Meet Your Coach

Ray Lapinski is the founder and head coach of Through the Line Training.
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He is a Southern Connecticut State University graduate and former school record holder in the 600, 4x400, 4x800 and DMR. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Health and Physical Education in 1975, a graduate certificate in Biology from Macquarie University (Australia), in 1983, and a Masters Degree in Exercise Science from Southern Connecticut in 1986. He is a Lead Instructor in the USATF Coaching Education Program and is Level III Certified.​​

 Ray has served as a speaker at a number of clinics, seminars and camps and has published numerous articles on training and coaching theory. He was recently featured in Runner’s World as one of the few people to be recognized as having run well over 100,000 miles in his lifetime. Ray’s article on running 60 miles on his 60th birthday recently appeared in New England runner magazine. He is a frequent contributor to Track Coach, the coaching journal of USATF. Ray has been selected as the Head Coach of Team USA on 3 occasions and has also served on the Australian National Coaching Staff in Cross country. His Australian athletes have been national record holders at 3k, 5k, 10k and 50k. He served as the Vice Chair of Women’s Long Distance Running for USATF and was the former National Development Chair for Long Distance Running. He now serves as the  Head of Training Theory for USATF.

Ray is currently an assistant Cross Country/Track coach at Central Connecticut State University, where he also taught in the Exercise Science Department.  In the eight years he has been involved with the program at CCSU, the team has garnered 15 Northeast Conference championships. Prior to this post, Ray spent 5 years on the coaching staff at Yale University and was the Head Coach of the Woodbridge Running Company/Club Connecticut Women’s Team. His club team sent 5 women to the Olympic Marathon Trials in 1996 and 2000 and won numerous National Road Championships. Ray guided team member, Annmarie Tuxbury, from a relatively unspectacular collegiate career to a position as one of the top elite distance runners in the country. Annmarie won the 2022 Vermont City Marathon and was the 11th American at Boston. Annmarie is a 2020 and 2024 Olympic Trials qualifier and has been a top ten finisher in numerous national championships, finishing 35th in the 2020 Marathon Trials. She was selected as the New England Runner of the Year for both 2018 and 2019.

Ray was also a successful coach on the high school level where his Connecticut Teams garnered 12 CIAC Championship trophies. He has been named the CT High School Coach of the Year for Cross Country. Ray has coached every level of running and fitness from the beginning Grade Schooler to the Grand Master. In fact, Janet Voelpert, at 76 years of age,  recently broke American master's records in the 20k at New Haven, CT, the 15k in Schenectady, NY, the 3k in Providence, RI and the 15k and 10 mile on the track in Lynn, MA!

 Ray resides in Provincetown, MA, with his wife Kate, who he coached to a national master’s championship in Cross Country and a win at the Philadelphia marathon.