Coaches

Team Alpha coaches are Passion & Determination Personified!

Led by Boston Marathoner and All-American Coach Armand Crespo, ALPHA Running's experienced coaching staff shares a strong passion for helping others. They are determined to assist each ALPHA member in reaching their goals while fostering a safe fitness environment emphasizing support, fun and friendship.

Armand Crespo
Program Director | Head Coach | Boston Marathoner | USAT&F Certified Coach

Chris Shrewsbury
Founder / CEO | RRCA Certified Running Coach

Stan Frankowski
Assistant Coach | RRCA Certified Running Coach

Mary Dignan
YOGA Coach

Armand Crespo
Program Director    |    Head Coach    |    Boston Marathoner    |    USAT&F Certified Coach

Armand Crespo is a passionate running professional who empowers others through example, placing 151st OVERALL in a field of nearly 10,000 at the 1990 Boston Marathon with a time of 2 hrs 37 min.

He began his coaching career in 1991 at San Gabriel High School where he coached 20 of his athletes to CIF qualification, while competing as a member of the Gardena Reebok running club, running a 2:29 Saint George Marathon, placing 15th overall and winning his age division. Three years later he was recruited by Pasadena City College as Assistant Coach where he took his team to the California State Cross Country finals ten years in a row.

In 1996, Armand competed and served as Assistant Cross Country and Track Coach at Cal State Los Angeles, where two of his athletes qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championships making "All American". Armand was the Masters champion in the 2009 Pasadena Half Marathon, finishing 5th overall. He is currently in his 3rd year as head cross country and track coach at Pasadena City College and resides in Pasadena with his wife, Teyana and their son, Dante.
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Chris Shrewsbury
Founder / CEO   |    RRCA Certified Running Coach

Chris began his running career with the Aids Project Los Angeles Marathon Training program. After finishing the Honolulu Marathon he began to look for a place where he could continue to train and enjoy the camaraderie offered by a running group and eventually began coaching for his local running club. Having completed numerous marathons and half marathons, Chris found renewed running enjoyment in his coaching duties and went on to receive his Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) coaching certification.

While training and pursuing his own personal records (PRs), he now takes great pride in experiencing the joy and extraordinary sense of accomplishment that only the completion of your first marathon can provide, through his athletes. Most recently, he coached over 50 club members to the finish of the 2009 San Francisco Half Marathon, across the famed Golden Gate Bridge. On a long run in preparation for upcoming event in 2009 Chris found himself thinking of a way to marry his numerous years in advertising, marketing and promotions with his passion for motivating and assisting others to meet their goals. From that desire ALPHA Running was born.
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Stan Frankowski
RRCA Certified Running Coach

With a degree in Kinesiology from Cal State Los Angeles, and over ten years of Physical Education (PE) experience in the Los Angeles Unified School system, Stan is the future of ALPHA Running. As a credentialed PE and Health teacher, Stan will play a vital role in the growth of the organization as he takes the reins of our onsite childcare and children's track programs in the future. Although new to marathoning, having completed his first Half Marathon at the Pasadena Marathon in early 2009, he is courageously determined to put his coaching skills to the test as an example for Team ALPHA. Stan recently obtained his Road Runners Club of America Coaching Certification and is training for his first full marathon on December 6 where he will take on the Rock n' Roll Marathon in Las Vegas, NV.

According to Coach Stan, "Running has definitively made him more self aware and markedly transformed is life for the better both physically and mentally." He is eager to share his gifts of inspiration and motivation with Team ALPHA and looks forward helping each and every ALPHA reach their greatest potential. Stan currently works with inner city youth at Mendez High School in the heart of East Los Angeles and lives in Arcadia with his wife Ruby.
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Mary Dignan
Yoga Coach

As an avid fitness professional, Mary fell in love with YOGA during her college years explaining that she enjoyed the balance, acceptance and awareness that it brought to her workouts.

Mary moved to Los Angeles in 2004 and became a personal trainer. She subsequently completed her YOGA certification in 2006 and specializes in "power" yoga / vinyasa flow and has appeared in several television programs dedicated to YOGA including "My Workout" on the Lifetime Network.

She feels blessed to live in the YOGA mecca of the West, where she has been able to continue to learn from some of the finest YOGIS and YOGINIS in the world.

Mary recently completed the Disneyland Half Marathon, lives in Burbank with her dog Ash and wishes for her students to leave class feeling both revitalized and peaceful.
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