Other Coaches

Featuring EFC Specialty Coaches:

Coach Amanda Gergen

Enthusiasm, Tenacity, and a Smile sums up Coach Amanda. She started her athletic career on the tennis courts and received a scholarship to play tennis at The University of Findlay. After college, Coach Amanda dove into her career, fell in love and started a family. She started running as a family competition for a 5K and soon added cycling to her fitness regime to cross train. She had interest in triathlons but didn’t know how to swim distances. It wasn’t until she met Dick Hoyt and was inspired by him to “jump in”. After that, fear and “not knowing how to” has never stopped her again.

Now an active triathlete and Team Toledo Triathlon Club member, Amanda enjoys helping others “jump in!” Coach Amanda thrives on seeing athletes accomplish their goals and gain confidence in themselves. She has taught toddlers and the young at heart the game of tennis for years and now focuses her efforts on helping busy Moms and Dads stay fit and be healthy while encouraging exercise to be a family affair. Coach Amanda loves triathlons because you don’t have to win to enjoy multisport! She also loves that her children can help her train. It is the everyday athlete and young athletes that truly inspire her.

Coach Melissa Stone

Melissa is the epitome of beginner athlete turned fanatic. Her athleticism consisted in dabbling in numerous sports, such skiing & soccer through High School and College.  In 2005, she decided to run her first Boston marathon to check off the "Bucket List". After joining a charity and running a 3:56, she was addicted. In the next few years she continually set PRs in all her races.  She began cross training to break up the monotony and in 2008 completed her first triathlon and fell in love with the sport. Along with a friend, she decided she wanted to do an Ironman! Training began in January 09 and after an entire season of training and “test races,” she completed Ironman Wisconsin in September in 12 hours. Melissa is also a 6 time marathoner, with a current PR of 3:08, in Chicago.

In addition to her racing, she began to find her niche in the coaching/mentoring arena to her friends, family, fiancée and co workers as well as introducing other runners to the world of multisport.  Her fiancées job recently brought them to Chicago from Boston, allowing her the perfect opportunity to leave her world of Sports Sponsorship sales, and pursue fitness and coaching as a career. Coach Melissa is a USAT Level 1 Certified Coach, Spin Instructor and personal trainer.

Fitness and motivating people has been Melissa’s passion and hobby for years. She is a triathlete who enjoys keeping fit and competing locally. Melissa thrives off the atmosphere and energy at races, as well as the camaraderie found throughout the running community. She is continuously learning as much as she can about the wonderful sport of triathlon and enjoys sharing her passion with people. Her firsthand knowledge of the discipline it takes to train and race is exactly what she is going to bring to the table as an Energy Fitness Coach. Melissa is looking forward to growing with and sharing all she learns with her athletes!

Coach Amy Cahill

Coach Amy is joining EFC as a "mommy motivator" to renew and energize moms. If you are ready to develop your personal fitness goals based on your current post-pregnancy condition, Amy is eager to help! Coach Amy focuses on working with moms to produce strong fitness results while balancing the demands of motherhood. 

As a new mom herself, Amy knows that efficiency becomes the dominant component of the workout, but the payoff is worth the effort.  She looks forward to fun runs with babies in tow and promoting athletic growth along the way.  

Fitness has always been a part of Amy’s life and she truly enjoys helping others experience the benefits of exercise.  Her competitive career has been in track, tennis, and distance running while her coaching experience has focused on cycling, running, and boot camp.

As a former math teacher, she is also excited to train and inspire kids. Whether it was mixing math with actions or challenging her students to push up contests, Amy always had her students moving. She has been a Girls on the Run coach for 4 seasons and helps high school girls train for 5k runs.

Coach Meg Tolentino-Boyd

Coach Meg is joining EFC to support new moms as they embark on their journey back to fitness. As a new mom, Meg knows that the balancing act between motherhood and runner can be difficult, but with the right plan, balance can be achieved. Coach Meg is excited to help women reach their fitness goals while still fulfilling their primary roles as mommies

Meg has been an avid runner in the local circuit since 2005 and has been addicted to the sport ever since then, even through pregnancy. She is also a former Spinning Instructor and has completed several sprint triathlons. When Meg is not working out or watching her little one, she works part-time as a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician helping patients with chronic conditions continue to function and live a life full of quality. She hopes to bring her expertise in maximizing physical functioning and musculoskeletal medicine to EFC.

Coach Sarah Jones

Coach Sarah signed up for her first triathlon in 2001. She raced on a borrowed bike and did all her swim training in Lake Michigan since she didn’t have a pool membership. She didn’t understand transitions but was happy to ask swimmers she met at the beach. She had so much fun training and completing her first triathlon, she quickly became hooked.

