Meet the Team
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Ben specializes in creating custom coaching plans for mountain and road cycling athletes. He has coached athletes to the UCI Mountainbike World Championships and US National Championship podiums in multiple mountainbike and road cycling disciplines. He also works with several EWS athletes. Ben enjoys working with riders of all levels from the professional cycling world to amateur racers and riders of all disciplines. Ben started his racing career on the mountainbike racing professionally for several years before transitioning to road racing. Recently he has re-discovered his love for riding and racing on fat tires competing in Enduro and marathon mountainbike events.
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When not providing bodywork, coaching plans or practicing his own corrective exercises at the Endurance Collective, he can be found on one of his bikes, trail running or gardening and cooking with his family.
Our Therapists and Coaches
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Tori received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Middle Tennessee State University in 2016 and graduated from Carolina massage Institute in 2018. Tori owned her own sports massage business and has a background in fitness coaching and yoga.
She has worked with athletes of all types including CrossFit athletes, powerlifters, strongmen, rugby players, triathletes and the everyday active people.
When Tori is not working, she can be found lifting weights, exploring Durham with her dog, and lounging on the couch binge watching her favorite shows.
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Durand received his bachelor's degree in Kinesiology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Elon University. His education has provided him with a strong understanding of how optimal tissue loading and manual intervention have the ability to increase race-day performance, reduce recovery time and decrease the prevalence of overuse injuries.
He considers the person as a whole from proper nutrition and recovery to a highly specific movement plan to address the client's specific goals. His main professional goal is to allow greater access to increased performance for professional and recreational athletes and creation of an inspiring pathway to find the inner athlete in anybody regardless of past medical history.
Durand has experience with 3D video analysis to break down sports-related movements for optimal performance and safe tissue loading. A common treatment approach includes a highly targeted manual intervention through soft tissue and joint manipulations to allow a therapeutic window to then promote client independence that is empowering for their fitness journey. His previous treatment populations range from high school to geriatric athletes in traditional and adventure sports.
When Durand is not working with his clients, you can find him outdoors with his wife enjoying a wide range of adventure sports. However, preferences always go to road/gravel rides on the stiff-framed bike and fast and gnarly descents on his mountain bike. To his standards, “The best rides are started at a cafe and end with a local brewery.”
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Colin acted as Director Sportif for Team Young Medalists at the Tour de l’Abitibi on 5 occasions, as well as for other professional cycling teams at the Bucks County Cycling Classic, the Philadelphia International Cycling Classic and the Reading 120.
He’s a believer in an integrated coaching model, using a team approach to help athletes reach their goals by considering every detail of not only cycling workouts, but also recovery, nutrition, strategy, tactics, equipment, psychology and technical skills.
Throughout his career, he has helped countless athletes reach their “next level” goals, whether those goals are to finish a century ride, upgrade from a Cat. 2 to a Cat. 1 cyclist, obtain a pro contract or win a National Championship.
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Kelly received her bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering from Bucknell University in 2012 and has established a career as an Engineering Program Manager in the medical device development industry. She transitioned to part-time engineering work in 2022 to focus more fully on the things she loves most: bikes, mentoring, and coaching.
In 2023, Kelly founded a non-profit all-girls junior development mountain bike race team, KellCat Devo. As team Director, she helps give the girls access to experiences and resources that sustainably develop them into strong athletes, both physically and mentally.
Kelly believes that having fun is the most important part of participating in sport and pursuing athletic goals. Her athlete-coach relationships are based in open communication, clear expectations, and helping her athletes believe in the process and themselves.
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After sometime, Jillian became a Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Women's (Pelvic) Health Physical Therapy. Seeing that passing score really validated her confidence and gave her the courage to pursue her next dream job: opening her own practice.
In 2020, she decided that she didn't want insurance companies and long wait times to determine how she treats her patients, and she hasn't looked back since.
Jillian is excited to be teaming up with The Endurance Collective to provide Pelvic PT services. Her approach is to listen to and assess your needs, then provide interventions, education and tools, so you can be successful independently.
Pelvic Floor PT is for people of all ages and genders who are experiencing low back, SIJ and pelvic pain, and those that are having difficulty or pain with urination, defecation and sex.
Jillian shares, “These issues can affect all areas of your life: at home, at work, socially, while working out, etc. Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's normal - so let's come up with a solution to optimize your life.”
