High school Coons was born in
Fairfax, Virginia, and attended
James Madison High School in
Vienna, Virginia, where she graduated in 1997. While running during high school she was a two-time district champion in the 1,600 meters as a sophomore and as a junior and a district champion in cross country and on the track in the 3,200 meters as a junior.
Collegiate Coons went to college at the
University of Virginia, where she was a fine arts major. During her fourth and final year, she won the ACC title at 10,000m, and was an NCAA qualifier at that distance. Upon graduating from UVA, Coons spent two years in
Charlottesville, Virginia as an assistant coach at UVA, and during that time she lowered her 10,000m personal best to 33:07 (Cardinal Invitational, 2003).
Post-collegiate In September 2003, Coons moved to
Minneapolis, Minnesota to train with Team USA Minnesota, where she trained under coach Dennis Barker with
Carrie Tollefson,
Katie McGregor, and other elite athletes. It was during this time that she moved up to the marathon - she debuted in the
Twin Cities Marathon, running 2:46:54 in October, 2005. After spending two years with Team USA Minnesota, she then moved back to Charlottesville. One year later, she lowered her personal best to 2:38:18, at the 2006
Chicago Marathon. She helped found, and coaches for Ragged Mountain Racing, a post-collegiate training team based in
Charlottesville, Virginia and modeled after Team USA Minnesota. ==References==