Ryan Marklewitz has been coaching youth distance runners for the past eight years in the Southern Maryland, Northern Virginia, and DC regions. A former nationally-competitive distance swimmer, he competed in cross country on the side during high school and returned to running post-collegiately as a triathlete and 5000m runner while coaching with several USA Swimming club programs on the east coast. Competing in and coaching a wide variety of aerobic endurance sports from swimming to triathlon to running has given Coach Marklewitz a deep knowledge and appreciation for physiology, periodization of training, and the biomechanics that allow athletes to push the boundaries of endurance.

Since starting Element Performance in 2016, he has coached athletes to multiple conference and state titles, Top 10 National and Maryland individual finishes for both middle and high school athletes, several Champs Northeast Regional Championships (formerly Foot Locker) appearances and Top 10 individual finishes, as well as multiple Nike Cross Southeast Regional Championships appearances and Top 10 individual finishes.

In 2017 he became the head coach of the St. Andrew’s Episcopal School Middle School XC team, which under his guidance achieved three MAC Conference titles (2018, 2019, 2021) and multiple Top 25 Maryland and National individual finishes. In 2022 he became the head coach of the St. Andrew’s Episcopal School Varsity XC team, guiding the girls team to a Small School State Championship in 2023.

While high performance is always in mind, Coach Marklewitz believes that every athlete is on their own path to success and each athlete’s individual goals must be valued and accounted for in their training. Individualization and long-term progression of each athlete, therefore, takes precedence over all things in order for all distance athletes to reach their full potential.