Highlights
- Distance running coach to more than 30,000 runners for the TCS New York City Marathon and other races around the world
- Celebrity coach and pacer to stars including Karlie Kloss, Daniel Humm, Nev Shulman, James Blake, Caroline Wozniacki, Summer Sanders, and Apolo Ohno
- Eight-time top-10 finisher at the U.S. Track & Field National Championships
- Expert source for media outlets including Runner’s World and SHAPE
"Everyone is a runner. Some just choose not to run or don’t know how to start." This is a quote I live by and preach. I love helping people break down the mental barriers and challenges that get in the way of starting a running and fitness journey.
— John Honerkamp
Experience
John Honerkamp, affectionately known as Coach John, has coached runners of all ages and abilities for more than 20 years. A graduate of St. John’s, John was an eight-time All-Big East and six-time All-East (IC4A) athlete while running for the Red Storm. He earned 12 Big East All-Academic accolades and was the youngest semifinalist in the 800-meters at the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials.
Since moving to New York City in 2001, he has run for the New York Athletic Club (NYAC). He is an eight-time top-10 finisher at the U.S. Track & Field National Championships and a member of the American record-holding 4×1500-meter relay team. His personal bests include 1:47.26 (800 meters), 3:41.58 (1500 meters), and 4:01.30 (one mile). John started his career as an assistant coach at St. John’s University in Queens, New York for five years, working with mid- and long-distance runners.
He worked for almost six years at New York Road Runners (NYRR). He ran the 2010 ING New York City Marathon in 2:44:22, and ran the Long Island Half-Marathon in 1:12:24. Coach John practices what he preaches, training for the 2011 Berlin and ING New York City marathons using the official NYRR Training Plan. He has paced many celebrity runners in high-profile marathons including Apolo Ohno, Karlie Kloss, Daniel Humm, and more.
He is the co-founder of the November Project in New York City, a lululemon running ambassador, and a member and manager of the NYAC Running Team. John started his own consulting firm, J. R. Honerkamp, LLC. His clients include New Balance, Strava, Tracksmith, WeWork, Make It Nice, DailyBurn, Project Purple, and NYRR. He has been the lead ambassador for New Balance for the last three years and his duties include casting runners for various campaigns and throwing shoe launch parties. With WeWork, he created and launched the Rise+Run program in 2018.
John is deeply involved in the New York City running community. He launched the Off the Hook Track Club, a local training group that is based in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, and also created The Run Collective—born out of a desire to unite the running community and connect, collaborate, and celebrate all efforts from various clubs, crews, and people in the city. The Run Collective launched the first-ever Runner Safety Awareness Week in an effort to raise awareness and teach runners how to stay safe while running outside.
Education
John is an RRCA and USATF-certified coach. He received his bachelor’s degree in 1998 and his MBA with a concentration in marketing in 2008—both from St. John’s University.
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