BRETT SHELTON
Head Coach
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​Brett is an avid trail runner and mountain biker who has a passion for helping individuals reach their goals. He has been a youth running coach for the past five years and a modified track and field coach with the Corning Painted Post School District. He is a USATF Level 1 certified coach. When Brett is not coaching, he can be found out on the trail training for his next race.
DUANE SAXTON
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Duane has run with his daughter for over fifteen years, building her up from a junior varsity track athlete to a collegiate cross country runner. He has designed 5K-10K trail courses and hosted events for the various running clubs. One of his largest running projects was facilitating the Elmira Cross Country Invitational for nine years.
SHANNON OAKES
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Shannon turned to running in 2011, after competing in powerlifting and weightlifting. She has enjoyed coaching youth runners in other organizations as well as "unofficially" with her own two daughters. Shannon is employed as a New York State licensed social worker.
AMY BALASH
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Amy is a special education teacher in the Elmira City School District. In the past, she coached cross-country; she's been coaching track and field for eight years. Amy starting running when she was 8 years old and continued in high school and college.
MEG WUKOVITZ
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Meg is an art teacher at Corning-Painted Post Middle School and the Amberene Yearbook Adviser. Meg ran cross country, winter track, and spring track and field in high school and college. She's a marathon runner and has coached modified track and and Girls on the Run. Currently, Meg is focusing on her family and volunteering for the Children's Miracle Network.
STEVE WAGNER
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Steve has been running since middle school, when he started competing in local 5Ks with his dad. That continued with high school and college teams, with one Wineglass marathon in 2011. He doesn’t compete much anymore, but enjoys “social running” through 200 mile team relays with his friends. He’s really excited that his daughters have taken an interest in running with SOAR.
LEAH MURRAY
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Leah has been running for a little over 10 years. A move to Corning about 6 years ago lead her to pick running up again after the birth of her two children as a way to meet people in a new place. These new found friends quickly talked her into several races. She has competed in several half marathons, 5K’s, 10Ks and relay races and recently qualified for the Boston Marathon by running the Wineglass full in 2016. She will compete in Boston in 2018. While not running she enjoys skiing, swimming, and racing sailboats competitively. In 2015 she competed in two events in the FINA Masters world swimming championships held in Montreal Canada and has raced Thistle sailboats at the local and national level for over 20 years. At home she has one husband, two kids and four dogs.
SARA SPARLING
Sara started running when she became a stay at home mom. Her two children, Amelia and Ryder, were 4 and 1. As their school days increased, so did Sara's running; she has run far more miles than she ever could of imagined! Sara enjoys the friendships running has given her and has found it to be very rewarding to watch Amelia and Ryder discover running, as well. Sara looks forward to the days when her family can all run together but for now, as a family, they love to camp and hike.
STEVE KAUFFMAN
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Steve began running in 2014 when introduced to obstacle course racing and has since participated in many local races. He enjoys running 5Ks with his daughters who are SOAR members. He has also been a youth coach with EVPP softball for the past few years.
PAOLA KAUFFMAN
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Paola started running in 2011 and has done many 5ks, an 8k, Seneca 7, a Ragnar Relay, a Spartan, Tough Mudder and the Wineglass Half Marathon. She was excited when her daughters Hannah and Leah became interested in running and she signed them up for the SOAR running club. She enjoys running and hiking with them and her husband Steve. Paola has been into fitness for most of her life and is the Fitness Supervisor at HealthWorks Wellness and Fitness Center. She is involved with the Corning Hospital Kids Fun Run and helped coach EVPP youth softball.
MICHELLE WOLCOTT-LOVELL​
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Michele started running in 2012 and has run numerous 5ks, 10ks and half-marathons. In 2017, her interest and focus shifted to trail running. She has two children who run for Team SOAR. Michele is a speech-language pathologist for the preschool program in Chemung County.
BRAD SMITH