Meet Coach Jess!

Hometown: Cary, NC
Email: jess@paceofme.com
Instagram: @paceofme
Certifications: VDOT02, RRCA, Coaches Collective
Coaching at Pace of Me since: 2010
Marathon PR: 3:07 marathon (down from 5:23)

Background

In addition to coaching and founding Pace of Me, Jess is a mom of three and an artist. She lives in Cary, NC, with her husband, Robert, their two dogs, Cooper and TJ, and their youngest son, Gus — “half-nesters,” as their oldest two kids, Abby and Will, are away at college in Chapel Hill (Go Heels!). They relocated to NC in 2016 after many years in the DC area, and they now love calling the Raleigh area home.

Jess has been coaching runners from entry-level to advanced since 2010, and making art for runners at We Run On Art since 2019. Running, coaching, and the creative process are all deeply intertwined for her — she spends her days as a coach supporting runners, and as an artist celebrating them!

Running Highlights

Jess’s progression as a runner has been anything but linear, spanning more than 26 years. She ran her first marathon at 24 years old in five and a half hours, broke four hours for the first time in 2011, qualified for her first Boston in 2012, and ran her first Boston in 2013. Some seasons she leaned hard into running and pushed her limits faster than ever; other seasons she ran more for fun, for her mental health, or hardly at all. Running has always been deeply connected to the rest of her life, ebbing and flowing with it, bringing gifts and lessons every step of the way.

This past spring, at age 50, Jess ran her eighth-ever and fifth-consecutive Boston Marathon and set a new lifetime PR of 3:07. Going from five and a half hours at 24 to 3:07 at 50 is a progression that still makes her smile. She remains endlessly curious about what’s possible and loves the process and magic that unfolds with every mile.

Coaching Style

Jess’s coaching style is wholehearted, rooted in the belief that running is a practice of self-discovery and becoming. She guides her athletes with a blend of structure, heart, and steady encouragement — balancing purposeful, data-driven training with the realities of everyday life. She cares about mindset as much as mileage, and prioritizes helping her athletes build confidence, resilience, and joy while going after big, meaningful goals. Coaching, to Jess, is a partnership — grounded, compassionate, and designed to help each athlete grow into the strongest version of themselves.

She loves having a front-row seat to someone’s journey — watching people discover what they’re capable of, not just physically, but in the confidence and self-belief that carries into the rest of their lives. As Jess puts it: your running is an expression of who you are. The same way everyone’s gait is different, everyone’s journey with the sport is different, too. You don’t have to be fast or go far to be a runner — forward is forward, and what matters most about your pace is that it’s yours.

Words of encouragement

“Trust your path, have patience with the process and meet yourself where you are. You are building something so powerful with every mile that you run. Training for a race isn’t just about crossing a finish line. It’s about who you become and what you can learn along the way. It’s about the discipline you’re practicing, the courage your cultivating and the self belief you’re strengthening every time you show up and lace up – even, and especially, when it feels hard. Keep showing up and know you have a whole team of people who believe in you, understand you and are here for you!”

Fun Facts

Favorite workout: Mixed-stimulus workouts combining sustained tempo effort (half-marathon to 10k pace) with short, high-intensity hill repeats — great for building aerobic strength and speed, training the body and mind to switch gears, and honing mental toughness. Jess often structures these with a warm-up, a sustained tempo segment, a short easy recovery, and 4–6 hill repeats before cooling down.

Favorite race distance: The marathon

Favorite place to run: Locally, it’s a toss-up between the American Tobacco Trail and Umstead — trails that feel like sanctuaries, surrounded by nature and ever-changing with the seasons. Farther away, the Pacific Northwest and Ireland both felt like heaven.

Bucket list races: An international World Marathon Major — London, Berlin, Tokyo, Cape Town, or Sydney — plus Paris

Favorite shoes: ASICS Superblast and TOPO Specter 3 for training; PUMA Fast-R for racing

Can’t-live-without gear: Shoes (though she’d never limit herself to just one pair), a bra with a phone pocket, and shorts that can hold her gels — Tracksmith apparel is her go-to, having withstood plenty of gross Carolina running conditions over the years