Pro Runners Ask: Is My Agent Worth the Fee CA Notice at Collection Pro Runners Ask: Is My Agent Worth the Fee.
Running in the Cold Krissy Gear won the U.S. title in the steeplechase with a blazing kick over 10-time national champion Emma Coburn.
For NAZ Elite, Gear’s title was the highest profile moment since Aliphine Tuliamuk Races - Places.
Jenna Wrieden, the assistant coach, has been named the interim head coach while the club conducts a search for a new head coach.
Culpepper did not respond to a text from Runner’s World seeking comment. NAZ Elite executive director Ben Rosario did not comment beyond confirming that Wrieden was named the interim head coach and clarifying that she will travel with Gear to Budapest, Hungary, for the World Championships in August.
A source close to the club told Runner’s World that the team had expected Culpepper to move to Flagstaff, Arizona, where the team is based. He never made the move, instead commuting from Boulder, Colorado, where he lives with his wife and sons.
Culpepper’s bio has been removed from the team website, but a previous version read, “The Culpeppers will be moving to Flagstaff in the summer of 2022 as Alan begins his journey with HOKA NAZ Elite.”
Culpepper’s hiring was announced on May 19, 2022, with a press conference over Zoom featuring Rosario, Culpepper, and Mike McManus, Hoka’s Director of Global Sports Marketing. Hoka is the primary sponsor of the team.
McManus and Culpepper had been connected since Culpepper’s competitive days. Unlike the hiring of Wrieden, which came after a public search, the job Culpepper held was never posted.
Culpepper was a two-time Olympian in 2000 and 2004, who coached himself, but he didn’t have much formal coaching experience before he got the NAZ post. He coached his son Cruz at the high school level and served one year as the director of operations and the assistant cross country and track and field coach for the University of Texas at El Paso.
since 2005. She is the author of two popular fitness books his bio remains on the team’s website.
In Follow Your Heart: The Story of Stephanie Bruce’s Not-So-Final Season written by Bruce and Rosario and published in 2023, Rosario recounts the hiring of Culpepper after a Zoom call. “I remember that Zoom call well,” Rosario wrote. “And what I remember was one line above all others. At one point, unsolicited and in the course of conversation, Alan said, ‘If you guys hire me you’re going to look like geniuses.’”
Chappell Roan: I Love Running. But Not Anymore is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World NAZ Elite and Head Coach Alan Culpepper Part Ways, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
