How Much Should I Charge as a Running Coach?

Running can be many things: a cardio workout, a way to lose weight, a chore, a habit, or a passionate obsession. If running falls into the latter category for you, have you thought of turning it into a career? 

All kinds of people hire running coaches, from amateur track clubs and people running their first 5K to high school and college athletes. 

If you’ve given a coaching career some thought, you probably have a lot of questions. Can it be a career by itself? How much can I earn and charge clients? What credentials do I need? We’ll answer all these questions to help you decide if run coaching is your future. 

What Does a Running Coach Do? 

First, when determining if you can make a career out of this, you need to know what running coaches offer their clients. What kinds of services do they get for the rate they pay? 

As a coach, you can determine what you offer, but in general, running coaches do the following: 

Provide an Initial Assessment

The initial assessment helps you learn about a new client, their current fitness and running ability, running experience, and reasons for hiring a coach. Some coaches do this online, but there are benefits to meeting someone in person and seeing their running form in action. 

Help Clients Create and Meet Goals

With the initial assessment complete, a coach then works with a new client on their goals. Some clients will come to you with a definitive, specific goal, like a PR time for a half marathon. Others aren’t sure what they want but know they have room for improvement in their running. 

Part of your job as a coach is to help both types of clients clarify and formalize their goals. Even those who know what they want might not know what they need. Once you have the goals, your job is to work with clients to meet them. 

Develop Training Plans

The main focus of meeting running goals is the training plan. Coaches use their expertise and personal running experience to develop training plans. Many clients come to coaches just for this. They want to go beyond the generic plans that are easy to find online. A good coach earns their fee by getting to know their clients well enough to develop an individualized training plan. 

If you’re looking to build speed and endurance in your training plan, try these running workouts. 

Check in, Assess, and Modify

Coaches don’t just get clients started with a training plan. This is the jumping-off point. From there, they check in regularly, monitor and assess progress, and modify the plan as needed. You can do this in person or via phone calls and emails. If you can’t be with a client in-person, use an app that tracks their workouts, so you can see how they’re progressing. 

As you check in with clients, you will also be offering advice and tips. You’ll find opportunities to correct their form or suggest alternative or additional workouts. And, of course, you will also be cheering them on, providing accountability, and motivating them to keep going. 

Offer Additional Services

The above are the basics of run coaching. If you offer more, you can charge more. Some coaches provide nutrition plans. Others work with their clients on correcting form, planning race days, or recovering from injuries. 

Learn more: What’s the difference between a coach and a trainer? 

How Do I Become a Certified Running Coach? 

Coaching is not an officially regulated industry. You don’t strictly need any credentials to work as a running coach. However, having one or more relevant certifications is a huge advantage. Imagine hiring a guy at the gym to train you just because he’s good at lifting weights. It’s not enough. 

At a minimum, you should have one fitness-related credential before you start coaching. No matter how experienced you are at running, you are not a coach yet. A personal training certification is a good starting point, but a coaching certificate is even better. 

Look for accredited certification programs in fitness coaching, running coaching, or both. If you want to offer clients food advice, consider completing a certification in nutrition or nutrition coaching as well. 

Running Coach Salary: Can I Make a Living as a Running Coach? 

This depends on many factors. Some coaches do make a full-time living doing what they do. Others use it as a side hustle. Before you quit your day job, do the math to figure out if this is a feasible full-time career for your lifestyle. According to Glassdoor, the average running coach salary (total pay) is $49,147 in the United States (1).

If you’re unsure about the potential for a full income, start coaching part-time. Use your weekends and evenings to take on one or two clients. This will give you an idea of what clients will pay, what client demand is like in your area, and if it’s enough to sustain a career. 

How Much Should I Charge as a Running Coach? 

Again, this depends on a lot of factors: where you live, market demand, your personal running experience, your credentials, the services you offer, and more. Take these steps to start setting rates wisely. 

Research Coaches in Your Area

Look up running coaches in your area to find out what they charge. Not all will be forthcoming about what they charge, but you’ll find most are supportive of other coaches and happy to talk about it. 

Ask around in your running community as well. Chances are you already know runners who work with coaches. You might even have some coaches in your running group. It’s really important to get a feel for what clients pay in your area. Otherwise, you could grossly overcharge and get no clients or undercharge and lose income. 

Set a Basic Hourly Rate

Look at what local coaches charge to come up with an average. From there, set your basic hourly rate, what your time is worth based on your experience, credentials, and services you can offer. Running coaches charge anywhere from $25 to $100 per hour, with $50 per hour being a reasonable rate for many. 

Your own hourly rate will serve as a baseline for how you charge clients. You can vary this amount based on the number of hours a client signs up for, group sessions with multiple clients, package deals, and other services. 

Charge for Training Plans

Clients appreciate having options, so consider offering different types of services at different rates. For instance, you can offer training plans without the additional coaching. For a set rate, you have an initial consultation, and based on that, write a plan for that client. This is a great option for clients who want more than a generic plan but don’t have the budget for ongoing coaching. 

Develop Package and Group Rates

Another way to offer options for clients is to set up group and package deals. For a package deal, outline what a client will get for a set fee. For instance, this might include an initial consultation, a training plan, and one 30-minute consultation per week for eight weeks. 

A group plan allows you to earn more per hour while clients pay less. If your basic hourly rate is $50 and you have five people interested in group coaching, you could charge each person $20 per hour and make $100 per session. 

Use your calculated basic hourly rate as a guide for setting fees on package and group deals. It should cost the client less to sign up for packages than to pay for your services hour by hour. 

How Much Should I Charge as a Running Coach Working Online? 

Rates for online coaching aren’t that different from in-person rates. A lot of coaching now happens partially or completely online, with coaches still offering all the experience and services. This means that rates don’t have to be drastically different. 

If your business will be entirely online, don’t let that be a reason to short sell your value. It is possible to offer quality services without ever seeing a client in person. If you will be offering both in-person and virtual options, consider charging slightly less for the online option. 

Client fees are just one part of the big picture of a coaching career. Consider all the elements of what it means to be a running coach before getting started. Make sure you can earn a living but also that this is something you’ll enjoy doing. Then, you’re ready to earn a credential and start working with clients. 

Interested in Becoming a Running Coach?

ISSA’s Certified Personal Trainer – Self-Guided Study Program is a great foundation for a career in fitness. Then, if running is your passion and you want to turn it into a career, earn your Running Coach certification at your own pace. 

References

1. How much does a running coach make? Glassdoor. (2023, June 14). https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/running-coach-salary-SRCH_KO0,13.htm