Coach John Leaf
John is also the co-owner of Wild River Running Co.
A Center City, MN native, John started running competitively at age 12 for Chisago Lakes Cross County. After a middle school career of struggling to beat fellow competitors taking walk breaks, he started running over the summer and progressed to a varsity member as a freshman, eventually advancing to the state meet as a senior. He attended Gustavus Adolphus where he competed in both track and cross country, serving as a captain for the cross country team his Junior and Senior years.
He has continued to compete in the 15 years since graduating college; the last 12 of which have been with Twin Cities Track Club. He’s competed in over 150 races since graduating college at distances ranging from a mile to the marathon and everything in between.
John coached at Hopkins High School between 2017-2024. He’s worked with middle school students just starting their journey in the sport and seasoned athletes vying for state titles. He’s written training plans for adult runners for the last 10 years and enjoys the process of finding the best fit for each athlete he works with.
Coaching Philosophy
Running can be a ton of things for people: a motivator to get fit, lose weight, de-stress, or a way to test your physical limits. Whatever your goal, it’s good to incorporate routines with periodic variety to keep things fresh. The most success I’ve seen, experienced myself, and coached has occurred when athletes are pushing themselves to maximize their volume, but with much of it at slower paces. I strongly believe in the adage that 80% of your volume should be slow. The 20% of speed should be at a mix of paces to work as many of your systems as possible.
If your goal is to train for a race, then you should also practice that skill before race day as well. It’s always good to pencil in 2-4 races in your build up prior to the big day.
Coaching Results
John had the opportunity to work with and learn from a phenomenal coaching staff at Hopkins. The boys varsity team was ranked at the state level every year that John was with the program. During his time at Hopkins, the girls varsity transformed from an afterthought in the Lake Conference to a perennially ranked team in the state. Between 2019-2023, the number of girls who broke 22 in a 5k grew from 6 in 2019 to 12 in 2023.
Under his personal coaching, his sister improved from a 1:47 half marathon to a 1:37. His sister in-law had not previously been a runner and progressed to a 1:51 in the half marathon. Garrett Quinn, a friend and previous non-runner has improved from a 1:46 half marathon to a 1:34 with help from John’s training plans.
John’s personal bests:
5k: 15:19 Track, 15:27 road
10k: 32:31 road
10 mile: 53:43
Half Marathon: 1:10:48
Marathon: 2:35:08