George has been a coach of endurance athletes for more than thirty years. While he has coached high school state champions, Boston qualifiers, Kona qualifiers, ultramarathoners, and a Race Across America solo finisher, George has spent the bulk of his coaching career working with diligent athletes that were simply looking to improve their performances in road races, trail races, triathlons, and bike races. He specializes in helping athletes find the training schedule that works best for their particular goals and challenges, and he strongly believes that a sound training program must address athletes' physiological and psychological needs. George employs both conventional wisdom and cutting edge training methods, thereby leveraging the latest technological advances and research findings while eschewing fad techniques.
As an athlete, George has completed over twenty marathons and ultramarathons, including five of the six World Marathon Majors. In 2014, George finished in the top twenty in his age group at the Ironman World Championship, and that year, he was the eighth-ranked triathlete in his age group in the United States. Today, George is one of the top fifty marathoners in his age group in the world, and he continues to take on new challenges.
George is also a college professor and a father to twin boys. His wife, Kacie, is an ultra-endurance athlete, having completed a double Ironman and set a world record in the two-woman division of Race Across America.
GEORGE DARDEN
Michelle is an accomplished marathoner and ultramarathoner. She is a multi-time Boston Marathon qualifier, and is one of the few qualifiers to have run the race in both the spring and the fall! After having completed 13 marathons, Michelle took a break from the roads and found success in a few ultra trail events. In 2023, she earned an age group award at the iconic Mountain Mist 50K, and she successfully completed the Silver Rush 50 in Leadville, Colorado, in her first attempt at the distance. She will spend 2024 venturing back to the road marathon and hopes to run her first 100k in the fall!
First joining the podcast in 2019 for a New York City Marathon preview episode, Michelle quickly became a regular host. She is highly regarded for her encyclopedic knowledge of professional running. She has a knack for names and race statistics, and she has an unmatched ability to apply historical understanding to the current running landscape. Her passion for running has taken her around the United States, as an athlete and fan, and she has connections to people and groups both locally, nationally, and internationally.
Michelle is a CPA, the founder of High Echelon, and balances the management of her own business with being the mother of three girls.
MICHELLE FRANK
ERIK HALL
Erik is an endurance athlete and coach in Raleigh, North Carolina; the father to three “baby adults”, a 20 year old daughter and two 21 year old sons; and the husband to an amazing and beautiful wife Melissa.
A young year-round swimmer, Erik had a short stint with soccer in high school and then competed against George in track and cross country at a rival high school. He also attended The Georgia Institute of Technology with George, completing his studies with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. While in college He continued running casually and picked up both road and MTB cycling.
After college Erik served 12 years as navy nuclear submarine officer across the globe. Running and riding 1000’s of miles underway on the submarine, he was responsible for breaking and eventually repairing 2 treadmills and a customized spin bike. While in Hawaii and Virginia, Erik began competing in sprint triathlons. He eventually departed the navy to focus on his young family and settled in Raleigh.
In Roth Carolina, Erik’s cycling transitioned to mostly commuting, and his addiction to endurance sports became devoted completely to running. He has competed with George in several Blue Ridge Relays (BRR) on an ultra masters team and won the inaugural Tobacco Road Relay with George and 2 other college friends. An eternal idiot, Erik has run BRR back to back with the Doggettville 12Hr race winning the coveted “Double Dog Dare” award for the most combined miles between BRR and the 12Hr every year it has been available and finishing as high as second place in the 12Hr. He focuses on distances from 50 km to 100 miles and 12 to 24 hours in mostly local races, but dabbles in the shorter distances also. Erik has never run a marathon.
As a coach, Erik prefers to put his time into a small group of ultra distance runners including his boss, his friend’s husband, an adopted “daughter”, and sometimes his own wife and daughter (when they listen). Erik believes that ultra running is stoopid and you only truly know where your limits are when you cross them, several times over.