Today we’d like to introduce you to Alfonzo Gonzalez Jr.
Hi Alfonzo, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My running story began in 2009, and I completed my first marathon (Dallas White Rock Marathon) the same year. I never thought I would run another marathon after my first one. Since then, I have run 28 marathons, along with 8 Boston marathons. I trained with the Luke’s Locker training program for my first marathon. Eventually, after a couple of years, I was asked if I had any interest of being a blue group coach for Luke’s Locker marathon program. I enjoyed being a group leader for a few years.
Eventually my work schedule had change one year which led me to working weekends and no longer could be a group coach. That same year, I was reach out by three runners I coached in my group. They asked if I would coach them to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I agree to coach them, in which this led the beginning of my coaching began and started.
Two of the three achieved their goal and ran their first Boston Marathon in 2019. Many local runners noticed their success, which then led to what I never thought would happen. Runners started reaching out asking if I would coach them towards their personal running goals. Over time, a group of my runners I coach brought an idea led by Jill Wolf to start group runs for my athletes. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but then I saw the group slowly grow. We eventually came up with a name and logo, which brought local brand awareness. Since then, I have continued to only grow by word of mouth or runners landing on the website for group runs. Train Pegasus since then has grown an amount of interest. My overall vision was not just for my athletes to be a part of the running group but also to bring the running community together and welcome everyone.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
One of the obstacles we had was offering afternoon social runs. We receive several messages about why we didn’t offer afternoon runs many times. I felt like there was enough afternoon groups for runners to choose from already. We eventually abandoned the idea, possibly soon, things could change, and revisit.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about Train Pegasus?
Train Pegasus is a running coaching model, along with brand apparel. We are still a new brand. Providing weekly social runs & workouts have helped grow the brand in the last couple of years.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
I give a lot of credit to Jill Wolf for helping me build a coaching model brand in the beginning for my athletes. She opened a vision for me to build a running community around my coaching. I have coached her for several years now and have enjoy seeing her achieve her goal of running the Boston marathon, including most recently winning the BMW Dallas Marathon in 2023 last year. I also want thank & give Farrell Hedrick a shoutout for paving the way for the website and its early design. As I was completing my bachelor’s degree, Farrell also assisted me with running schedules for my athletes and thank him for offering to help me. I can’t express my appreciation for their help and support during this journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.trainpegasus.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trainpegasus/
