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Who am I?

My name is Dylan Belles

 

I'm a passionate person.

 

If I care about something, you can count on me to put my full energy and attention into it.

 

I've had many athletic dreams in my life. If there was a sport to play, I was signed up, and I didn't just play those sports, but I took them home with me as well—learning, practicing, or as a spectator - you couldn't get me away from it.

 

Running found me as a sophomore in high school. At the time, I was a baseball player and a wrestler. During a freshman-year PE class, as a standard procedure at our school, we had to run the mile. My good friend, Kurtis, who was also on the baseball and wrestling team with me, and I battled it out, with him pulling away from me in the later part of the race. I remember running 6:40 for the mile distance, while he ran 6:20. Not knowing whether this was good or not, it didn't really matter at the time. We threw around the idea of running cross country that the following fall to prep for the winter wrestling season. This was said kind of on a whim, but we held each other to it, and the following year, we took our first steps to become runners.

 

Running soon became a part of my life that I really enjoyed. There was something about the feel and effort of running that was very rewarding to me.

 

My brain loved it.

 

And like I did anything, I went all in on running.

 

By the time I was a senior, I had built up a body of work that was good enough to win a state championship and finish on a couple of podiums at our state meet.

 

I worked hard, and I was proud of what I achieved.

 

I then moved on to run for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro as a walk-on athlete. In the early parts of my collegiate career, I got to run and learn from one of the best runners in the world, Paul Chelimo. Out of all the places, he chose UNCG, and it was amazing to be around someone who had both talent and work ethic.

 

On a shakeout run one afternoon, Paul said to me, "You may never be the fastest runner, but you may be a great coach one day."

 

While you might think this would deeply affect an 18-year-old try-hard, I took this as a compliment and understood that at the end of it all, that IS who I wanted to be.

 

I wanted to get everything I could out of my body, but in the long run, my passion would be to get everything I could out of those who surround me and trust in me.

 

My college achievements are nothing to write home about, but I'm proud of how much progress I made during my time in Greensboro. My calling card is that I ran a 10k faster per mile than my mile time in high school!

 

The next step in my life was to continue on my running journey. There wasn't anything anyone could say to stop it. Even if I never became a "pro" runner, I wasn't willing to live in regret of not trying.

 

So, like anyone who wants to be anyone might do, I moved to Flagstaff, Arizona.

 

I lived in Flagstaff for 8 years, and during that time, I became a pro runner (a short stint, but I had a little Brooks contract), and I qualified for 2 Olympic Marathon Trials! But, more importantly, I surrounded myself with some of the best runners and coaches in the world, absorbing and learning what the best in the world do. Not only that, I helped coach elementary to high school kids, led a group of 300 local community runners every Tuesday night at 6 pm, held running camps, and created my own coaching business where I have worked with over 1000 runners, from kids to elites.

 

I've taken advantage of every opportunity that has come my way to better my own training and to improve the training of those around me.

 

This leads me to where I am today, still an athlete, but an eager coach, continuing to build and lead a life I love to live.

More About Me

Former Brooks Professional Athlete, 2 x Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier and Qualified Coach of 1000+ Athletes over the last decade. Coach Dylan Belles works with all ages and abilities, from youth, to collegians, to masters runners, helping them reach their individual goals, and find what they are looking for most in training performance.

Coaching History

 

2014 - 2016 - H.O.P.E Program Leader (Helping Older People Exercise)

2015 - 2016 - Team Run Flagstaff Youth and Community Coach

2016 - 2017 - UNCG Volunteer Assistant Coach

2016 - 2018 - YMCA Competitive Swim Coach Ages 5 - 15

2017 - 2021 - Head Coach at RunnersConnect

2022 - 2024 - Director of Team Run Flagstaff

2019 - Present - Owner and Head Coach at Dylan Belles Performance Coaching.

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©2023 by dylanbelles.com

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