RRCA Coaching Certification Adds Two Peloton Coaches

Susie Chan and Marcel Dinkins are working through RRCA Level 1 training, adding formal coaching credentials to established running careers.

Two Peloton running instructors are adding formal coaching credentials to their résumés. Susie Chan and Marcel Dinkins are both working through RRCA Coaching Certification training, a program built specifically for coaches who work with distance runners of all levels.

Chan and Dinkins each shared the update on social media, posting similar photos of their Road Runners Club of America Level 1 course book alongside messages including “Always learning. Always evolving. Going international again” and “Learning day” plus “Going global.”

What RRCA Coaching Certification Involves

The RRCA Coaching Certification program is run through the Road Runners Club of America and is built around two levels of instruction. Level 1 focuses on adult distance running, defined as one mile and longer, and also touches on youth running. According to the RRCA, the course is designed to prepare coaches to lead individuals or groups in a volunteer or paid capacity, help runners train toward goals ranging from a 5K to a marathon and beyond, and build training plans grounded in a scientific approach meant to reduce injury risk.

Completing the course is only the first step. Participants must pass a 100 question online exam with a score of 85 percent or higher within 30 days, and they must submit valid CPR and First Aid certifications within 60 days. The full certification process must be completed within six months of the course date. Coaches who finish the requirements are added to RRCA’s public Find a Coach directory and gain access to a portal that connects them with the wider community of RRCA Certified Coaches. The Level 1 course is also approved for continuing education credit through both the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Council on Exercise.

Susie Chan’s Running Background

Chan has built one of the most recognizable resumes in endurance running. She is a four-time finisher of the Marathon des Sables, a six-day, roughly 156-mile self-supported race across the Sahara, and she holds a Guinness World Record for the furthest distance run on a treadmill in 12 hours, covering 68.54 miles. In 2023, Chan became the first European woman to complete all three Badwater Ultra Cup events in a single year. She returned to the series in April 2026, when she and teammates Amanda Skinner and Emma Harris set a new course record at Badwater Salton Sea. Chan has also led some of Peloton’s longest run classes and has spoken publicly about favoring steady, conversational-pace training over speed work.

Marcel Dinkins’ Running Background

Dinkins brings a different athletic path to the certification, with a background in basketball, track and field, and cross country that carried into her time in the Army. She has become a fixture of Peloton’s running content, appearing in the Pace Your Race Marathon Program and the HYROX training program before leading her own four-week program, The Progressive Method, as sole instructor. Dinkins has also represented Peloton at races including the Shamrock Marathon, running alongside members of the Peloton community.

Formal certification through a program like RRCA gives both instructors a credential that exists independently of Peloton, one built on standardized coaching education rather than platform-specific training. For members who follow either instructor’s classes, it signals a deeper investment in the coaching side of their work, separate from the on-screen personality, while embedding their passion for the sport and discipline that continues to come through the screen.

Have you taken a credentialed course like this? What do you think it will add to their roles on the Peloton platform?

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