Meet Coach Maddie!

Hometown: Raleigh, NC
Email: maddie@paceofme.com
Instagram: @marathon_mads94
Certifications: RRCA, VDOT02
Coaching at Pace of Me since: 2024 (coaching runners since 2019)
Marathon PR: 2:56 marathon (down from 4:15)

Background

Maddie grew up running from a young age, though it started as cross-training for soccer, her primary sport at the time. She also spent years riding horses, and across both pursuits discovered a lifelong love of working hard at something and feeling proud of the journey — ups, downs, and all. After running competitively through high school, she leaned into the joy of the sport at Wake Forest University, falling for the trails and routes around campus. Running remains one of her greatest sources of joy and one of the places she feels most herself.

Maddie spent nine years teaching art before stepping away from the classroom to pursue coaching full-time and dedicate more time to her own creative work, including hand-embroidering her running routes over prints and paintings. Her graduate thesis in Art Education explored flow and mindfulness — themes she sees mirrored in both running and art. She also brings her creative eye to Pace of Me’s social media and blog content. Maddie lives in Raleigh, NC, with her husband, Justin, and their pointer-mix pup, Harlow.

Running Highlights

Maddie ran her first marathon in her hometown of Philadelphia in 2014 — back when training for marathons in college wasn’t exactly the norm. She has since completed 43 marathons around the world (and counting), plus an international Ironman 140.6 in Spain. At the 2026 Tokyo Marathon, she earned her Abbott World Marathon Majors Six Star Medal, and currently holds 7 Stars after running Sydney in 2025!

She has brought her marathon time down from 4:15 to a current PR of 2:56, run the Boston Marathon eight times (seven consecutive), and counts earning her first Boston Qualifying time — after 14 marathons — among her proudest achievements. While the marathon remains her favorite distance for the grit it demands, she loves challenging herself across the spectrum, recently PR’ing in the mile at age 31, breaking her high school best. She’s currently training for the Richmond Half, with a return to the marathon planned for the Every Woman’s Marathon and Boston Marathon in 2027.

Coaching Style

Maddie’s coaching journey began right out of college, first with middle school cross country in Connecticut, then on the coaching staff for Boys’ & Girls’ Cross Country and Track & Field back in Winston-Salem, NC. During her time there, the boys’ XC team won State Champs in 2019, followed by both the boys’ and girls’ Track & Field teams in 2021. Those roles taught her how transformative thoughtful guidance and steady encouragement can be for developing runners — lessons she carries into her 1:1 coaching, which she began in early 2023.

Today, Maddie coaches athletes across all distances and experience levels. She’s passionate about helping her athletes feel supported, challenged, and eager to find joy in the sport — while trusting they’re capable of more than they imagine. She understands the natural rhythms of training: the excitement of new challenges, the patience required in rebuilding phases, and the satisfaction of steady, intentional work. Maddie believes in building strong foundations, nurturing a true partnership with each athlete, celebrating wins big and small, and meeting people where they are — adjusting with confidence and ease when life shifts. Her advice to beginner runners: never count yourself out. You deserve to chase your goals in this sport, and you never know where it might lead or what you’ll learn about yourself along the way.