Meet the Team

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

Mercedes earned her undergraduate degree in social and behavioral sciences with a master's degree in athletic training from Seton Hall University. Since graduating in 2014, Mercedes has worked as a Licensed Athletic Trainer with various collegiate division I teams and is currently the athletic trainer for the University of North Carolina’s softball team. 

As an athletic trainer, Mercedes is educated in evaluation, diagnosis and rehabilitation of acute and chronic injuries, emergency care and general illness management. Through the years, she has developed a passion and interest in biomechanics, strength and conditioning, and performance enhancement which has highly impacted her return to play programs for her student-athletes. She’s excited to use this background in helping athletes of all kinds return from injury or improve their performance!

When she’s not working you can find Mercedes with her nose in a good book, exploring all that Durham has to offer in the music and food scene, or being active in any number of sports with her friends.

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!

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.

Using evidence-based practice to guide her treatment approach, she uses manual therapy techniques that allow windows of opportunity to load her patients effectively with exercise selection specific to the person. Liz knows there is so much more to physical therapy than RICE and e-stim - she wants to educate her patients on pain science, principles of loading, recovery and nutrition, neuromuscular principles of adaptation, and so much more.

Liz is not only a PT at the Endurance Collective - she is also one of our strength coaches. She is extremely passionate about exercise and resistance training - it is her favorite part of rehab and performance coaching. She believes wholeheartedly that if you want to live long and die strong - you need a plan. A plan that starts with and utilizes progressive overload. Her true passion is to teach people how to do so effectively, safely, and confidently so that people feel empowered to live their lives without restrictions or in constant fear of pain and injury.

She loves getting to see people through any and all the phases of injury to freedom. From one-on-one physical therapy to individualized progressive resistance training programs as a strength coach, she can help you with your performance needs at any stage of the game.

As both a PT and a coach she has one mission: To create a safe space for vulnerability and physical, emotional, and mental growth that challenges the typical cookie cutter fitness industry and healthcare standards.

When Liz isn’t working, you can find her hanging out with her dog Lena, playing basketball, going to concerts, enjoying the outdoors or hanging with her pals at a local brewery.

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.

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.

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!