Head Coach: Chris McClung. Assistant Coach: Jessica Head
LOCATION: Rogue Downtown
Group Meets: Wednesdays 5:30am Saturdays: 5:30AM up to 16 - 20 miles / 6:30 AM up to 10 miles

COST: $85/Month *See payment details below

COACH BIO

Coach Chris

Background: I played soccer and volleyball growing up and didn’t turn to running until my senior year of college in the ancient year of 2000. My college roommate and girlfriend (now wife Amy) got me into it. Before I knew it, I had done my first 10K and was absolutely hooked. A year later, I ran my first marathon in 2001 in Chicago and the rest is essentially history as I’ve been training and racing more or less consistently ever since then. I run to test my limits and to see what I can accomplish if I push beyond where I think I can go. As a bonus, I've met some of my best friends on the roads. I believe in the power of running to not only make you faster but also to make you a better human. That’s why I love to coach. When you sign up for this group, your goals become as important to me as my own and your failures become my failures. Let’s do this together!

Coach Jessica

Background: I started running later in life after having my daughter at age 30. Running has been a great opportunity for me to make new friends, stay in shape, and hopefully inspire my young daughter to chase her dreams. I'm active both on the roads and the trail and have completed over 20 marathons/ ultramarathons. I believe in programs that suit the individual athlete's lifestyle and goals and am excited to continue to help others achieve their goals!

COACH PHILOSOPHY

The coaching philosophy we bring to the Morning Show is all about commitment, consistency, and community.

Commitment: You have to want it. We will give you the plan and process to smash your goals, but if you aren’t prepared to commit to the work, then this isn’t going to work. You don’t have to be super human. In fact, we very much want you to be human, to be yourself. We will never give you something that you aren’t prepared to do, but you do need to be ready and willing to do it.

Consistency: Consistency comes in two forms. First, it’s about showing up no matter what. We like to say that the Morning Show is always ON, whether it’s hot or cold, raining or dry, and no matter how good or bad you might be feeling. There is a reason we have only canceled two Morning Show workouts in 10 years (once for ice and once for lightning). It isn’t always perfect on race day so training in tough conditions and leaving your excuses at the door will make you stronger and faster in the long term. Second, it’s about mixing the right amounts of hard training and active recovery. In order to stay consistent, you must be healthy, and in order to be healthy, you must balance the stress of training hard with the appropriate forms of active recovery.

Community: Running is only a solo sport if you let it be. You will be stronger, and you will reach your goals faster if you embrace the team dynamic. Over time, you will be assigned a pace group within the larger group. They will become your run squad. They will hold you accountable. They will push you when you are struggling, and they will sometimes hold you back when it is time to reign it in. They will become your friends on the road and off. You will laugh, cry, and suffer together. You will breakfast taco together after a long run, and you will definitely become faster and better humans together.

GROUP DYNAMIC

This is a special group comprised of runners who started with us at the very beginning of the group in 2010, as well as runners who have joined us recently. All have left their mark on the group dynamic in some tangible way. The culture is inclusive, very hard-working, and supportive on the road and off. We have runners who have run marathons between 2:43 and 5:30 and pretty much every pace range in between.

There is no hierarchy based on pace. We all do the same work and celebrate every result equally. Everyone does the same rigorously-developed workouts, and no one shies away from a challenge. And, when someone is racing or facing a challenge in their personal life, we are there cheering and supporting either through the data lines or directly on the side lines. When you join the Morning Show, you will never again face a challenge in running or life alone.

ORIGIN STORY

On the name: For the first year and a half (from Sept 2010 to March 2012), the group had no name. In the spring of 2012, we decided that we needed a name for the group, and after a nomination process and team vote, we chose the name “The Early Birds” as a nod to our 5:30 am start time. For whatever reason, it just didn’t fit, and the new name lasted about two months before falling out of use. Around that time, Carolyn Mangold had sarcastically started calling the group “The McClung Show” after Chris’s understated speeches to kick-off Wednesday morning workouts. The name began to stick and evolved to “The McClung Morning Show” which we changed to simply The Morning Show when it became official to represent the fact that the power of the group extends well beyond the coach!

On the logo: The Morning Show logo was born a few years later with the help of Rogue designer and Rogue Expeditions leader Allison Macsas. It’s a mash-up of the moon logo from The Tonight Show (with a sun instead) and the group’s favorite workout - Capitol 800s. That workout loop starts and finishes at the Capitol steps and is the perfect venue to put in some work as the sun comes up!