Meet your coach - Stefan Schuster

Hi everyone, my name is Stefan Schuster. I am a Registered Dietitian, ultrarunner, and the owner/founder of Journey Running. I started Journey Running in 2021 because of my passion for running, teaching and obsession with self-improvement. I am committed to helping others achieve their running goals and more importantly, discover the life lessons that running helps us on our journey to personal growth.

A little about myself – I grew up in Oradell, New Jersey and started running back in 2007, at the age of 12 in middle school. In the early days, I ran races like the mile, 2-mile, and 5k. While in high school, I read Dean Karnazes’ book Ultramarathon Man, (admittedly only because I had to write a book report for my freshman year English class) which is what opened my eyes and imagination to the world of ultrarunning. After reading the book, I was immediately obsessed with the idea of running further rather than faster. Although the idea of running ultras piqued my interest, my progression to running ultramarathons was slow and process oriented.

From 2013 – 2017, I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition at The Ohio State University. While there, I finished my first two marathons and first 50k. I also served as the President of my fraternity, Delta Upsilon and fell in love with the ideology of leadership. Because of this, I sought out a career in business post-graduation.

After college, I moved to Denver, Colorado where I worked in outside sales for 4 years. During this time, my passion for trail running matured and I began consistently running ultramarathons. Still, I felt something was missing and realized I did not want to spend 40-years of my working life in the corporate world, so I decided to return to school and pursue a career as a Registered Dietitian. My end goal was to start a coaching business/dietetics practice (through Journey Running). From 2021 – 2024, I completed my Master’s degree in Nutrition at Metropolitan State University of Denver and Dietetic Internship through the VA. I officially attained my licensure as a Registered Dietitian in August of 2024.

Over the course of my time living in Colorado, my ultrarunning career has only just begun to flourish. As of this writing, I have finished twelve 100+ mile events, including two Moab 240 Mile Endurance Runs, and two Silverheels 100 victories. At this time, I have finished over twenty official events and completed numerous other journey runs (such as Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim in the Grand Canyon). I have also backpacked the 165-mile Tahoe Rim Trail and finished 2/3 of the Colorado Trail. My entire running resume is listed below (if you are interested in learning more about my athletic history).

In the future, I look forward to giving back much of my knowledge as a coach. I love teaching and breaking down complex subjects like nutrition for athletes. My goal is not only to coach but to help runners become self-sufficient athletes who truly understand how the sport and their bodies work. I believe this methodology can help runners become the most successful version of themselves that is possible.

Thank you for reading (especially if you made it this far!). I hope this gives you a better idea of who I am and what my experience looks like. I love this sport. I love the participants, the volunteers, the race directors, the crews, pacers and spectators and I really hope I can give back to you all as a coach and dietitian. Please feel free to reach out with any questions, thoughts or concerns.

See you on the trails (or via a virtual meeting sometime soon!)

-Stefan

Career Highlights:

• Registered Dietitian

• 2x Moab 240 Finisher

• 25x Ultramarathon Finisher (not including solo efforts such as R2R2R)

• 1st Place Finisher at 2020 Last Call 50-Miler

• 1st Place Finisher of Silverheels 100 (2022, 2024)

• 1-year of work experience at a running store

• 18-years of running experience