Terrence Mahon (born October 5, 1970) is an American distance running coach. Mahon coaches many notable long distance and middle distance runners, including Olympians

Deena Kastor Deena Michelle Kastor (née Drossin; born February 14, 1973) is an American long-distance runner. She was a holder of American records in the marathon (2006-2022) and numerous road distances. She won the bronze medal in the women's marathon at t ...

Anna Pierce Anna Willard (born March 31, 1984) is an American middle distance runner. Personal Willard grew up on a farm in Greenwood, Maine. She took up running as a high school student at Telstar High School in Bethel, Maine. She competed as an undergra ...

, and

Jen Rhines Jennifer "Jen" Rhines (born July 1, 1974 in Syracuse, New York) is an American long-distance runner who competes in track, cross country and road running events. She has competed in three different Summer Olympics and made 15 US Teams. Rh ...

. Mahon also coached Ryan Hall for five years. In 2011 he coached

Morgan Uceny Morgan Uceny (born March 10, 1985) is a retired United States, American track and field athlete who specialized in middle distance running. Uceny won three national championships and was the 2011 IAAF Diamond League Champion at 1500 meters. She ...

to the number one world ranking in the 1500 meters, coached ultra runner

Josh Cox Josh Cox (August 9, 1975) is an American former long-distance runner. He is the former American record holder in the 50k. Cox, a four-time US Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier and three-time U.S. National Team member, has been the top American m ...

to the second fastest 50k time in history, and guided Irishman

Alistair Cragg Alistair Ian Cragg (born 13 June 1980 in Johannesburg) is an international track and field athlete. Born and brought up in South Africa, he has since lived in England and United States where he attended the University of Arkansas. He races for ...

to a new National Record in the 5,000 meters, and in 2012 coached Alistair to European and Irish records in the road 5k at the Carlsbad 5000. Mahon ran for and graduated from La Habra High School in

La Habra La Habra (archaic spelling of ''La Abra'', ) is a city in the northwestern corner of Orange County, California, United States. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,239. A related city, La Habra Heights, is located to the north of ...

. Mahon attended

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinians in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Sa ...

as an undergraduate, where he was an All-American runner. Mahon ran a 2:13:02 in the

Chicago Marathon The Chicago Marathon is a marathon (long-distance foot race) held every October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the six World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is the fourth-largest r ...

in 1997, and won the U.S. 20 k Championships. He qualified for the Olympic Trials in both the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

and

10,000 m The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

, but was unable to qualify for the Olympics. In 1998, Mahon married runner Jen Rhines, who also competed for Villanova. They moved to

Mammoth Lakes, California Mammoth Lakes is a town in Mono County, California, and is the county's only incorporated community. It is located immediately to the east of Mammoth Mountain, at an elevation of . As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,191, r ...

to train, where Mahon later became a coach for Team Running USA, now known as the Mammoth Track Club. In 2012, Mahon moved to the UK to be the head coach of the distance runners at

British Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics officials. The orga ...

. After only a year with British Athletics, Mahon returned to the states accepting a position as the head coach of the Boston Athletics Association’
High Performance Team
In 2015 Mahon was selected by the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

to be the women’s middle and long distance coach for

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

at the

2015 IAAF World Championships The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...

. After 4 years with the BAA, Mahon moved to San Diego, California and started th
Golden Coast Track Club
(formerly known as the Mission Athletic Club) where he continues to coach some of the best long and middle distance runners including olympians Chris O’Hare,

Lynsey Sharp Lynsey Sharp (born 11 July 1990) is a Scottish track and field athlete who competes in the 800 metres. She is the 2012 European champion and represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. She won a silver medal at the 2014 Com ...

and

Andrew Butchart Andrew Butchart (born 14 October 1991) is a British runner who competed in the 5000 metres event at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. He is the current Scottish record holder in the 3000, 5000 and 10,000 metre events. In June 2023, he broke th ...

, along with other notable runners like

Nikki Hiltz Nikki Hiltz (born October 23, 1994) is a mid-distance runner from Aptos, California. Hiltz attended Aptos High School, where in 2012 they won the CIF California State Championship in the 1600 meters. Hiltz is a 6 time NCAA Division I All-Ame ...

, Mac Fleet, Sarah Pagano and Heidi See . American marathon record holder and 2004 Olympic Bronze medalist Deena Kastor says this about Mahon:

I owe the longevity of my career to him being so knowledgeable and for reinventing training and therapy to keep me healthy. One of Terrence's greatest strengths is his insatiability to learn, not just about coaching, but life. He is full of so much knowledge and keeps reading great books and visiting with other brilliant people to continue growing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahon, Terrence 1970 births Living people American male long-distance runners Villanova Wildcats men's track and field athletes American male marathon runners Sportspeople from Orange County, California People from Mammoth Lakes, California