Mission
Spark Running Club promotes and encourages youth running as a competitive sport that drives youth to strive for bigger goals, guides them to be better people and develops them into stronger athletes.
Vision
Spark Running Club's vision is to "Ignite the Lives" of 6th-12th graders in their communities nationwide and to motivate and inspire youth to become productive adults who make a difference in the world.
Run to Live
"I ran and ran everyday and I acquired a sense of determination that I would never, never give up no matter what else happens. The triumph cannot be had without the struggle." - Wilma Rudolph
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2017Track Liberty -
2015Glow Run -
2017Indoor Track Meet Lehigh U
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2016Chocolate Works Holiday Party -
2016Turkey Trot 5K -
2015Spark Skyzone Holiday Party
What We
Believe
The best way to predict the future is to create it. Set goals. Make a plan. Work hard. Be relentless in chasing your dreams. Your momentum creates the door upon which opportunity knocks and then you'll kick down the door!
#sparkproud
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Bigger GoalsDreaming Big requires planning & goal setting. As part of our process, we set S.M.A.R.T goals in health & happiness, school, family & friends, running, and fun.
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Better PeopleAt Spark, we work to improve ourselves every single day not just in running but in all aspects of our life based on our foundational principles that guide our actions.
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Stronger AthletesTo become stronger, we focus on fun, speed, strength, endurance, flexibility, coordination, nutrition, form, and mental toughness. What we do today makes us better tomorrow.
Core Values
S - SET GOALS: Create annual written goals in running, school, family, friends, experiences & fun, and health & happiness.
P - PERSEVERANCE: Persistence in achieving goals. Overcoming challenges. Being accountable. Always improving. Being better than yesterday.
A - ATTITUDE: Do your best. Think positive. Believe in yourself and your teammates. Be respectful. Use good manners. Have fun!
R - ROLE MODEL: Do the right think when no one is looking. Be on time. Be prepared. Good behavior. Good student. Contribute to your school and community.
K - KINDNESS: Having compassion, gratitude and empathy. Treating others the way they wish to be treated.
P - PERSEVERANCE: Persistence in achieving goals. Overcoming challenges. Being accountable. Always improving. Being better than yesterday.
A - ATTITUDE: Do your best. Think positive. Believe in yourself and your teammates. Be respectful. Use good manners. Have fun!
R - ROLE MODEL: Do the right think when no one is looking. Be on time. Be prepared. Good behavior. Good student. Contribute to your school and community.
K - KINDNESS: Having compassion, gratitude and empathy. Treating others the way they wish to be treated.
Meet Our Coaches
At Spark, we believe in developing the whole person regardless of their running ability. We are much more than a running club. Our motto is "Igniting Your Life"- we strive to be that "spark" that jumpstarts hopes and dreams and creates an environment for achievement through goal setting, hard work, and persistence. Our focus is to create bigger goals, better people and stronger athletes based on our foundational principles.
Head Coach Kathy Frank
With a MBA in business, Coach Frank has a full time career of over 20 years in medical sales and management. She lives in Hanover Township with her husband, Jud Frank, a long time coach in various sports at the youth, high school, and college levels and Math Department Chair at Liberty High School, and her sons, Casey (10th Grade) & Cole (9th Grade). For more than nine years, she served as an active volunteer in youth football and baseball. In 2014 and 2015, she was a volunteer Assistant Cross Country Coach at Nitschmann Middle School and became Head Coach in 2016. In 2017, she became President of the Liberty High School Cross Country and Track & Field Booster Club. Coach Frank has a passion for making a difference and wants to inspire youth to create a life they love while competing in running.
Running:
From middle school to high school and through college, Coach Frank ran indoor track, outdoor track, and cross country. During those years, her bread and butter was sprinting and middle distance racing. She competed in many events including: 100M, 200M, 400M, 800M, 4x100M Relay, 4x400M Relay, 4x800M Relay, High Jump, 100M Hurdles, 400M Hurdles, and Cross Country. Coach Frank experienced many ups and downs in her own running career which helps her relate to the challenges faced by her youth runners.
From middle school to high school and through college, Coach Frank ran indoor track, outdoor track, and cross country. During those years, her bread and butter was sprinting and middle distance racing. She competed in many events including: 100M, 200M, 400M, 800M, 4x100M Relay, 4x400M Relay, 4x800M Relay, High Jump, 100M Hurdles, 400M Hurdles, and Cross Country. Coach Frank experienced many ups and downs in her own running career which helps her relate to the challenges faced by her youth runners.
Coach Frank’s accomplishments in running include:
Middle School: Hershey National Track & Field Youth Program: 200M Dash Local Champion, District Runner Up, and 6th in the State. 800M Dash Local Champion, District Champion, and 3rd in the State.
High School: 400M Dash Two Time Schuylkill League Champion, District 11 Champion, and State Finalist: 8th in the State.
College: Member of the Moravian College Hall of Fame and 3rd in the Nation 1993 Division III Cross Country Team. Member of the 1600M Relay Team who was two-time Middle Atlantic Conference Champions and Penn Relays Division III Champions.
