Pete Rea of ZAP

Pete is the Elite Athlete Coach and Coordinator at the ZAP Fitness Team USA Training Center, and has been in that role since ZAP's opening in 2002. Since ZAP has opened Rea has guided more than a dozen…
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Pete is the Elite Athlete Coach and Coordinator at the ZAP Fitness Team USA Training Center, and has been in that role since ZAP's opening in 2002. Since ZAP has opened Rea has guided more than a dozen…
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Pete is the Elite Athlete Coach and Coordinator at the ZAP Fitness Team USA Training Center, and has been in that role since ZAP's opening in 2002. Since ZAP has opened Rea has guided more than a dozen athletes to Olympic Trials berths in distances from the 1,500m to the marathon, including 2 finalists at the 2008 Olympic Trials in Eugene in the men's 5,000m. In addition, under Rea's tutelage, 4 ZAP men have qualified for the Senior Men's World Cross Country Team, 1 has been named to the World Road Team, and 4 women have been selected as part of Team USA Ekiden Relays in Korea and Japan. The ZAP fitness men also won the 2006 & 2007 USATF National Club XC Championship.


Prior to his time at ZAP Rea coached club and open level athletes in both Atlanta and Connecticut. He also coached and taught British and American Literature at Atlanta's Walton High School prior to his time in North Carolina. Rea was a 9 time Connecticut State High State Champion in high school in cross country and track and ran for the University of Connecticut where he graduated in 1992 (Journalism / American Literature) as an All Big East Conference XC Selection. After college, while receiving his master's degree, Rea ran for Team Nike South and began coaching local Atlanta high school athletes and open men and women.


Rea's training philosophy is based on a long term view toward success wih each program being highly individualized from the 1,500m to the marathon. Rea's athletes are extremely varied in their training based on background and what each body can handle in terms of overall volume and intensity. Rea writes a monthly "Learning from the Young Guns" column in Running Journal and freelances for Running Times, Carolina Sports and Fitness.