Elizabeth Ring
Owner, Operator, Coach
Road Runners Club of America Certified Coach; USA Track & Field Certified Coach; Registered Yoga Instructor with Yoga Alliance
I’ve had a passion for running since being introduced to it by the US Army in 1976. Began competing in 1999 and introduced circuit training and yoga for strength and flexibility. I’d like athletes of all levels to add yoga into their cross training; their bodies will thank them. In 2008, I created Harris Corporation’s fitness camps as part of its overall wellness program. Since then we have expanded fitness camps in Brevard.
Karen Hughes
Partner
Coach-Up & Running Fitness; Harris Fitness Camp
Road Runners Club of America Certified Coach; USA Track & Field Certified Coach; Level 1 Certified CrossFit Coach
As a daughter of a professional baseball player, Karen was destined to be an athlete at a young age and became a serious runner in 1999. Karen has run and competed in countless road races of all distances and expanded her training with daily CrossFit workouts for added strengthening. If you need to know something about how to train, just ask Karen. Karen also coaches for CrossFit Rise Above in Melbourne.
Eric McKinley
Coach
Harris Fitness “Boot” Camp
Level 1 Certified CrossFit Coach; USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach; CrossFit Power Lifting Trainer Certificate; Road Runners Club of America Certified Coach.
I’m one of the co-founders of CrossFit Rise Above and I’ve been an active member in the Melbourne athletic community for over 7 years, discovering CrossFit during my tenure as the President of Space Coast Triathletes. The constant variation of the workouts combined with the camaraderie and friendly competition hooked me. My coaching experience began in 1990 working with a life-long special needs friend preparing him for the power lifting event in the Special Olympics. Since then it seems I’ve been training or coaching in some capacity ever since. I worked for a time instructing troubled youth in wilderness skills, physical education, and inter-personal skills with Outward Bound as both a residential and wilderness instructor. Outward Bound was my sink or swim moment in instructing. Being able to teach a hard-headed kid concepts ranging from nutrition, to wilderness first aid, to running technique, to life choices, all while in a wilderness setting living out of a canoe 7 days a week for a month at a time taught me important lessons about how to instruct people in everyday life that I never could have learned from a book, gotten from my graduate degree (Software Engineering), or even learned at my CrossFit Certification.
Abe Oros
Coach
Half and Full Marathon Camps
I’ve had a passion for athletics since before my teenage years. Although lettering in multiple sports in High School, including track, I believed that you had to be crazy to run more than two miles. I gained an appreciation of long distance running at the University of Oregon, home of Steve Prefontaine, Galen Rupp and other elite distance runners. It was in Eugene, Oregon where I had the opportunity to stand next to elite distance runners at the starting line (at least until the starting gun went off), that I completed the Nike Marathon, and developed my love for distance running. Since college, I have been continuously involved in training and coaching in some capacity. I’ve coached skiing for the National Ski Patrol, taught scuba diving, trained and coached skydiving. Since 1983, I have completed two ultra-marathons (100 Kilometers/62 miles), eleven marathons and too many half marathons, 10K’s and 5K’s to count. I qualified and ran my first Boston Marathon in 2015 where I qualified again for 2016. I truly believe just about anyone can finish a marathon after understanding that “The secret to completing a marathon is to take the first step.”
