Lisa Felder honored for coaching and trail access advocacy

Lisa Felder’s nearly five-decade running career spans ultramarathon coaching, community leadership and breast cancer advocacy. Her work has focused on expanding access to trail running for Black athletes and other underrepresented runners while helping others build endurance and confidence.

Why it matters: - Lisa Felder’s career shows how endurance sports can be used to coach, mentor and open doors for runners who have historically faced barriers. - Her work has centered on access, inclusion and long-term athlete development in a sport where race fees, trail access and community culture can limit participation. - Her profile also connects running with breast cancer awareness and fundraising through Pinkathon.

What happened: - Lisa Felder, based in San Leandro, California, has spent nearly five decades in running and fitness. - Her running began in 1977 with 5Ks and 10Ks, and her first marathon came at the 1982 San Francisco Marathon. - In 1996, Lisa Felder helped launch the first San Francisco Fit coaching program. - She later coached thousands of marathoners through Team in Training, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s endurance program. - Lisa Felder founded Ultra Fitness Beyond Imagination in 2000. - She was recognized by Influential Women and has an Influential Women profile.

The details: - Ultra Fitness Beyond Imagination prepares athletes for ultramarathon distances from 50K to 200 miles. - Lisa Felder’s coaching approach emphasizes education, preparation, biomechanics, terrain strategy and sports nutrition. - A mentor who owned a Berkeley store helped shape her coaching philosophy and sponsored her development as a coach. - The mentor pushed her to keep learning and often asked, “What did you learn today? What empowered you today?” - Lisa Felder studied sports nutrition at the College of Marin in Kensington, California. - She earned Associate of Arts degrees in Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration and in Business Administration & Management from Clinton Junior College. - She advises young women entering the field to push past self-doubt and keep pursuing their goals. - Her recurring message is: “Tough people last, but tough times don’t.” - Lisa Felder says trail running access is often blocked by limited trail exposure, lack of belonging and high event costs. - Race entry fees can range from about $100 to $1,600. - She responded by seeking sponsorship support and personally recruiting athletes for major events, including the Miwok 100K, which has more than 12,000 feet of elevation gain. - She co-founded and co-directs Pinkathon, a San Francisco event with distances from 5K to 50K that raises money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. - Lisa Felder experienced breast cancer in 2010. - Her honors include induction into the Black National Marathon Hall of Fame in 2015 and membership in the Hall of Legends. - She was featured in the 2023 documentary We Are Distant Runners: The Untold Story of the Americas. - Her public-facing work has included modeling for Kaiser Permanente’s breast cancer awareness campaign, the Hope breast cancer research initiative and a nationally distributed Athleta commercial. - Her ongoing roles include Ultra Head Coach for Team in Training, Co-Founder and Co-Director of Pinkathon, and partner/beneficiary support connected to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Between the lines: - Lisa Felder’s story is less about one sport than about building systems that make endurance running more reachable for more people. - The combination of coaching, fundraising and athlete recruitment suggests she is using her platform to widen participation, not just celebrate individual achievement. - Her breast cancer experience gives her advocacy work extra credibility and personal urgency.

What's next: - Lisa Felder says she will keep coaching, competing, mentoring and advocating. - Her broader goal is to expand opportunities for underrepresented runners beyond individual races and into trail events nationwide. - Her message remains tied to education, perseverance and support as tools for athletic and personal progress.