Chris Forti, Team Coach
Chris joined the Whippets in August 2013 after – literally – running into the Whippet founders on a run in Prospect Park. Growing up in the Boston area, running has always been part of his life: spectating the marathon as a kid, running competitively in high school and college, working in a running store, coaching at various levels including youth, high school and adult and a certified USATF official. While his true passion is the team aspect of cross country, he competes on the road, track and trails at distances ranging from 400m to the marathon. His coaching goals include helping individuals improve themselves both mentally and physically and while maintaining the life/ athlete balance. Chris is an RRCA-certified coach.
Scott Batten, Team Captain
Scott has been a Dashing Whippet since 2009 and has served as a team coach since 2010. His focus is on helping runners improve at races shorter than the marathon, with a particular emphasis on developing speed at the 5K to 15K distance. Brad Hudson, Matt Fitzgerald and Renato Canova have been the most influential on Scott’s training plans. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, and works as a systems analyst for The City of New York. Scott is an RRCA-certified coach.
Cassie Wallace
Cassie joined the Dashing Whippets in 2015 and has served as a Coach since 2016. She is focused on distances up to the 10k, with an emphasis on track and cross country. Cassie is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, where she ran for and served as Captain of the Varsity Track and Cross Country teams. Cassie is a USATF Level 1 Certified Coach.
Megan has been a Whippet since 2013. Born and raised in Staten Island, she was introduced to running at the young age of 7, and joined her local CYO track team. Megan continued running for fitness during college. After graduating from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Fashion Design, she went on to work for Donna Karan Collection and currently works for Carolina Herrera. Taking running dedication to the next-level, Megan became a USATF Level 1 coach in 2016 and a RCAA Coach in 2017. She is also currently perusing her VDOT certification to be completed in 2018. Her favorite race distances to train herself and others for are half marathons and marathons. When not racing or planning for races, Megan loves to cheer on her fellow Whippets as they crush their goals!