Octane Fitness, a Nautilus Inc. (NYSE:NLS) brand, hired endurance runner and coach Rick Muhr as its commercial Zero Runner coach.
In his new role, Muhr will work with health clubs, fitness professionals, runners and exercisers nationwide to promote the Zero Runner’s utility in enhancing fitness and running performance. The Zero Runner “replicates natural motion – walking, jogging, hill work and running – using independent hip and knee joints, and with a stride length up to 58 inches,” according to an Octane press release.
“After coaching thousands of runners, Rick is a legend in the running community, and a huge asset to Octane Fitness and our customers,” said Ryan Simat, vice president of sales at Octane Fitness. “His extensive experience, along with his inspiring style, mesh perfectly with our goal of fueling people’s lives with innovative zero-impact cardio equipment and programming.”
In his 42 years as an endurance runner, Muhr has completed 32 marathons — with a personal best of 2:33:13 — in addition to races from 5ks to 24-hour ultramarathons. He was ranked 5th in the U.S. at 100k after running 8:41:47 in the National Championships in Duluth, MN in 1989.
In 2009, he co-founded the Marathon Coalition, a Boston Marathon charity organization, where he has coached more than 15,000 runners, with nearly 100 percent crossing the marathon finish line. The group educates runners on core principles such as efficient form, pacing, nutrition and hydration, workout recovery, injury prevention, cross-training, sport psychology and proper gear selection.
“The Zero Runner has been the most effective training tool as I help runners improve their form, recover from intense workouts and races and complete longer runs with absolutely zero impact,” Muhr said. He recently completed 100 miles on the Zero Runner in 14 hours and 18 minutes.
