ph: (216) 910-1200
Local Staff Contacts
Northern Ohio
23297 Commerce Park,
Cleveland, OH 44122
Cleveland, OH 44122
Meet Our Coaches
Amy Goske has been involved with Team in Training since 2005 and completed her first Half Marathon with TNT at the Disney Marathon Weekend in January of 2006. She first started with Team in Training, along with her husband, as a way to give back and be thankful for the birth of her first son. After doing research on various charitable organizations and learning about the number of children battling blood cancers, Team in Training seemed like a perfect way to make a small difference for those that were already making heroic efforts in their battles against Leukemia and Lymphoma.
Since 2006, Amy has run several other Half Marathons including the Roadrunner Akron and the Rite-Aid Cleveland where she set her PR this past May. In October of 2009 Amy completed the Bank of America Chicago Marathon along with 34,000 other runners. She also coached the Northern Ohio Team in Training group at the 2010 San Diego Rock-n-Roll Marathon. She considers these her greatest running accomplishments to date.
In addition to Amy?s running experience, she also brings a background in education to her coaching role with Team in Training, having taught Gifted Language Arts for 7th and 8th grades in North Royalton for 6 years before starting a family.
Amy was born in Chicago and now calls Copley, Ohio her home along with her husband, Paul, two sons, Paul (6) and Ben (4) and two cats, Martini and Carmella. When she?s not training or chasing after her boys (and cats), she is busy pursuing her black belt in Tae Kwon Do and enjoys travel, movies, reading and volunteering at her sons? schools. She has also become a master of calendar management and multi-tasking which is an integral part of a successful marriage to another Team in Training Coach.
Amy is a running coach currently for the Nike Women's Marathon, Columbus Marathons, and Chicago Marathon. This is her second season coaching but has been volunteering with TNT since 2006. She has run about a dozen half marathons and two full marathons (if you count the one she coached and ran).
Paul Goske Paul has been involved with Team in Training since 2005 completing the Disney Marathon as a participant in January of 2006. Soon afterward, he began his coaching tenure with the Team as the running coach for the Winter season in 2007.
Since that time, Paul has coached Teams that have run the PF Chang Arizona Rock-n-Roll Marathon, The Disney Marathon and Half Marathon, The Rite-Aid Cleveland Marathon (several times), The Nashville Rock-n-Roll Marathon, and most recently, The San Diego Rock-n-Roll Marathon and Half Marathon.
Personally, he has participated in eight full and numerous half marathons (and counting) both individually and following his teams around the course on race day with Team in Training.
Paul was born in Youngstown, Ohio and now calls Copley, Ohio home along with his wife Amy (another Team in Training running coach) and two sons. He attended Case Western Reserve University where he played baseball and received both his undergrad and MBA in Finance & Economics.
To many participants? surprise, Paul is not a full-time running coach but actually does have a career outside of Team in Training. He is the co-founder and President of a software company located in the Akron area.
Darryl Mika
Family: Spouse: Karin, Daughters: Christine, Rachel
Employment: IT Senior Analyst
Coaching: TNT 2010 Fall Marathons, TNT 2011 Summer Triathlon, Triathlon Coaching Certified in 2011
Races: Triathlons: 2 - ½ Iron distance, 4 International distance, 10 Sprint distance
Running: 6 full marathons, 10 ? ½ marathons, many 10K?s & 5K?s, 1 Adventure Run
Cycling: 2 Centuries, 2 Double Centuries
TNT Events Completed: Chicago Marathon, Virginia Beach ½ Marathon, El Tour de Tucson, Seattle-to-Portland (2), Anchorage Marathon, Texasman Triathlon, Nation?s Triathlon, Cleveland Marathon, Wildflower Triathlon, St. Anthony?s Triathlon
Reason for joining and staying with TNT: To support my daughter who is a survivor, to continue to help other patients and to help find a cure.
