Bill Stahl has coached high school cross country and track for more than 25 years. He has a penchant for taking struggling programs and growing them into large, competitive teams, fostering a fun environment that turns beginners into enthusiastic, lifelong runners. His athletes include state champs, runners who have gone on to compete at colleges at every level, and ones who eventually ran in the Olympic Trials and were top finishers in major marathons. He is a Certified USA Track & Field Level 1 coach.

After he inherited a Horizon H.S. squad with just six runners, he built it up to 50 athletes and got its boys’ cross country team to qualify for the State meet for the first time in 11 years, and the girls’ team to State for the first time in the school’s history. At Lutheran H.S., he started a team from scratch and led it to a Metropolitan League title in its third season.

Bill has finished many hundreds of races, but these days specializes in ultramarathons. He has four Leadville Trail 100 finishes, along dozens of marathon or longer ones, including the Boston and NYC Marathons twice each.

He is the race director the Runners Roost Invitational, with 1800+ competitors, one of the three or four largest cross country meets in the state for high schools and middle schools.

“Coach Stahl has been an exemplary leader on and off the track for my child. My son has benefited from his running expertise and also life lessons he has taught him.” - Tamara Prazak, 12/20/2015