Georgia

Atlanta

Georgia Coach: Tommy Owens, D.D.S. 
Tommy has completed  over 80 marathons and was the Director of Operations for the first Annual ING GA Marathon. You may recognize Tommy as he was the Peachtree Road Race Start Coordinator for 21 years. He is our Georgia coach, but also the National Training Coordinator meaning he coaches all the coaches for Team In Training (TNT) around the country. He has been with us since the beginning and devotes a lot of his time to TNT.

Run Coach: Joanna Berensten
Running to share her true passion with others,  Joanna has come a long way to become a coach with TNT. After completing an Adventure Race with the program, Joanna was hooked on making a difference in the lives of others and sharing her passion for running along the way!

Walk Coach: Lynne Boring
Exercise was the objective for Lynne when joining TNT. Lynne was ready to make a life change when she joined the program and she did. She lost weight and made TNT a family affair involving her siblings and nephew. Ten events later and Lynne is still going strong!

Walk Coach: Regina Ehrhardt
Regina started with TNT in 2001 as a volunteer. After completing her first event, she became a mentor and coaching assistant. She has completed three marathons and four half marathons with TNT.

Run Coach: Gretchen Owens
Long-time TNT alumnus with over a dozen TNT events under her belt, Gretchen first became involved with TNT when inspired by her father, Tommy Owens, and also the loss of her sister to leukemia over 20 years ago. "After years of being involved with TNT and being a runner, I find a lot of joy in training others in the sport and sharing all that I?ve learned over the years.  Being a part of helping others achieve something so monumental and for such an incredible cause keeps me inspired!  I am proud to represent TNT and honored to be a Coach!"

Run Coach: Virginia Sharitz
Virginia has completed more than twenty marathons and one triathlon. After completing her first marathon in 1998 (Disney Marathon) she realized that even though she gained a sense of personal accomplishment and pride, she knew that her finish line experience was missing something. Two weeks later, Virginia joined TNT because she wanted to make a difference in someone else's life.

Run Coach: Barb Stinson
Barb is no stranger to motivating people as she is an elementary school teacher and track coach. Barb has transferred this energy from getting kids to stay active towards being a TNT Coach and inspiring her participants.

Run Coach: Joe Watkins
(Bio information pending.)

Run Coach: Lisa Yother
Lisa has completed more than fifty marathons. During her first marathon for TNT (The Honolulu Marathon in 1998), she felt nauseous and wasn't sure that she could keep running. She looked down and saw the wristband she was wearing with her patient hero's name on it. Hers said, "mom." At that moment, she realized that watching someone she loved very much die from Leukemia was the most difficult thing she had ever done. She then that she can do anything if it helps find a cure for the disease, so no one else will suffer what her family went through.

Cycle Coach:  Neil Fleming
Neil has completed a United States Cycling Federation (USCF) Masters Racing Course and is a licensed expert USCF coach for USA Cycling. Neil has been an avid cyclist for more than 40 years and has completed more than 80 centuries, more than a dozen of which have been with TNT.

HIT Team Cycle Coach: David Payne
David has been involved with TNT for over four years and has completed many events with the program. He has been cycling for 10-12 years on the road, mountain bikes, and cyclocross bikes. He enjoys spending time with his wife and raising his two children.

Cycle Assistant Coach: Julian Cowart
LLS was a great resource to Julian when his wife was being treated for Hodgkin?s disease in 2004-05. After her recovery, he felt TNT was a great way to combine his love of cycling and his debt of gratitude to LLS. Julian has completed 4 centuries with TNT and his wife has completed 2 half marathons with him as her cheerleader! 

Cycle Assistant Coach: Mary Dewree
After receiving a brochure from a friend, Mary completed her first endurance event with TNT in 2001 - the Claxton Century. Since then, Mary has completed 11 centuries! She wanted to get involved with a program that gives back and she has truly been an inspiration to her fellow teammates. 

Triathlon Coach: Lee Amlicke 
After Lee's friend got diagnosed with leukemia, Lee's wife completed the Gulf Coast Half Ironman with TNT. Lee wanted to support his friend as well and did the same Gulf Coast Half Ironman with TNT the following year. Lee's commitment to TNT has taken him across the country competing in many century rides and triathlons.

Triathlon Coach: Andrew Bell 
After September 11, 2001, Andrew decided that he wanted to give back to the community in some way. He received a postcard from TNT in the mail and decided to give it a shot. Now, Andrew is a veteran in the triathlon world competing in the St. Anthony's Triathlon and the Gulf Coast Triathlon just to name a couple.

Triathlon Coach: Natalie Conte 
Involved with TNT since 2004, Natalie has embraced training for marathons and triathlons and now wants to share the experience with others.  No stranger to the cause, Natalie's 15 year old cousin was diagnosed with leukemia two years ago, but thankfully he is now in remission.

Triathlon Coach: Mary Doyle
Mary, a physical therapist who specializes in orthopedics, was first introduced to Team In Training in 1997 by a patient. Over the years, Mary has become a triple crown participant completing the marathon, triathlon and century ride. Mary loves to travel and has competed in Austria, Brazil and Switzerland.

