field was my life, and I played on a number of different teams, such as our town, state, and club teams. I never ran track or even thought about running until I was in college.
I ran here and there in college to stay in shape, as there were no sports teams or clubs where I studied (Berklee College of Music). When I turned 23, I decided to take a chance, move to Costa Rica, and never looked back. Costa Rica is where I gained my passion for running, where 365 days a year, you can train in perfect sunny warm weather on lush green mountaintops and trails. Here, I fell in love and have been running ever since.
As I began to run and compete in Costa Rica, I realized there were not many women involved in trail races. That’s when I decided to study, get my RRCA certification, and start 30 Grados Trail Running. The club started with 6 athletes and now has over 130, ranging from people running their first 5k to others training for 100-milers.
I have found my passion for coaching, and this is where I want to be for the rest of my days.
Amber Sayer
Senior Fitness and News Editor at Marathon Handbook Certified Personal Trainer, Running Coach, Masters in Exercise Science
Amber holds two Masters Degrees—one in Exercise Science and one in Prosthetics and Orthotics.
She’s a Fitness, Nutrition, and Wellness Writer and Editor, as well as a UESCA-certified running, endurance nutrition, and triathlon coach.
As a certified personal trainer and running coach for 12 years, Amber enjoys staying active and helping others do so as well.
As a certified personal trainer and running coach for 12 years, Amber enjoys staying active and helping others do so as well. In her free time, she likes running, cycling, cooking, and tackling any type of puzzle.
Adam Rabo
Writer at Marathon Handbook
High School and College Track and Cross Country Coach
Adam Rabo has been a runner since joining the jr. high track team.
He coached high school and college cross country and track including numerous all Americans, state champions, and all-conference runners.
He continues to coach privately and just had an athlete qualify for the Boston Marathon and get accepted to the Chicago Marathon.
Adam continues to run and train on his own. He recently hit 3 years on his running streak and has no plans to stop. He is currently training for the Canyons 100k which is a qualifier for Western States 100m and UTMB.
This past year he ran notable races such as the Bolder Boulder, Leadville Marathon, and Pikes Peak Marathon. He is currently in the lottery for the Leadville 100 and hopes to finish his first 100m race this year.
Amby Burfoot
Editor At Large, Marathon Handbook
Amby Burfoot won the 1968 Boston Marathon, and has a lifetime marathon best of 2:14:29. In addition to serving as executive editor of Runner’s World Magazine for 20 years, he has written a half-dozen books, including First Ladies of Running and Run Forever.
He has received running journalism awards from several major running groups, including the Road Runners Club of America, Running USA, the Distance Running Hall of Fame, and the New York City Marathon.
Now in his mid-70s Burfoot estimates that he has run about 110,000 miles in his life. He still runs the Boston Marathon most years, and has also completed the Manchester (Connecticut) Road Race each November for 60 years in a row. This is believed to be the world’s longest every-year road-race streak.
He publishes the weekly Run Long Run Healthy newsletter at Marathon Handbook.
Amber Nelson
Running Gear and Shoe Expert at Marathon Handbook
OCR Competitor, UESCA Running Coach
I am a writer, psychology PhD student, and competitive obstacle racer and trail runner. Once 100 pounds overweight I found fitness and fell in love with an active and competitive lifestyle.
My passion for inspiring others and fitness come together seamlessly in the world of writing where I get to share the thing that changed my life. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family, my dogs, as well as baking and cooking.
Christine Albury
Gear Writer at Marathon Handbook
Certified Personal Trainer
Christine Albury is a dedicated runner, certified PT, and fitness nerd.
When she’s not working out, she is studying the latest fitness science publications and testing out the latest running gear!
Paul Freary
Running Shoe Guru at Marathon Handbook
Elite Runner, Running Store Owner
Paul Freary really does have a lifetime of experience as an athlete. Paul’s father, Mike was British record holder over 10,000m in 1966, so Paul was almost born to run.
