Coaches

Whether you’re looking for help with your form, training plans for an upcoming race, or general advice for running and multisport , FRNY’s coaches are here to help!

Mike Keohane (he/him)

Head Coach

Mike Keohane is a competitive long distance runner, coach, and sports pedorthist. His focus over the last 30 years has been the marathon, competing in 17 marathons in that time, twelve of them under 2:31:00. His best marathon time is 2:16:24, set in 1989, earning a ranking of 20th in the nation.

His coaching career started at Columbia University in 1993, where he assisted the head women's track coach, working with the distance runners until 1996. FRNY workouts include hills, threshold and cadence work, dynamic stretching, and time at the track.

In the fall of 1996, Mike became a USA Track & Field Level 1 coach and started conducting his own running class in New York City. The runner's class accommodates a wide variety of abilities ranging from 2:30 marathoners to 5-hour marathoners, triathletes, and Ironman competitors.

Over the last 25 years, he has also conducted running and marathoning classes at New York Sports Club and the Muscular Dystrophy Association of New York, and coaching clinics for various local running clubs, such as New York Road Runners, the New York Flyers, and the MetroSports Triathlon Series. He was the co-founder and head coach of Citytrack, an instructional track & field program for local youth.

Mike is also a certified pedorthist: "a person trained in the design, manufacture, fit and/or modification of shoes and foot orthoses to alleviate foot problems caused by disease, overuse or injury." This additional credential compliments his 10 years of experience in running shoe fit and technology.

Jen Spina (she/her)

Assistant Coach

Jen has over 20 years of experience as a personal trainer and private coach. She has run 31 marathons, qualifying for Boston 21 times. She joined FRNY in February 2022 when she became the Assistant Coach for the Team. “This has been the most fun and welcoming group I’ve been a part of and am looking forward to meeting and working all the atheletes in achieving their running goals.” She was born in Queens, grew up in the Berkshires, MA, and currently resides on the UWS in New York City.

Onesimo Demira (he/him)

Swim Coach

Since 2018, Onesimo has been the FRNY's triathlon swim coach & is part of the multisport committee. Prior to NYC, Onesimo lived in the Twin Cities, Minnesnowta. Onesimo moved to NY to study fashion design & currently works in that industry. To care for his physical & mental self, Onesimo continued to swim and after many years was seeking something different which led him to open water, then triathlons & introduced him to the world of running.

Onesimo joined FRNY in 2007 which persuaded him to race in most of the distances from the 5th Avenue mile to the NYC marathon (& track as well). Hitting his mid-life crisis challenged him to go even further by competing in the ironman distances.

Onesimo usually tells the swim newbies to be patient & treat it like learning a new language. You can't be fluent if you only do it an hour a week.