Triathlon Coach: Mike Gaw
For the past 7 years, Mike has been involved with TNT in one way or another as participant, mentor and coach. He has completed roughly 50 triathlons through out the world. Mike was drawn to TNT because of the mission and the chance to meet others with the same intentions!

Triathlon Coach: Mark Helton
Mark has been a triathlete for more than 20 years with more than 100 races of all distances, including five Ironman events. Mark has been with TNT for over nine years and has coached 35 TNT events.

Triathlon Coach: Michael King
Michael has a deep connection to LLS? mission as he lost his father to Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia 19 years ago and has a sister-in-law who is a blood cancer survivor. An Ironman, Michael has completed several triathlons of all distances, including two St. Anthony's triathlons with TNT.

Triathlon Coach: Andy Piazza
Inspired by his sister, a breast cancer survivor, Andy joined TNT to complete a triathlon and get over his fear of water.  Now as a TNT coach, he helps others defeat their challenge with the swim portion of the triathlon.  "Seeing the aquatically challenged triathletes overcome their fears, and conquer the water.  It gets me every time."

Triathlon Coach: Beth Rolfsen
After a ?Double Dog Dare?, Beth Rolfsen joined TNT. After over a dozen events Beth is still with us! Beth has made TNT a family affair as well, completing the St. Anthony?s Triathlon with her 78 year old mother for the past 4 years! Her Fundraising Motto is, ?Think of it as the lottery...Ya can't win if ya don't play!" 

Hiking Coach: Rita Grayson
After receiving a TNT brochure in the mail, Rita realized that she could do something that she loved to do (hike) and give back to the community at the same time. Rita loves TNT because she has made lifelong friends through this program, which is something that lasts a lot longer than a day long hike in the Grand Canyon.

Cobb

Coach: Heather Trainor
Heather is an experience runner, cyclist and triathlete having completed more then 25 events with TNT. Heather trains in honor of her grandmother, who had leukemia. Heather is also mom to three boys.

Coach: Amy Roberts
Amy (who hails from Boston) has completed more than 10 marathons and several half marathons. Amy got involved five years ago when her good friend lost her battle to non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. She loves race day as its amazing to see the TNT runners from across the country and survivors along the course - either running beside her or cheering her on.

Coach: Phillip Sustar
Phillip first became involved with TNT a few years back when he participated in the Mayor's Midnight Marathon in Alaska in honor of his father who passed away from lymphoma.  Phillip is a veteran of several long distance races including marathons and ultra-distance events, like the Stump Jump 50K.

Gwinnett

Coach: Ed Ferrell
Ed has completed more than 100 marathons and says that running marathons has proven to be the perfect excuse to travel to new locations. TNT is a family event for the Ferrells as Ed?s wife, Marie, shares coaching duties for the Gwinnet team.

Walk Coach: Marie Ferrell
Marie lost her sister to leukemia in 2006.  This inspired Marie and her husband Ed to get involved with TNT. Now several marathons later, and after being a TNT participant, mentr and captain, Marie shares coaching duties with Ed as the walk coach for the Gwinnett team. 

Northside

Coach: Mark Hall
Mark joined TNT after seeing our signature purple shirts in many races. He was inspired by the runners to join the TEAM. Mark has been involved in running marathons for 12 years. Mark has participated in the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Diego the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in Arizona .

Coach: Jessica Bennett
Jessica's best friend, who had just completed her first event with TNT, introduced her to Team In Training. As she was pondering if she could run a marathon, her mother-in-law was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL). That experience was a sign that if her mother-in-law could handle the disease, then she could raise the money and train for an endurance event. Jessica has now completed more than ten marathons and half marathons all across the United States.
 
Coach: Fran Schefer
Fran has completed thirteen full and twelve half marathons with two of those being in Dublin, Ireland. Fran lost a friend to Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) in 1999 and now his nephew  is undergoing chemotherapy as a part of his treatment for Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) and making great progress. Fran comes back season after season, because he believes that until we find a cure, the race is not over!

Coach: Bob Huber
Bob has been involved with TNT since 1993 as a parent of an honored hero and in 2003, he  crossed the finish line with his daughter in the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach.  He has run numerous full and half marathons with TNT in the past five years.  Bob has been a mentor, coaching assistant and a head coach for the Northside team.

Augusta

Triathlon, Run and Walk Coach: Jim Christian
Jim ran his first 10K in 1980 at 13 and has since raced in more than 100 road races, triathlons and cycling events. He first participated in TNT in 1995 and returned in 2004 to serve as a mentor following his grandfather's diagnosis with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Jim was an NCAA All-American swimmer and in 2005 qualified to represent the US at the World Long Course Triathlon Championships in Switzerland.

Savannah 

Coach: Tori Gurbisz
Tori comes to TNT after having received a brochure in the mail several years ago.  She has completed several marathon events with TNT including the Mayor's Midnight Marathon in Alaska twice, as well as several races on her own.  An employee of Fleet Feet in Savannah, Tori is anxious to share her knowledge with new TNT participants.