Home / The People / Eric Orton
Eric Orton
The Jackson Hole coach who taught McDougall how to run, then crewed the adventure.
Coach · author
In the book
Orton is the coach who appears in the first book.1 On the reunion podcast, he said he met McDougall when Men’s Journal sent McDougall to write about his training. By the end of the first day, he had decided to teach McDougall how to run, and McDougall invited him to the race.2
Since 2009
- BooksAuthor of The Cool Impossible.34
- December 2022Co-author with McDougall of Born to Run 2: The Ultimate Training Guide.51
- NowDescribes himself as a global run coach who runs the EO Running Academy (camps, clinics, training and speaking) from Jackson, Wyoming.3
- April 2026A guest on the 20-year reunion, speaking from Jackson Hole.2
At the 20-year reunion
“It wasn’t so much what I experienced there, but it’s that feeling that we had down there that catapulted everything after.”
Eric Orton ·
“He turned it into an artifact that could be shared in a way that … has touched millions of people now.”
Eric Orton · · on McDougall’s book
“I wouldn’t say life changing, it was life accelerating and life amplifying in a very, very rapid way.”
Eric Orton ·
Verbatim from the Road Dog Podcast reunion episode (Apr 6, 2026), with the episode timestamp. See how the quotes were transcribed.
Sources
- KPBS, “‘Born to Run 2’ teaches long-distance runners how to run free,” Dec 5, 2022 — www.kpbs.org/news/midday-edition/2022/12/05/born-to-run-2-teaches-long-distance-runners-how-to-run-free
- Road Dog Podcast, ep. 396 “Born to Run 20 Year Reunion,” Apr 6, 2026 (official episode page) — roaddog.libsyn.com/396-born-to-run-20-year-reunion
- X profile @BornToRunCoach (linked from ericorton.com) — x.com/BornToRunCoach
- ericorton.com — official site — www.ericorton.com/
- Penguin Random House — Born to Run 2 by Christopher McDougall and Eric Orton — www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717120/born-to-run-2-by-christopher-mcdougall-and-eric-orton/
Socials are listed only when confirmed: a verified badge, a link from the person’s own site, or an official partner tag. Contact details appear only when the person publishes them.