There’s a young coach in Boulder, Colorado who’s looking to amplify the Boulder running scene through the power of community. His name is Evan Schwartz, and he’s the head coach of The Track Club in Boulder.
Running is a foundational piece to Schwartz, but not in an unhealthy way. It’s allowed him to find his purpose, and while running the foundational piece, his vision goes beyond the realm of running and centers itself around human connection through running.
“I would say running means everything, because it’s a pathway that I’ve been able to build my whole life through from athletic purposes, but then now reframing things as just like a way of life and connecting to other people,” he said.
Schwartz is an avid runner from Columbus, Ohio. He qualified for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta, and has a personal best time of 2:18:19. While living in Ohio, he usually trained by himself, and came to Boulder with more of a sense of community when it came to the running scene.
It wasn’t quite there when he first arrived in the city, but Schwartz said that due to the amount of elite talent that trains in Boulder and how their respective training plans are structured, it was something that he understood.
“That was the thing that I definitely caught on to very early, that it was not super open, but it has definitely moved towards that over the six years that I’ve been in Boulder,” he said. “And there are so many great people that have moved to the area, so many people that train here too, training blocks and stuff. But it has definitely been a change over six years versus what it was.”
Schwartz has a unique style when it comes to coaching, and it’s a personal approach instead of a universal approach. Emma Kertesz is a member of The Track Club and has worked with Schwartz since they both were members of Boulder Underground, a running club in the city. She believes his approach to coaching is what makes him productive.
“Evan does not approach his training as one size fits all,” she said. “It’s incredibly personalized. The specificity and looking at the whole athlete to get that specificity is what makes him super successful.”
Schwartz uses the methods that he’s picked up and learned over the years from various coaches that he respects. While he’s big on data, he enjoys the process of finding what works for the athlete and using data to make a training plan that gets the best from the athletes that he works with.
“They could look at somebody and figure out what makes them tick,” he said. “They could watch somebody’s body language during a warm up – they knew people. So I would say that has been the thing that has informed my approach, is to try to not go way too far into one side or the other, because people need a balanced approach.”
The Track Club has an elite team that features great talent, such as the aforementioned Emma Kertesz, Laura Thweatt, Mick Icafano among others. Over the years, the club has grown and has expanded their presence in the community.
On Wednesday mornings, the club leads a free, weekly community run called Soft Hour, which was an idea conceived by original members of the club Brian Schroy and Erin Osgood. The team has worked with brands such as ASICS and Goodr, and on Thursday nights, Schwartz leads a community track workout.
Schwartz said that one of his goals was to get a supportive base for them to expand their presence with unique ideas and opportunities in the Boulder running community. His ultimate goal is to unify the running community in the area.
“That has been the dream of mine, all the longest to just give people that space to be able to come together with running,” he said.
How’s that dream coming along? So far, so good according to Kertesz, who is excited to see what Schwartz has in store for the future.
“I think he’s really trying to make a difference in the running community,” she said. “I think he’s doing a really good job. I think he has some grand schemes up his sleeves for the future of TTC, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how he expands TTC into the community here in Boulder.”
