Assistant Coach Matt Ciociola

Matt Ciociola ran three years of cross country and track at Bishop Eustace Prep School in Pennsauken, NJ. Matt was the typical high school runner, having no clue what he was doing and interested in the idea of training and getting faster. After high school, Matt competed at Rider University for four years. While at Rider, Matt majored in Chemistry and it was this foundation that applied to his interest in applying science to endurance training. After finishing his eligibility and education at Rider, Matt kept up with his running and gained acceptance to the 2006 ING New York City Marathon. He went on to run a respectable time of 2:49 for his first marathon, but was injured for the next ten months. In 2009, Matt decided to return to running and train for the Ocean Drive Marathon. This time he followed more of a structured training plan; but still it was more of a belief-based training plan. Matt ended up running 2:43, hired Jason Kilderry as his coach that summer, and decided to compete in the 2009 Philadelphia Marathon, where he went on to run 2:41:19. Matt made this decision because he knew Jason’s coaching and ETA Coaching are based on scientific training principles and not simply belief based or word-of-mouth coaching.

These experiences, combined with his background in science led Matt to expand his coaching career and join ETA Coaching. Matt agrees with ETA Coaching’s core principles that training should not be based on what other runners or coaches are doing; but rather on sport science that produces an individualized plan. This individualized training also should not be based blindly on something that worked for a previous runner. This revelation led Matt to strengthen his knowledge regarding training theory, attend the USATF Level 2 class, and become more knowledgeable about sport science, which all led to him joining ETA Coaching.