With best times ranging from 3:56 for the mile to 13:55 for 5k, he also clocked a 2:39 at Berlin in 2022 at age 53 and hopes to go quicker this year.
Having worked with several leading brands as well as in retail he also knows running footwear inside out and also has experience in gait analysis and orthotics.
Paul writes regular running shoe reviews for our site and our Youtube channel!
Sara Popović
Senior Gear Editor at Marathon Handbook
Sara is a writer, who found her passion for words at a very young age, starting with short stories and poems.
Sara lives in Croatia, near the sea, with her dog. She enjoys exploring nature, and making art. She is currently developing a series of children’s/YA stories and comics in her native language, which she feels complements her work and allows her to live her dream life – having yoga, writing, art, and nature in her every day.
When she’s not working on running gear reviews for Marathon Handbook, she writes for our sister site, yogajala, where she shares her knowledge on yoga poses.
Cathal Logue
Writer at Marathon Handbook
UK Athletics Coach
Running is in my DNA.
Both of my parents competed in athletics in their youth and later went on to coach. After reluctantly toeing the line in a local cross-country race in my hometown of Derry and finishing 2nd, I enjoyed racing all over Ireland while at school and competed for an Irish Schools U17 team in Durham, England.
Sir Mo Farah also raced that day and could only finish 2nd!
There’s a race in Derry called the Killer Kilometre and it basically takes you up a 10% gradient from outside the local football stadium, via a number of Tour de France like hairpin turns, to finish at the top near the entrance of a local secondary school. Back in 2003, I’d been trying to get back into running after a few lean years.
As the race developed, I found myself in a group of 5 who were chasing down the early leader. I remember someone shouted my name as I took the last turn before the finishing straight, and I kicked for home only overtaking the man at the front metres from the finish.
I’ve always wanted to run the Dublin marathon and I’m hoping that I can attempt it in the next couple of years. Let’s hope I can train through the extreme Madrid heat during the summer months as the marathon is normally held in early October.
Despite appreciating the new advances in watch technology with most runners using GPS devices, I still enjoy going for some of my recovery runs using my 10-year-old Casio sports watch. It helps me switch off and not worry about the pace and really embrace the feeling of running.
Felix Hewitt
Special Projects Manager | Seo Specialist
Hailing from Brighton, UK, Felix is a lover of running, cycling, and all things active.
Felix does a lot of behind-the-scenes work on Marathon Handbook, including big projects like our training plan databases and online calculators which our audience love to check out.
When he’s not exploring a remote corner of the globe on a bike-packing trip, Felix enjoys meditating, recording music, and running on trails as far as his legs will let him!
Thomas Watson
Editor and Founder at Marathon Handbook
UESCA Running Coach and Ultrarunner
I’d never been particularly interested in running growing up, but while at University, I started running in the evenings to clear my head and get some exercise.
Gradually I became more interested in the field of distance running, and I ran my first marathon in 2012; I’ve gone on to complete dozens more.
Soon after that first marathon, I discovered the world of ultramarathons, multi-day stage races, and challenging the limits of how far I could run. I went on to run some fantastic races in Madagascar, Namibia, Cambodia, Gujarat, and more.
Around this time, I started Marathon Handbook: from day one, the whole mission of the site was that of helping other people run far.
I’d experienced the life-changing impact of distance running myself and decided I wanted to help others share in the same experience.
I became a UESCA-certified running coach and have gone on to help and coach runners from all over the globe. Our training plans have now been used by tens of thousands of runners working on their running goals.
The truth is that the first iteration of the site was a scrappy little blog, with most of the advice being about how to prepare your bag for multi-day self-supported desert races (niche, I know)…
Over time, we began writing more about ultrarunning, then marathon running – and gradually, we’ve expanded out from there, now covering everything from our own version of the Couch To 5k Training Plan (which we’re super proud of) and advice for runners of all levels to gritty ultrarunning tips.