After her first Ironman in Madison, WI in 2009, Sarah wrote her race re-cap to Coach Kel. “Every day the accomplishment of completing the Ironman sinks in farther. The more I think about it the greater the accomplishment seems. Slowly my outlook on life is changing. It used to be "I can't do it, so why try," then it moved to "if you don't try you, can't do it" and now it is "You can do ANYTHING if you commit to it and work hard." Thanks for bringing me to this point. I couldn't imagine accomplishing this without your fantastic training and positive reinforcement. I hope someday I use my experience to motivate someone else to be their best!

Well, Coach Sarah hasn’t stopped motivating and encouraging others to “try” since she started and now she is a part of the EFC Coaching Crew to reach more people! Coach Sarah will inspire and guide adults and kids to give it a “try.” Change your outlook and make triathlon a part of your lifestyle with Coach Sarah!

Coach Darcy Wagner

Darcy Wagner is new to the EFC coaching staff in 2010. She has participated in a variety of sports during her athletic career, but finally discovered her love of triathlon at the end of her college years. Growing up, she participated in cross country, track, basketball and swimming. In high school, she was a three sport varsity athlete in cross country, basketball and track while at Notre Dame Academy in Toledo, Ohio, earning all-league honors in all three sports. While in college, she was a walk-on member of the Gonzaga University (Spokane, WA) crew team and earned an athletic scholarship after her first semester.

Coach Darcy currently serves as the varsity assistant coach for both cross country and swimming at Notre Dame Academy in Toledo where she has helped guide her athletes to top performances at the Ohio state competitions. For the past ten years, Darcy has taught swim lessons and coached youth swimming and diving at Laurel Hill Swim and Tennis Club. As both an athlete and as a coach, she has been a part of an impressive 17 consecutive league championships.

When she isn't coaching, Darcy is nearing completion of her doctorate work in biomedical engineering at the University of Toledo. Her graduate research focuses on using novel bioceramics for orthopedic pathologies (such as osteoporosis and fractures) using tissue engineering and gene therapy principles.  With Coach Darcy’s immense youth coaching knowledge, personal training and racing experience and outgoing personality, she has much to offer the young triathlete!

Coach Bob Duncan

Bob Duncan is partnering with EFC to offer Professional Bike Fitting and Cycling Expertise.

As an athlete, Bob has been involved in Competitive Cycling, Triathlon, and multi-sport since 1983. He has completed 8 Iron distance events between 1995 and 2008 and raced Cat 2 as a competitive cyclist from 1985-2001 excelling at criteriums.

As a Coach, Bob is the founder of Bob Duncan Racing and Veritas Endurance Coaching. He is a world class cycling coach with several exemplary accomplishments. Coaching Highlights include: 1 fourth place finish at ITU long course world championship, Bob's beloved wife Lisa, 4 Ironman World championship qualifiers (6 total finishes), 3 age group USAT  long course champions, 1 Chicago triathlon age group champion, 3 age group winners of the Muncie Endurathon, and current bike coach of Eric Limkeman (2007 USAT rookie of the year), and current coach of Andrew Starykowicz, (http://astarykowicz.blogspot.com) the fastest triathlon cyclist at the 70.3 distance.

Coach Steve Block

When Steve jumped into Lake Michigan for his first Chicago Triathlon in 1984, it was the start of his participation in the sport that has spanned nearly 25 years. Like many in “the early days” of triathlon, Steve was a runner who was looking to diversify his training and expand his athletic endeavors. That was well over 100 triathlons ago and Steve is still competing in triathlons with a current focus on Ironman-distance events.

Steve brings a tremendous amount of broad triathlon experience and technical knowledge to EFC. He’s raced at most every triathlon distance and in most every weather condition. He’s seen the trends, training philosophies, nutrition programs and equipment that have shaped the sport and brought it from an oddity (well, some say it still is) to an Olympic event. Every race brings something new, however, and Steve is continually learning through participation in events, interaction with other coaches and camps/seminars. He’s also made nearly every possible mistake in the sport and is committed to keeping you from doing the same!

Throughout a demanding 23-year career as a management consultant for a global firm, Steve balanced his work and family commitments with athletic training and participation. It wasn’t easy and he learned a lot – in particular, that haphazard training leads to poor results. At the longer distances, haphazard training usually results in disappointment and often, injury. He understands that maintaining a work, family and training equilibrium is a challenge and he is committed to helping you develop and execute a plan to attain your goals.

Steve resides in Barrington, Illinois with his wife Mary Anne and two children, Stephanie and Hannah.