ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Track Club has hired the first full-time coach in its 50-year history.
Amy Yoder Begley will begin her new job on Dec. 1. She is a 2008 U.S. Olympian in the 10,000m, and a 15-time All-American and two-time NCAA national champion while attending the University of Arkansas.
It will be Begley's second time living in Georgia. During her career, she lived and trained in Atlanta for one year while her husband, 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials competitor Andrew Begley, coached at Riverwood High School in Sandy Springs.
"I can't wait to return to Georgia as head coach at Atlanta Track Club," Begley, 36, said in a statement. "I believe in the organization's mission of improving health and wellness through running. This sport has had a profound impact on my life, and I am eager to pay it forward to club members of all ages and abilities."
Begley currently works as the women's cross country coach and assistant track and field coach at the University of Connecticut. She founded the Track is for Everybody Foundation, which provides youth educational and sports programs, and Distance Divas, which helps female runners bridge the gap between collegiate competition and possible professional careers.
She finished her career with six national titles, including 3000m indoors and 5K and 15K on the road. Her 10K personal best (31:13:78), which she achieved in 2009, is the eighth-fastest in history for an American woman.
The Atlanta Track Club hopes to produce one male and one female Olympian by 2020.