Other Interests: Music ? teaching: private lessons at Baldwin Wallace College, drum line instructor with Baldwin Wallace College marching band, Performing: free-lance percussion, Enjoys movies & books
Denise Langa
I first signed up with TNT in October of 2005 training for my first marathon in Cleveland 2006. I am a walker. I have completed the Cleveland full 2006, Columbus half 2006, Cleveland half 2007, Virginia Beach half 2007, and the Disney half 2009. I have coached the walkers for the Cleveland half and full marathon in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. I am married with 2 kids and am an Investigative Agent / Social Worker for the Lake County Board of Developmental Disabilities. A fun fact - I love to travel especially to Europe. We were in Italy and France this year.
Erica Gray
Erica Gray first heard about Team in Training through a friend who had participated in several events with the organization. She decided to become involved because a family friend was (and still is) suffering from Leukemia. Erica felt as though this was the perfect way to combine her love of running with her determination to find a cure for blood cancer.
Erica completed her first full marathon in Seattle with Team in Training in June 2010. A few weeks ago, she completed her second Team in Training event, the San Diego half marathon. Erica has also completed several other half marathons over the past few years, including the Akron Roadrunner and the Cleveland Rite-Aid.
In addition to running, Erica spends her time working as an elementary school counselor. She loves working with kids and helping them succeed socially, emotionally and academically.
Erica lives in Akron with her husband, Ben, and her dog, Dottie. Erica and Ben love to workout and travel in their free time.
I am 29 years old, live in Sagamore Hills, and have been married to my best friend and training partner, Matt, for 4 years! We don?t have any kids, but have two wonderful dogs, Frankie and Sophie, that we spoil as if they were our kids. By day I am a research engineer at the NASA Glenn Research Center and by night I like to consider myself a fitness nut. For as far back as I can remember I have always been into sports and fitness and am highly competitive in nature. In high school I participated in cross country, gymnastics, and softball. I went on to play Division I softball in college at Cleveland State and now my current passion is with road races and triathlons. I have completed numerous races including 5k's, half marathons, full marathons, duathons, and sprint and Olympic distance triathlons. Last summer I completed my first half ironman triathlon at Steelhead in Michigan, which was quite an amazing experience. I also participated in my first ever TNT event last fall at the Nike Women's Marathon where I had the time of my life (the Tiffany's necklace and firemen at the end of the race weren't half bad either)! Since then, I have completed the Cleveland Marathon with TNT and am looking forward to participating in Wildflower with TNT in the future. Currently, my husband and I are training for the Rev3 Full Ironman distance triathlon in Sandusky in September. Why do I participate in TNT? I thoroughly enjoy endurance sports and if I can help someone out by doing something that I love, then I consider that the best of both worlds! I run/swim/bike so that someday someone battling one of these horrible cancers will have the chance to achieve their dreams as well! GO TEAM!
-Married - wife Paula
-Two Children: Scott (senior at Franklin & Marshall College; he?s on the swim team there) and Katie (sophomore at Johns Hopkins; she?s running cross-country & track there; she is also on the swim team there)
-Attorney (for 20+ years)
-Have done at least 10 marathons (I could only remember 10; I think was there 1 or 2 more) including: 2005 Boston Marathon and 3 ?BQ?s? (i.e., Boston Qualifiers; marathons that qualified me for the Boston Marathon)
-2 of the 10 marathons were with TNT: 2009 Arizona Rock & Roll Marathon (coached by Paul Goske) and 2009 Cleveland Marathon (coached by Jeff Brubaker)
-I was an assistant TNT coach for the 2011 Cleveland Marathon and a mentor for the 2009 Cleveland Marathon
-I am doing the August 2011 Greater Cleveland Triathlon with TNT
Jennifer LaFleur
Jen LaFleur's involvement with TNT began in the fall of 2003 when she signed up to walk the 2004 Flying Pig Marathon. She has since mentored, fundraised in two more events, and coached walkers in many other races. When not running or walking, Jen enjoys reading, cooking, and spending time with her husband and their 4-year old son.