Assistant Coach Dave Weikert
Coach Weikert is an avid runner and skier who enjoys all things outdoors. A Certified Financial Planner™ with Market Street Financial Advisors, LLC, he is part of a privately owned independent wealth management firm.
Coach Weikert volunteers as an Alpine Patroller with the National Ski Patrol and is a Pennsylvania Emergency Medical Technician. Coach Weikert also serves as Board Treasurer of Spark Running Club. He and his family reside in Bethlehem.
Assistant Coach Kate Reilly
Coach Reilly lives in Hanover Township with her son and daughter. She is a school psychologist, having earned her B.A. from Colgate University (Go ‘Gate!) and her M.Ed. and Ph.D. from Lehigh University.
After wanting to be a “real runner” for years, it finally stuck after that first 5K. She has now completed a 50 mile ultramarathon, 13 marathons, 8 half marathons, as well as shorter distances. Her proudest running accomplishments are winning the Rehoboth Beach Marathon, placing second at the Little Rock Marathon, being a seven-time Boston Marathon qualifier, and surviving a few triathlons
She didn’t run her first 5K until she was 28 years old. In high school, her very small all-girls’ school had no athletic programs or even gym classes. Not being satisfied with the dance and yoga offerings, she and two friends started a running club, running around the Central Park reservoir on Friday afternoons. In college, she was a member of the crew team, running to and from the boathouse most days.
Jeanne Reilly, PMA®-CPT, Fletcher Pilates® Adjunct Faculty
Jeanne earned an MA in Psychology and spent 17 years in management, development, and coordination of training for business and non-profit sectors. A fitness advocate whose Achilles injury brought her to Pilates, Jeanne suffered pain and difficulty in moving that quickly responded to the Pilates work. As strength and endurance returned, she determined she would learn everything she could from the best teachers she could find, and become a Pilates teacher, herself.
Having completed the Fletcher Pilates Comprehensive Program in January 2010, and the Fletcher Pilates Advanced Intensive Course in March 2014, Jeanne is recognized as a Fletcher Pilates Professional Teacher. Upon successful completion of the Pilates Method Alliance exam in 2012, Jeanne received the Certified Pilates Teacher designation. In addition, Jeanne completed a course of study in 2013, at the Yamuna flagship studio in New York City, qualifying her as a Certified Yamuna Body Rolling Practitioner.
Pursuant to her studies, she opened her studio, Meant To Move, in Bethlehem, PA. Early education, and her career in psychology and training, provides a strong base upon which Jeanne's love for learning and teaching Pilates rests. She's thriving on it, and is able to communicate her joy in mindful movement to her clients
Erin Sparrold, CN METS I
Sports Nutritionist
Erin has a passion for improving the nutritional health and performance of athletes. Erin’s focus lies in supporting her clients’ nutritional needs and their use of foods to help them build health while enhancing performance. She has over 20 years of nutrition coaching experience. Erin holds a degree in Nutrition Science from the University of Arizona and a sports specific certification in Metabolic Efficiency Training™.
Additionally, she participates in a sports nutrition mentorship program with Bob Seebohar, a 2008 Olympic Team Dietician. Erin has served as an independent contractor with Mind of the Athlete since 2015. Erin works with a variety of high school and collegiate athletic teams, including Lehigh University Wrestling and Parkettes Gymnastics, along with IronMan triathletes and other individual athletes at varying levels in their career.
Erin’s curiosity into the science of nutrition began when she was a student athlete. While competing as one of the top swimmers in her league, she credits her success to following her coaches’ recommendations for different nutritional strategies for training and competition cycles. Her success in swimming continued into master’s swim competitions and now into Ragnar Relay Races, Spartan Races, and Tough Mudders. When it comes to testing out her sports nutrition wisdom, Erin literally puts into practice what she preaches to the athletes she serves today.
Laurel Attanasio, MBA
Yoga Instructor
Laurel is a yoga gypsy who loves exploring land and sea. She has always had the travel bug, but only fell in love with Yoga eleven years ago. After completing her Master's Degree in Business, while working full-time, she knew she needed a shift mentally and physicially. At that point, she stepped into a yoga class and onto her yoga mat; yoga changed her life forever.
Laurel completed both the 200 hour teacher training program and 300 hour advanced teacher training at The Yoga Loft. She holds a Mat Pilates certification from Hard Core Pilates in Frenchtown, NJ, which compliments her yoga training, allowing her to bring a greater understanding of anatomy and movement to her classes. She loves using yoga and pilates to assist her students in becoming stronger, relieving stress, preventing injury, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Laurel's heart is rooted in her hometown of Bethlehem, PA with her husband, Josh, and chi-weenie/sidekick, Zeek. Her love for travel and adventure keeps her teaching yoga, paddle boarding, hiking, running, tasting healthy vegan food and sipping cocktails all over the globe. She loves helping others seek teh beauty within and the beauty throughout the world.