RunDoyen Reviews 44

Simone Plourde wrote an excellent training plan for me that got me a Boston qualifier at the Eugene Marathon. My college friends set out to qualify as a group and I knew that I would need some professional guidance. Simone was able to help me build fitness and stay healthy to reach my goals. I would highly recommend using her as a coach.

I started running for fun in July 2019 and did a few 5ks and half marathons with just using the treadmill to train. I eventually moved on to tackle a full marathon in October 2021 and had a finishing time of 4:28. I was self motivated with my training and had no problems with injuries but still didn’t really know what I was doing. I was just running with no guidance but I knew I wanted to do better. Then I found RunDoyen!
I took the quick survey and was matched with coach Dr. Jeff Messer. I was at first intimidated because of all his accomplishments and impressive resume but my fears were shortly forgotten after getting to know him. He truly cared about me and wanted me to accomplish my running goals while staying healthy and injury free. With just 1 year of training, I shaved 30 minutes from my marathon time and ran a 3:57 in December 2022!! I couldn’t believe it!

I would have continued training, but I became pregnant in 2023 and 2024 and had to cut my weekly mileage and therefore training unfortunately. Once I’m ready to resume training I will without a doubt contact Coach Jeff because I still want to improve my marathon time and I know he will help me do that. I’m so grateful for RunDoyen for connecting me with the best coach ever!!!

I've been working with coach Jeff Messer for 2 years and he's been an invaluable resource. Whether it's helping me improve my marathon time or coming back from an injury, he is always supportive and open to discussion on how to proceed. He's also been great about answering my questions on racing nutrition.

I've been using Sean Henning from Run Doyen for about 10 months. He is accessible, responsive, and super steeped in coaching running. He has years of experience training elite athletes, lots of whom are high level collegiate standouts. I am nothing close to that--just your average dude looking to run fast--but the principles Sean is steeped in translate to normal folks like me. I've been very pleased with the level of fitness Sean has taken me to.

Also just FYI that I'm no spring chicken. So even though Sean spends a ton of time with whipper snappers, he's able to tailor the training to, shall we say, more "seasoned" or "veteran" runners. Achem. Highly recommend.

Coach Jeff helped me to accomplish my marathon goal!
He was always available to answer questions and offered loads of encouragement.

Working with Carrie Elwood has been a great opportunity! She is such an awesome coach and is really great at communicating and answering any running questions that have come up in training. She is also so supportive and has helped me pr every distance from 400m to marathon and since working with her I have been able to complete 5 marathons and lots of short distance events. Before working with her I had frequent injury issues, but the structure of how I train now has reduced that significantly. Would recommend to anyone looking to improve their running or who just wants to be able to focus on the nutrition and recovery while you can just trust the training plan to work.

Working with Coach Sean has been the best decision I’ve made for my running journey. He’s incredibly patient and genuinely takes time to understand my challenges then adapts my training to fit what works best for me. Every week feels like a plan built for me, not just a generic template.

What I appreciate most is how encouraging and motivating he is, exactly what I was looking for when I joined RunDoyen. Despite the time zone differences, Sean always makes time to communicate and provide thoughtful feedback.

His guidance has not only made me stronger as a runner but has helped me fall in love with training again.

Ina

I have had a great experience with Coach TJ on RunDoyen. I have worked with him for nearly 2 years and have seen incredible progress in my running at multiple distances. He is prompt and thorough in his training plans and helps me plan out my race season to make the most of my training. I’d highly recommend RunDoyen if you’re looking to take the next step in your training!

I worked with Dr, Jeff Messer for about 1.5 years. I am currently on a pause but will go back. I am an experienced runner in my 50's and just needed something new. He got me out of the daily running grind and challenged me. He truly reignited my passion for running for myself again. He had me doing things I hadn't done in years. I had a great, well-organized plan; he communicated with me daily and helped me reach multiple goals. I felt like he was a friend and someone I definitely didn't want to let down, exactly what a good coach should feel like. It was happenstance that I found RunDoyen and got connected with Dr. Messer and I couldn't be happier that I did.

The company paired my son with an excellent running coach. From their first meeting, he put my son at ease by answering his questions, discussing his goals, and telling him what he can do to help. He has always been very responsive when we have asked him questions. He is clear about the reasons behind his training plan, and he is incredibly encouraging!

Coach TJ’s training plans are dynamic and well thought out. I have increased spreed substantially following his suggested runs and have adapted better to my chosen race distance — the marathon. The changes from week to week keep the training interesting while achieving preparation goals.

Nico has been awesome! The workouts have been great! I am seeing really good progress on this training block! I’ve really enjoyed working with Nico! I highly recommend!!

It has been great with Coach Nico, I am preparing for my second marathon and I can really feel the improvement.

I signed up for RunDoyen in May 2025 after experiencing some stagnation in my training and ongoing injury issues. I wanted to improve at the marathon and reach the 3 hour barrier one day, and I was paired with coach Makena Morley.

My experience has been amazing- who knew that you can get coached by one of the best US marathon runners, and learn how to train like a pro?!

Makena is a delight to work with - always so kind and motivating. Her training sessions are fun and lead to consistent progress. I just ran a half marathon in 1h30 and the 3hr marathon barrier feels more and more achievable each day. My favorite part of working with Makena is having calls to plan race day strategy- everything from fueling to pacing. I love the process and I can’t wait to see where it takes me next. Thanks RunDoyen and Coach Makena!

Jeff is a highly communicative and motivating coach. Aims to ensure health and long term approach to training. Ability to adapt various training goals over the course of the year.

Always a pleasure to speak with!

Coach Patrick has been great! I’ve been working with him for two years. I’ve enjoyed his workouts and they’ve kept me challenged and injury free. I’m not racing as much as I used to due to time/parenting constraints, and some performance anxiety. I appreciate that Patrick is not all over social media and approaches training the way I grew up – no frills, listen to your body. Can tell that is why he had such a successful D1 career, and grateful for his patience with me. Stop hiring coaches with no credentials off Instagram. RunDoyen has been phenomenal. If you’re looking for a coach grounded in research and experience, I highly recommend.

I've been training with Coach Carrie since 2023, and it's been a blast. I feel like she understands my concerns well, and the training blocks are set up to reflect that. I've PBed on every single race (marathons), have had no sidelining injuries, and it's been good fun!

tailor made plan, mental encouragement and commitment to training

I sought out Run Doyen for help with taking my marathon training and running to the next level. After many years of being your normal self-coached amateur, I felt that I had stagnated after two consecutive disappointing marathons. I did not run in high school or college, so reaching out for help was intimidating at first. However, I'm so glad I did! In almost no time, I had an online interview set up with Coach Jacob Phillips where we casually talked running, life, and everything in between. Coach Jacob did a great job of listening and then crafting a training program that was both challenging but not overwhelming for me. By using an online running calendar (Final Surge) and email, we're able to keep in touch daily. Coach Jacob responds quickly, and he's very flexible with the schedule as we're all very busy people. I've really enjoyed his positivity, support, and his wealth of knowledge of the sport. Coach Jacob is exactly the coach I've needed. I just wished I had reached out sooner!

Working with Run Doyen and Coach Jacob paid almost immediate dividends as my first marathon after starting with this program resulted in a PR of over 4 minutes! I can't express my true appreciation and gratitude for this experience in words, so I'll just ask that you trust what I'm writing and reach out to Run Doyen if you're looking to take your running to the next level!

Coach TJ helped me hit my goal of qualifying for my first Boston Marathon in less than 1 year. I really appreciate the week to week analysis of how my training is progressing and the real-time adjustments that we make based on my goals and my schedule.