Ryan McMillan

Coach Ryan McMillan runs a lot and he’s fast. He makes it look effortless and is often running before and after local club runs to get in extra miles. His running career has taken him from a surprise 5k to top performances, and recently coached a local runner to a state title. He lives in Snow Hill, Md.

When did you start running? 
This is actually a good story. I started running in 2010. My best friend talked me into running cross country my freshman year. My first day on the team was in a cross country meet at Decatur’s hill course. I thought XC was “track on grass” so I heard the gun pop and I started sprinting to the front and stopped before we started to go down the hill. But everyone else kept going. Little did I know, we had to run a 5K. My coach says “McMillan, you’ve got 3 more miles LETS GO!” I never ran a day in my life and I completed my first 5K that day. After that, I wanted to just quit. But having Master Sergeant Meekins as my coach, I knew that wasn’t an option. So I ran track in high school after XC every year and became very decorative for Snow Hill High School.

After high school I continued to run but I didn’t take it seriously like I do now until 2021. Now I run more long distance than I did as a kid. Talk about someone who hated running to running way more in their adulthood. I believe mindset changes people with time.

What’s been your race progression since those early 5Ks?  
I mainly did Cross Country to stay in shape for track. I was more of a middle-distance runner, especially in the 1600m and 800m. But as I got older and took more of an interest in longer distance running, I started to distance myself from running 5Ks and focus more on 10 milers, half marathons and full marathons with the ultimate goal of Boston Qualifying. I actually prefer to run a 10K over a 5K now. Although, I do run occasional ultra-endurance races that are put on by trail race director Trent Swanson. I tell many others about his races and even some of my athletes are intrigued by the grit that I show when running in these events.

This spring, you achieved a podium spot for The Ripper, the 14-hour trail race in Pocomoke, where runners ran as much as they could from sunup to sundown. How many miles did you run and was that your first ultra distance? 
I must say, The Ripper is a fantastic concept. It reminds me so much of Pemberton 24 but without the waiting to run again the next hour. I went into it as a “go as long as I can” race. I only stopped to fuel which was like a couple minute breaks and go. I ended up running a little over 63 miles on my watch but according to the results 61.9. I really surprised myself with this race and felt like I did very well for a typical road runner. Afterward, I ended up needing some time to recover but still managed to run about 50 miles the following week after the event.

Share some of your successes in racing.
Well, I didn’t really start taking racing seriously until a few years ago. I typically set goals for every race I run and use them as ‘training runs’ or ‘workouts.’ This helps me build fitness and be pushed. I’ve managed to get faster with every race I run and it just gives me more drive to get better each race. Even with a bad race, I always take every run and learn from it. I see what went wrong and see what I need to improve upon for the next one. This helps me strategize for each race. I have quite a big race schedule this year so this helps me so much. 

Note: Here are a couple more accolades we want to share.
Baltimore 10 Miler: 1:03:45.45 (6:23 pace, 31^st overall);
Atlantic City Monopoly Half Marathon, 1:21:55, (6:15 pace, 1^st overall – he said the course showed up short on his watch)

What’s a typical training week look like for you? How many miles? 
I typically run about 60-70 miles a week. During a typical training week, I run a lot of easy miles. I feel like building and maintaining my base has been a huge reason for my running success. It took me a long time to understand I should NOT take every run fast like a race and slowly build my weekly mileage. I’ll have 1-2 workout days, 1 long run day (15-20 miles) and the majority of the rest are easy miles. You’d be surprised how much faster you become just by putting in the easy mileage. 

What do you coach? Tell us about it!
I currently coach cross country and track at Snow Hill High School. My mother always told me that I would one day be a great running coach just like Master Sergeant Meekins. I never got to coach with him because he passed away in 2021. That hit me hard. Once I was offered to coach indoor track in 2022, but the timing was bad and I had to turn it down. The following year I jumped on the opportunity and decided to coach. Since I started coaching, my athletes have shown great success. During my second year coaching XC, my whole guys team and all three girls on the team qualified for states. To my knowledge, that hasn’t been done in a very long time. And I managed to do that in just my second season coaching.

For outdoor track, we came up short at regionals but the whole girls’ team placed 2nd. We also had multiple regional champs in several events. My proudest accomplishment in coaching was how much I’ve been able to develop outstanding runners over the last few years. Especially with Allie Suarezapecheche who recently won the 1A MPSSAA state championship title in the 3200m. She demonstrated grit and the “it ain’t over ’til it’s over” mentality. She came back from behind the last 500m of the race to win the title with an insane kick. I had her and several athletes do “walk down drills” to practice scenarios like this to help finish hard in a race. Work definitely paid off. I know I’ve made my coach proud and especially my mother who is looking down on me with him. I believe the coaching has absolutely changed my life. It is so fulfilling and rewarding to watch these kids grow to become our future runners. 

Do you have running goals you’d like to share? 
I have several goals. But one of my biggest goals is to one day run in the Boston Marathon. Currently I’m working on trying to break 60 mins in the 10 miler. The last time I did that was back in 2013 when I did it in a time trial for a college that was interested in me. I also want to break 1:20 in the half marathon and qualify for the New York Full marathon by running the qualifying half marathon time (1:21) to get in. With my busy schedule, it’s been a huge challenge to properly get the training in that I need. This is why I at least get the mileage in, because with that alone, I’m able to maintain what I have. Imagine if I could stick to a plan and did actual speed work. I plan to really work hard this summer to get in much better shape than I am currently. 

What do you do when you’re not running?
When I’m not running, I’m honestly hanging out with my friends or helping others get better, especially my athletes. When I got into coaching, I honestly didn’t think I’d like doing it. But just to see how much the kids look up to me as a role model with my own running, I take pride and enjoy developing future runners in our community. When I’m not doing that, I have other hobbies like bowling and traveling. I’d say I’m pretty decent at bowling, averaging a 180 for a typical 10-game session. Also, I’d like to one day get an RV, travel across the country and run in some of the best spots as I sightsee. I love to travel so this is definitely on my bucket list.