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Sam’s approach to the yoga practice is one that uses slower, purposeful movements and longer pose holds, so students can feel the subtleties of muscular integration and postural alignment.
She uses inspiration from all types of movement practice to constantly evolve her teaching. In a one-on-one setting, Sam tailors the sequence of poses and modifications to meet the needs and goals of the individual.
Sam has loved surfing from the first time she paddled out into a wave in 2004 and tries to get out in the water whenever she can. Although these days she rarely goes anywhere without coffee and a yoga mat, Sam can also be found walking her two beloved (albeit nutty) dogs, experimenting with cooking new recipes or consulting on medical imaging and medical device projects.
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She is passionate about helping athletes reach their goals and excited to coach beginner to intermediate runners, whether the goal is running a mile - or racing a marathon!
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Michael found competitive cycling in high school and took to it quickly, earning spots at national and international level races in his first few years racing. During this time he found an interest in, and love of, nutrition and was intrigued by just how directly the food we eat impacts our performance.
This led to him pursuing nutrition and dietetics as a career, setting out to help as many athletes as possible to reach their best performance through good nutrition, hydration and fueling. In the last few years, Michael has stopped racing, but you can still find him riding road and gravel just enjoying his time in the saddle, walking his dog, Boone, and going for long hikes with his wife, Liz.
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Liz received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Biology from Coker University and her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Elon University. She set out to become a DPT when she discovered this career allowed her the ability to both help people through the formation of therapeutic alliance, as well as optimizing and promoting safe and efficient movement patterns.
Liz practices as a Physical Therapist in the Acute Care world at UNC Medical Center, but also loves using her therapy skills to coach within the high-level performance world of athletes (of all ages), as well as helping the general population create healthy and sustainable exercise habits!
Liz has experience coaching a wide range of populations - from dryland training for Marlins of Raleigh youth swimming, private basketball training on/off the court for JV and Varsity athletes and middle aged to geriatric adults looking to create a more active lifestyle as a trainer at O2 Fitness. Liz enjoys working with athletes so she can help them with sport performance and overcome the mental hurdles that she once battled that came with being a high-performance athlete.
When Liz isn’t working, you can find her hanging out with her four-legged children (Lena and Ronald), rereading Harry Potter, working out, enjoying the outdoors or hanging with her pals at a local brewery.
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While Nathan prefers the longer trail races, he identifies no hierarchy between distances or surfaces.
Whether his clients run for general wellbeing, a 5k PR or to train specifically for The Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run, his coaching style is the same: Nathan provides sustainable training progressions that emphasize self-advancement and adventure.
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Liz ran track, cross country and swam in high school, but it wasn’t until college – through teaching group fitness classes – that she discovered her love for helping others find joy in movement.
When it comes to fitness and nutrition, Liz is all about two things: individualization + habits. She specializes in working with endurance athletes to incorporate strength training into their training schedule in a sustainable and healthy way.
Liz recently completed her first 50-mile ultramarathon, and in her free time, you can find her running, baking or going on adventures with her husband, Michael, and their dog, Boone.
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She now spends her time managing a local running store where she gets to talk about all aspects of running everyday, and she’s ready to help any and all runners no matter where they are in their running journey! She believes that plans should be unique to each person and should be a balance of progress and fun with consistent clear communication between coach and athlete.
When Eryn’s not slinging shoes or out for a run, she’s playing disc golf, loving on her pup or scheduling a beach trip!
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Rachel’s personal specialities are longer races, she loves the 50 mile, 100k and 100 mile distances, but she keeps her running rounded out by participating in sub-ultra distances and road racing as well.
She attributes much of her success to her love for learning about the human body. What helps it endure, both physically and mentally, as well as also keying into and listening to her body, which includes learning to run by feel as well as listening for overtraining cues.
Working with her own coach, she's also learned how important clear communication is and having an outside opinion can be.
Rachel holds a certificate in trail and ultra coaching from UESCA and from Dr. Stacy Sims, Women are Not Small Men. With this knowledge and decades of experience her aim is to support newer runners in reaching their goals, and to ensure experienced runners are able take their skills to the next level.
While Rachel is competitive, she also strongly believes that running should be fun, and tries to create creative and flexible running plans that are based in science for her athletes.