Tony Stafford

Interestingly enough, Tony Stafford’s journey into running did not start until his late twenties in 2006. Tony, a native of El Paso, Texas, has been participating in endurance sports for the majority of his life, mainly in competitive soccer where he played, in addition to the New Mexico Olympic Development Team & All-Star teams, in the Division I program at Texas Christian University. Running did not enter Tony’s life until somewhere in 2005, when after receiving an information packet from the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency, where Tony originally wanted to work as a special agent) which required that, in addition to written tests, there would be a physical test to complete as well. One part of the physical test consisted of a 2-mile run in less than 15 minutes. After attempting this run several times, and falling well short of the 15 min benchmark, Tony committed himself to hitting that target. While being fit enough to play as a collegiate goalkeeper, but not really in prime shape, Tony received a Bachelor of Arts from Texas Christian University in 2002. Successively, he earned two Masters from University of Central Florida in Criminal Justice, 2003, and Public Administration, 2004, and was still not in great shape. While working as a Child Protection Investigator for the Sheriff’s Office in Orlando, Florida, he continued his own fitness regimes in gyms and worked part-time as a personal trainer. He decided in the beginning of 2007 to dedicate himself full-time to his passion for fitness and to provide the guidance and dedication to enable others to overcome their own limitations and achieve their personal athletic performance goals. That benchmark that the DEA required, along with Tony’s first 5K in 2006, marked the beginning of an incredible journey. It wasn’t until the challenge of running his first marathon, the 2007 Chicago Marathon, that Tony began to get serious about running. On his own journey, Tony discovered that his true pleasure in life comes from spending every waking moment training or thinking about training. Tony has dedicated virtually his whole life to athletic competition and is constantly raising the bar on his own athletic capabilities and the athletic aspirations of others. Tony is always extending the boundaries of his capacities and pushing beyond the assumed-limits of what the human body is capable of. Mental toughness, says Tony, was the key to his success within his own transformation and is also the key to not only achieving one’s athletic goals, but also exceeding them. As an extension of his own personal development, Tony now focuses on helping people achieve fitness goals as a professional marathon pacer, whether it’s maintaining a particular marathon time or just getting the heart pumping. Along with these selfless acts to helping individuals, Tony has recently raised money for a number of charities, conducted numerous speaking engagements, and is always looking for a way to “give back” to others in the running community. Tony currently makes his home in the world-renowned, endurance-athletes’ epicenter (Boulder, Colorado). When Tony is not running, he enjoys training endurance athletes, as well as enjoying the beautiful Rocky Mountains for hiking, cycling AND giving back in ANY way to the running culture. Tony, as an endurance fitness specialist, is also currently owner and operator of Boulder Sports Performance, an endurance-based training method to those individuals seeking to enhance sports performance using the innovative approaches of advanced techniques of high-intensity, cardio-respiratory production that result in maximum stamina.