Conley-Wartenburg Married?

wonderin wrote:

Was this news to anyone? It was obvious they had been involved, but this is the first time I have seen anything described, let alone anything this formal. Did this have anything to do with his leaving Davis?

Source for this??

Don't get mad at us. David Monti reported it in his recap of the meet.http://www.letsrun.com/news/2016/01/rrw-world-leading-mile-kim-conley-new-balance-games/

Monti wrote:

Today’s race was a victory of sorts for Grace, too. She barely competed in 2015 due to a foot injury she suffered last February, then switched coaches to Drew Wartenburg of NorCal Distance, who happens to also be Conley’s husband. Her time to today was an indoor personal best.

For what it's worth, Wikipedia doesn't mention a marriage but then again Wikipedia doesn't even mention Wartenburg in the article at all.

notroll wrote:

wonderin wrote:

Was this news to anyone? It was obvious they had been involved, but this is the first time I have seen anything described, let alone anything this formal. Did this have anything to do with his leaving Davis?

Source for this??

I saw it too and wondered the same thing.

"It’s also a sign that Grace is enjoying her new training environment and coach as she’s now a member of the NorCal Distance Project where she’s coached by Conley’s husband, Drew Wartenburg, after spending two years being coached by Lauren Fleshman as part of Oiselle’s Project Little Wing."

I guess I wasn't the only person to notice this, both in the letsrun article and Monti's. I can't say I'm surprised, having met them both many times. I had been assuming they were a couple, although I think it's a little weird that they have a non-public marriage. I don't recall if Conley wears a ring when she runs, maybe I'll have a closer look next time I see her on the trails.

Anyway, I don't think this needs to be played up at all. Clearly they don't really want people to know about this, and the least we can do is keep it quiet. delete this thread, maybe.

and if either is reading this, congrats.

Is it not a little strange they want to keep a MARRIAGE secret?

I find that bizarre. Yes, he's like 20 years older than her and was her college coach, but still when you get married, at that point, probably shouldn't try to keep it under wraps.

reed wrote:

I think it's a little weird that they have a non-public marriage. I don't recall if Conley wears a ring when she runs, maybe I'll have a closer look next time I see her on the trails.

Anyway, I don't think this needs to be played up at all. Clearly they don't really want people to know about this, and the least we can do is keep it quiet. delete this thread, maybe.

and if either is reading this, congrats.

How do we know they don't want people to know? Why wouldn't they want people to know?

[quote]rojo wrote:

Don't get mad at us. David Monti reported it in his recap of the meet.

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2016/01/rrw-world-leading-mile-kim-conley-new-balance-games/

[quote]Monti wrote:

Do letsrun give its blessing to their nuptials?

This isn't a secret. One of their wedding guests (who is FB friends with practically the entire elite running community) posted a wedding photo back when the nuptials happened last fall.

That's Great! Thanks for posting!

Not news wrote:

This isn't a secret. One of their wedding guests (who is FB friends with practically the entire elite running community) posted a wedding photo back when the nuptials happened last fall.

link please.... did New balance sponsor it? Did she wear NB shoes under wedding dress?

wonderin wrote:

Did this have anything to do with his leaving Davis?

They were sleeping together her senior year of college. She stuck around to train with him for another two years post collegiate before he quit coaching at Davis. If he was going to be "fired" for that, it would have happened sooner. They were denying being in a relationship at the time he left Davis, so if he had been pushed out for it, there would have been no reason to have continued keeping it secret.

Fast forwarding a few years, as to why the marriage was semi-secret, I'm not sure. To the person saying that it wasn't a secret because somebody else posted a picture of their wedding onto facebook: they themselves didn't post or announce it on facebook or other social media. Since they are constantly posting things onto facebook and twitter, it seems a little surprising that wouldn't make the cut, unless they were trying to keep it somewhat under the radar.

It could be embarrassment over the coach-athlete thing, or it could just be that they are private people. The privacy thing doesn't really seem likely though when compared to the high volume of other posts they pump out.

They also had very few people at their wedding outside of their training group. Of course there is nothing wrong with a small wedding if that is what somebody wants, only seems odd in context with the other circumstances.

At the end of the day though, they can live their lives how they want. No laws are being broken.

I do think his coaching style is a little creepy. He seems to be very controlling and a bit manipulative of his athletes. The secret relationship and semi-secret marriage is just fuel for that.

A quick search of the LRC archives brought up this article from Runner's World, June 2014:

Runner's World wrote:

"If you were to plot out a graph starting at Kim's third or fourth year of college, when she got serious, it would look too good to be true because it just doesn't work that way," says Drew Wartenburg, Conley's current coach. He was her former collegiate coach at UC Davis in California and has been her boyfriend for the past four years.

So they were an item since around 2011 one would guess. And it wasn't news then so why would it be now?

The real danger is to the other athletes in the training group. How do they know that they aren't just training fodder for the Coaches little sugar squeeze.

Top Down wrote:

The real danger is to the other athletes in the training group. How do they know that they aren't just training fodder for the Coaches little sugar squeeze.

The male coach/female athlete who are married doesn't seem to be unusual in training groups.

Danny Mackey/Brooks Beasts and Terrence Mahon's groups come to mind.

I don't think being a blocking dummy for a favored athlete in a group is rare either, regardless of marriage. NOP/Salazar allegedly had that dynamic with Kara Goucher and Amy Yoder, among other instances. It's a hazard that goes with the training dynamic on a team with stars as much as having a coach involved with a particular athlete.

Creepy beyond all reason.

Reminds me of Fred LaPlante and Monica Joyce at San Diego State many years ago. Believe they are now married. It appeared Fred split from his then wife Deby right when her career ended after the 1980 US Olympic boycott, then he and Monica became an item (believe they were living together when she was attending the school). What a smooth transition! For those too young to remember, Deby LaPlante was the American record holder in the 100m hurdles at 12.86 seconds. She is a very pretty gal who ran the hurdles with quickness and efficiency, slender build not muscle bound. A real talent who in today's world would get a lot more attention than she did back then.

The other runners in Wartenburg's group seem to be doing OK, so hopefully they are not just fodder for the "star". Going back again to Monica Joyce, she was the star at SDSU but in the Olympics it was her SDSU team mate Lynn Williams (nee Kanuka) who made it to the 3,000m final and took a bronze as a beneficiary of Mary Slaney's fall (Richard Slaney was a discus thrower at SDSU). SDSU had three ladies make it to the 3,000 semis in those games - Eva Ernstrom, Monica Joyce and Lynn Williams. Fred had some good teams back then at SDSU.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0257/3165/products/taw7_large.jpeg?v=1391483783

https://www.michigandaily.com/content/2009-01-23/hurdle-master-fred-laplante

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC2_mN9g5Zg

1) Everyone knew they were dating. I think the only news is no one knew they are married.

2) The most obvious comparison is the Pat Henner - Jule Henner relationship. Juli was Pat's athlete in college at James Madison, they got married, she made the Olympics.

It's their own lives so who cares. Mark Wetmore is with a former athlete, it happens all the time.

Funny, Monica's sister Regina married her college coach as well (since divorced).

Then there is Kevin Hadsell- never married any of his girls as that would have interrupted the rotation, heh.

[quote]Those gigolo coaches wrote:

Reminds me of Fred LaPlante and Monica Joyce at San Diego State many years ago. Believe they are now married.

Seems like such a coincidence virtually all of these coaches end up in relationships with only their best athletes. Must be just a coincidence ;-)