Tim Ritt
42 yrs old
3 kids / married
Coached triathlon teams for
Memphis in May, Nations Tri, St. Anthony?s tri, Wildflower half and Olympic distances
Currently fundraising to do Columbus Marathon in Oct.
Will be doing my 10th Ironman this Fall at Cedar Point.
Love seeing people evolve as they begin training for their event all the way through to completion of the event. We always have a great time in training and at the events.
Jason Smith has been involved with Team in Training since 2009 and completed his first full-marathon as with TNT at the 2010 Seattle Rock N Roll Marathon. The notion to join a charitable organization came to him in the form of a New Year's esolution: to give back to others and improve his health. He picked up a TNT flyer shortly after, attended an information meeting and the rest, as they say, is history.
Jason's love for running started in 2008. After losing over 100 lbs., he decided he would knock off a bucket list item; run a half-marathon. He then completed the 2008 Cleveland Half-Marathon and became hooked. In total, he has run 1 full marathon, 6 half-marathon and countless 10K and 5Ks. He also served as the Mentor for the 2011 San Diego Rock N Roll marathon team.
Jason was born in Steubenville, OH and now resides in Fairlawn. He is single and works as a financial analyst at VectorVest, Inc. When he is not running Jason can be found singing karaoke, fishing, playing golf and hanging out with his niece and nephews.
Jason is currently one of the running coaches for the Canton/Akron chapter of TNT. He will help participants train for and complete the 2011 Cleveland and San Diego races.
I started with Team in Training in 2009 as a participant on the Cleveland Marathon team. I joined TNT after my niece was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia a few months before. I had an incredible set of coaches and fantastic teammates. Completing the marathon for such a great cause made me want to participate and be a mentor for the 2010 Cleveland Marathon. I have been asked why I keep doing events when my niece is in remission, the fact is too many are still battling cancer and the long term effects that cancer treatments pose to those undergoing treatment. I'll stop when cancer stops.
I have also participated in the St. Anthony's Tri in May 2011, and was the mentor/participant for Greater Cleveland Tri in August 2011. I coached the 2010 fall marathon teams and had the honor of traveling with the team out to San Francisco for the Nike women's marathon. Watching the team I worked with all summer (and the other 6000 TNT participants from other chapters) out on the course that day was just as incredible as crossing the finish line myself.
By day I sit in a cubical and often feel as though I'm part of a lost Seinfeld episode. Having the TNT group to train with on the weekend is the perfect outlet for me. I have been married for almost 4 years and my husband completed his first half marathon in 2011 and is curious about doing a Tri. Looking forward to training with him and competing (oops I mean completing) some events with him in the future. 2012 races I'm looking forward to are a 70.3 Tri and another marathon - maybe Nike.
Kevin Auerbach
Kevin Auerbach has been involved with the Team in Training since October of 2006. He fundraised and completed the 206 mile Seattle to Portlanddouble century bike ride and was also honored by receiving the cycling team?s Joe Vainner award in the summer of 2007. Kevin continued his fundraising efforts and completed the Avia Wildflower 70.3 mile long course triathlon in May of 2008. Having set a goal to earn the Team in Training Triple Crown Award, Kevin achieved this honor by meeting his fundraising goal and completing the Columbus Marathon in October of 2008. Kevin served as a mentor for the spring 2008 triathlon and fall 2009 run seasons. He completed the Tier 1 run coaches training for Team-In-Training in Orlando, Florida in January of 2010.
Kevin has completed three marathons. He finished the Akron Roadrunner Marathon in September 2008 and three weeks later completed the Nationwide Columbus Marathon. In October of 2010, Kevin and his wife Luann completed the Marine Corps marathon and raising over $5000 for the LLS.
Kevin is a third grade math, science and social studies teacher in the Wadsworth school district. He lives in Copley with his wife Luann and two boys Jacob, 7, and Joshua, 5. In his spare time, Kevin enjoys traveling, playing the guitar and being with his family.
