About Ryan
Beginnings
I began my athletic career in middle school, participating in cross country and track and field from seventh grade through high school. I was a decent distance runner, but my passion at the time was the field events: long jump, triple jump, and pole vault.
I learned a lot about work ethic, goal setting, persistence, and perseverance during these formative years, and I am grateful for the support of my coaches and family during that time.
I chose to pursue music as my extracurricular activity as a young adult, which led to a fairly long hiatus from running.
XC Coaching - Willmar, MN
Around the time I got seriously back into running as an adult, I also began a coaching job at Willmar High School in Minnesota. I was very fortunate to be a small part of an amazing program led by Coach Jerry Popp, a legendary Hall of Fame coach. I stepped into a team culture already built on hard, consistent work.
Coach Popp placed a huge priority on building our athletes’ belief in themselves and their ability to run fast while making it feel easy. Confidence is key, and the training was always adjusted to preserve that confidence.
The highlight of this coaching experience was our girls’ team placing fifth at Nike Nationals in Portland. This group of young ladies had been training together since sixth grade, year-round, and regularly ran 300–400 miles during the summer—amazing!
Ultrarunning
I became serious about trail and ultrarunning around 2013. I was coming off a multi-year break from running, so my first race—the Superior 25K in northern Minnesota—absolutely wrecked me.
But I was hooked.
Over the course of a few years, I worked my way up through the distances (25K → 50K → 50M → 100M), mostly running in the awesome Rock Steady Running events (Superior and Afton).
During COVID-19, my family moved out to Ouray, CO, an area we had absolutely fallen in love with and couldn’t stop thinking about.
After training there for a couple of years, I managed to complete both the Sneffels Round and the Ouray 100—two events that seriously tested the limits of my mental and physical endurance.
Trail and Ultra Coach
I received my UESCA ultrarunning coach certification in January 2025. I am looking forward to working with athletes to help them achieve their running goals.
Given that I am entering the world of "Masters" running, and my own personal goal of continuing this passion for as long as possible, I have a particular interest in working with other athletes who are currently on this same path. Navigating some of the challenges associated with "getting old", and trying to delay the "decrepit" part of aging for as long as possible!
Contact Ryan: ryan.singlesteprunning@gmail.com
