Coaches
Team Challenge Arizona welcomes Coach Doug Taylor back!
Coach Doug
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Doug will bring a wealth of experience and some great stories to Team Challenge as he has been a runner for over 35 years; completing over 100 marathons and ultras (races longer than 26.2 miles). In addition to his own running endeavors, he has also trained family, friends and neighbors to finish their first race or to accomplish a new personal best – Team Challenge is lucky to have him back!
Doug started running after his father had his 4th heart attack and passed away. Physical activity seemed like a good way to avoid that same outcome for Doug. For his first official run, he tried to run as fast as he could for as long as he was able - and made it 1/3 of a mile and felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. A runner friend then gave Doug some advice on how to jog for a longer period of time and soon after, he ran his first 5k race.
Since then he has run 10ks, half marathons, and over 100 marathons and ultras. Some of his notable marathons include: the Boston Marathon, NYC marathon, Philly, Atlantic City, Marine Corps, Big Sur, Phoenix and Tucson.
After hitting a plateau with his marathons, he moved into the world of runners who were doing races longer than 26.2 miles. His first ultra was a race was a 100 Kilometer race from Philadelphia to Atlantic City. He went on to run Old Dominion 100 miler, Vermont 100, Western States 100 and Angeles Crest 100. In the future, Doug has his sights set on races in interesting places such as New Orleans, and the Redwood Forest…and of course, the Napa-to-Sonoma half Marathon!
When he started running, he told a friend that he only wanted to train for 5k’s (3.1 mile races) and he had trouble imagining running longer than that. Now he says never say never! “When I started running, I just went out with some friends and put my left foot in front of my right foot and vice versa and before I knew it, I did all these races and more. Running with a group does wonderful things to your motivation and your achieving your goals.”
Your coach is ready to help all of you accomplish your goals this season!