

RON LOEWEN

COACH
DISTANCES: 800m-MARATHON
ACCEPTING ATHLETES
CREDENTIALS:
- NCCP PERFORMANCE COACH (IN TRAINING): ENDURANCE
-HEAD COACH: VANCOUVER THUNDERBIRDS INTERMEDIATE ENDURANCE
- DISTANCE COACH: LANGLEY MUSTANGS JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT
- DISTANCE COACH: SURREY UNITED DIVISION 1 SOCCER
- ACE CERTIFIED PERSONAL TRAINER
- STRENGTH & CONDITIONING SPECIALIZATION
- BIOMECHANICS METHOD SPECIALIST
PERSONAL BESTS
800m - 1:57 (2018)
1500m - 3:59 (2021)
3000m - 8:40 (2021)
5000m - 15:03 (2021)
10,000m - 31:33 (2020)
Half marathon - 1:10.14 (2020)


CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
14th Overall @ The Vancouver 'First Half' Half marathon (2020)
3rd @ the CRS Barbados Half Marathon (2019)
Scottish Highland Games Circuit (3rd in the FIfe League) (2019)
Bimbo 10k Rio, De Janeiro (2018)
-Tough Mudder Whistler 1st Overall (2013)
World's Toughest Mudder Qualifier New Jersey (2014)

RON'S STORY
Ron has been personal training since 2009. He started out training inner city kids for free on weekends at a local park. From a humble background himself, he understood how inaccessible good quality coaching and training was for youth in the area.
In 2013 at the age of 24, Ron made the shift from basketball and mixed martial arts to distance running. Overly competitive and driven, he digested book after book about the sport. He even remodeled his own running mechanics by studying Kenyen athletes run on YouTube.
In 2014 he ran his first 10k race at the Vancouver Sun Run in a time of 37:30. Weeks later he would run 1:25 at the BMO Vancouver Half marathon. Eager to improve and find a community of like-minded runners, Ron joined the Vancouver Falcons Athletics Club (VFAC) coached by the legendary John Hill. It was there Ron learned the importance and power of group training - he would run 1:17:45 (7 minute PB) at the Victoria Half marathon 5 months later!
In 2016 Ron moved to Langley. With the Vancouver commute taking its toll, he decided to train solo. That year he ran a modest 36 minutes in the 10k. Discouraged, he considered leaving the sport. Training solo was not going well. Enter Coach Mark Bomba (Trinity Western Head Distance Coach, Now Head Coach at Queens University) and things took a complete 180 degree turn. Ron, back in a competitive, elite group setting, was now the slowest in the pack, hanging on for dear life every practice. With the expertise and guidance of coach Bomba, and accountability of his teammates, Ron progressively improved month after month, year after year.
In 2018 finally Ron had the breakthrough he had been patiently training for. At the 2018 Vancouver Eastside 10k he'd run 33:40 (2 minute PB). Fast forward to 2020 and the times kept dropping. 1:10.14 at the Vancouver 'First Half' Half marathon (7 minute PB). That summer, 31:33 10.000m (2 minute PB) on the track and 15:09 5,000m (1 minute PB) respectively. It was a valuable lesson in patience, perseverance, and the powerful effect of a supportive coach and team. Ron still trains under coach Mark Bomba with an elite post collegiate distance group based in the Vancouver Area.