Coach John Tortorici has been competing in endurance sports since joining the Marine Corps in 1992, and was a competitive swimmer through junior high and high school with state records in the 50 and 100 freestyle events.  Since taking up triathlon in 2004, he has completed in over 150 endurance events.  Prior to triathlon, he was an active member with the MS 150 safety committee and completed the ride 9 times, as well as several adventure races ranging from 12-72 hours in length.  His personal notable accomplishments are completing Ironman Texas 4 times and 11 70.3 events.  Fitness has always been a major part of John’s life and now he enjoys passing that knowledge on to athletes that are looking to do their first 5k or trying to qualify for major world championship races.  His dedication to coaching earned him the opportunity to attend and earn the distinctive certification as a USAT Level II Endurance coach.  His greatest accomplishments as a coach are coaching three athletes to qualify for the Boston Marathon and more than 30 first time Ironman finishers.  His wife is a Boston Qualifier (his first athlete to accomplish that feat), and has a 14 year old daughter and 7 year old step-son.

“I took up the sport of triathlon in 2004 after recovering from a heart condition that required surgery and several months of recovery.  During recovery from the surgery I was introduced to a couple that was heavily involved in adventure racing and triathlons.  Looking for a new challenge, I took them up on trying my first event in Galveston and was instantly hooked.  After 8 years of racing and training on my own, I hired my first coach and was shocked by the improvements that I made in a very short amount of time.  It was after my first Ironman race that I decided that coaching others was what I wanted to do.  As much as I love racing and accomplishing my own goals, there is still nothing better than watching an athlete I coached meet their goals.  From the athlete that never ran finishing their first marathon, the marathon runner that could never quite get to Boston finally makes it, or the triathlete that thought they could never finish an Ironman crossing the finish line, watching their dreams come true is what makes coaching athletes one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.”