Michael Hammond and Jeff Gaudette: How New Virtual Tools Will Transform Your Running and Racing   Some big changes have been happening this year at RunnersConnect. You may or may not have noticed that company founder Jeff Gaudette has been a little quieter than usual while working on a mystery project and Michael Hammond has stepped up as CEO. Coach Claire interviews them both to find out what’s been going on and what RunnersConnect members can expect to see going forward.   First, Head Coach Michael Hammond tells us who he is, what big changes were happening in RunnersConnect heading into 2020, and how the company has pivoted in response to the pandemic. How does an online coaching platform focused on training runners for races stay relevant during these unprecedented times when essentially every race for the year has been canceled?   Next, Jeff Gaudette discusses his exciting new company he’s been working on behind the scenes to help you stay motivated and at your running best during this new norm of virtual racing. He’s come up with a great new way to make individual racing fair, fun, and more engaging. There’s definitely a lot to look forward to!   Jeff Gaudette is an elite marathoner who founded RunnersConnect in 2011 as a better way to coach his personal clients. He was a two-time Division-I All-American in Cross Country at Brown University and competed professionally for four years afterwards. He has competed internationally in numerous marathons with a personal best of 2:22:02, and has recorded Olympic Trials qualifying times in the marathon and 10,000 meters.   Jeff’s coaching career started in 2004 when he was a member of the Hansons-Brooks professional team. He’s had success at all levels of coaching; high school, college, local elite, and everyday runners. Under his tutelage, hundreds of runners have finished their first marathon and he’s helped countless runners qualify for Boston. Jeff has been featured in Running Times magazine, Endurance Magazine, as well as numerous local magazine fitness columns.    Michael Hammond is the Head Coach and newly appointed CEO of RunnersConnect. He competed in cross country and track while at Virginia Tech, earning two ACC titles and four NCAA All-American honors.  His individual efforts led his team to four ACC team championships: one in cross country, two in indoor track, and one in outdoor track.   Post-collegiately, Michael has competed formerly as a member of Furman Elite in Greenville, South Carolina and currently as an independent athlete. He now trains at his alma mater while also serving as a volunteer assistant with the team.   Michael’s passion for helping athletes succeed began while counseling high school runners at  cross country camps. Since then he has coached several local athletes of various ability levels while continuing to gain experience at the college level. You can catch him every Friday on the Team Update segments of the Run To The Top podcast.   Questions Michael and Jeff are asked:   2:35 2020 has been a historic year, to say the least, with everything that is going on in the world.  Big changes were going on in Runners Connect before the pandemic hit and we expected an exciting year, but obviously nothing like this could have been predicted.  If we can rewind to December 2019, what was your vision for Runners Connect in 2020?   6:24 Most of our listeners do know what RunnersConnect offers, but for those who don’t, could you just give just a quick elevator speech of exactly if you go to RunnersConnect, what are you looking at? What would you get if you go to RunnersConnect?   8:31 Let’s get into all the races being canceled. Traditionally, RunnersConnect has always been race-oriented, meaning that most of our athletes sign up with a particular race in mind, so obviously RunnersConnect had to make some changes. What were the changes that RunnersConnect made?   13:45 Speaking of getting fitter and stronger, you have been doing something a little special w