Mike Hamberger is a performance specialist and recent LA transplant, who had been previously coaching in Washington, DC since 2006. In operating his private coaching business, Mike has guided more than 1000 athletes to a wide spectrum of goals, from ages 8 to 80, from 5k to marathon, and from couch potato to Olympic hopeful. 

He is currently a PhD candidate in cognitive motor neuroscience at the University of Maryland, and has taught an undergraduate performance psychology course at George Washington University and Marymount University. He is a former track & field coach and physical education teacher at the prestigious Sidwell Friends School.

In addition to publishing academic journal articles, Mike wrote his 1st book in 2015: The Art of Run Training (2nd edition coming in 2023!). He's been consulted by numerous publications, including Runner's World and The Washington Post. Mike was also Reese Witherspoon's run coach for the film "How Do You Know".

As an All-American triathlete, his run-splits consistently ranked at the top of the field, having represented Team USA 3x at amateur duathlon World Championships. In 2010, he finished his 3rd Boston Marathon, setting a PR at 2:46:33, and at the Army 10-Miler (one of the largest races in the world) he broke the 1-hour mark, finishing in the top-100 for the 2nd time.

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His previous experience in athletics included being a high-level, three-sport collegiate athlete in football, rugby, and track & field at Widener University. Thus, his running career began while competing as an All-Conference decathlete for two years, where he won the 1500m and 400m races at Conference Championships.

In addition to his collegiate athletics, Mike also played football and baseball in high school and now enjoys basketball, darts, and open/freestyle dance competitions as leisure-time endeavors. He grew up in Delaware, was a long-time resident of Washington DC, and recently moved to Santa Monica.