Chris Truscott

Chris Truscott

Coach & athlete

Chris is a highly experienced runner and running coach for all levels for our online running programs and running groups (Athletics Australia Level 2 Coach). He has a successful and broad history in running, which began at the tender age of 6yrs old with his first trophy coming in the under 7's Hornsby Cross Country carnival. Throughout his school life, Chris competed in many State championship events but kept a good balance with many other sporting and academic pursuits. It wasn't until university that Chris decided to become a little more serious, increase his weekly training schedule and pursue some longer events.

Chris will help you progress through any of our online running programs even conquering the advanced & elite levels should you wish to sign up for these. As you make your way through, you may have questions and feedback that Chris will respond to. His ability to work in with your lifestyle, work and family commitments and location means that you can stay on course to complete your goal event whilst allowing for some flexibility from week to week where required.

Chris has a long affinity with many of Sydney's iconic running events. He first completed Sydney's City to Surf when he was just 9 years old, running through in 63mins. In 1987 at the age of 13, he ran 53mins and he has competed in every single City to Surf since (over 30 of them) with a PB of 45:44 and the last 25yrs under 50mins.

Chris's first marathon was the 1993 Melbourne marathon. We're not sure why he was so keen to start running marathons at the age of 18, but he loved it and was happy to finish in a 3:13.26. He was also now hooked to this new gruelling event. Chris has gone on to compete in over 30 marathons including Berlin, Chicago, Rotterdam, London, Tokyo, New York and local ones - Sydney, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Melbourne & Canberra with a PB of 2:29:44 coming in 2002 in one of his four Berlin finishes. All his subsequent marathon times since debut have been under 3hrs.

Chris has managed to maintain his longevity with running via a balanced approach to life and to the sport. In 2007, he along with wife Greta, represented NSW at the National Cross Country titles in Perth before travelling to the lovely Margaret River wine region.

Chris was very keen to try and be selected to run for Australia and after a tip from Aussie legend, Andrew Llyod many years earlier, he signed up to qualify for the 100km world road champs. This qualifier was via 28 laps around Centennial Park in Sydney in under 8hrs with the world champs 18mths later held in Qatar where he ran 7hrs 46mins to finish mid field in very warm conditions.

Around this time were various 100km trail events such as UTA100 and Tarrawera 100km in NZ both delivering top 10 finishes.  

The real enjoyment for him lies in the social bonding that running creates and the thrill of the challenge in the many races & training sessions throughout each year. Chris sets challenging pursuits but couples these with a healthy dose of the social. This social aspect has led to many friendships and coaching relationships and he values the reward in seeing others achieve what they thought wasn't possible.

Even now at 47yrs old, he continues to compete across a wide spectrum of events. Whether it's a 5000m track time trial, 10km road race, half marathon or marathon, or a 100km trail or road race, Chris ensures he is as ready as he can be given the balance life requires and now focuses on longevity through strength both physically and mentally.

Over Chris’s running life, he has been lucky to develop long lasting relationships with key brands. New Balance for 10years was a fantastic partnership before moving across to Hoka OneOne when NB changed focus away from running. More recently (and thanks in a large part to Greta), 2xu and Suunto have partnered up with Chris to push further into the running market.

Road PBs:

· 5k Park run PB is currently 15:52 at Curl Curl / Road PB: 15:40

· 10k North Head Sydney Striders – 31:36

· Half marathon Gold Coast 2005 – 68:58

· Marathon PB 2:29:44 in 2002 one of four Berlin finishes

· 100km World Champs in Qatar coming a respectable 41st from 221 starters in Nov 2014 in 7hrs 46mins

Track

· 800m 2:00

· 1500m 3:59

· 3000m 8:42

· 5,000m 15:06

· 10,000m 31:23

Trail

· 2nd male Six Foot Track 3.33 in 2005

· 2nd male New Caledonia 80k 2015

· Buffalo Stampede Marathon 2015 top ten

· North Face 100k in the Blue Mountains in May 2015 – top 10

· 8th in a world class ultra trail field in the Tarrawera 100km, NZ in Feb 2015.

· Coastal Classic – 2:25 – 4th 2019

Records:

· Rafferties Coastal Classic 22km 2018 winner and record holder

· 2019 Bronte’s iconic 440 (100+ runners every Saturday, Sydney) 10 laps of a hilly 720m loop 26.46 fastest time ever

· Airlie Beach Park Run, a challenging undulating, bendy course 16.34 new mens record 2019

· Whitehaven Beach Half Marathon 77mins 2019

There seems to be no stopping his desire to challenge himself and others.

Chris writes a weekly entertaining blog about all things running and his own training and experiences here if you'd like to follow along: http://runnerct.blogspot.com.au