Greater Williamsburg Distance Running Club

Running Coach Mark Tompkins – Biography

Mark Tompkins grew up in Palo Alto, CA with his identical twin brother Matt Tompkins. He ran Cross Country, and Track & Field in high school, at the Naval Academy, and for the Greater Boston Track Club. He has coached distance running at Coronado HS in California, Menchville HS, Walsingham Academy, and at Bruton High School over the last seventeen years. He is currently a teacher at Jamestown High School and the Head Cross Country/Track Coach.

In 2015 Mark was inducted into the Virginia Peninsula Road Racing Hall of Fame for his contributions to Youth and High School Distance running. Along with being the CRR Grand Prix Champion three times.

Recently his boy's team at Jamestown has the 3rd longest streak in the state of qualifying 17 years in a row to the Virginia 4A state meet. The boys have had 6 region champion runner-ups in the last 6 years and placed 4th at the state meet in 2016 at the 4A championship meet.

His girl's team has qualified for the state meet 6 years in a row and has been region champion the last 3 years. This year Caroline Bauer has a record-setting campaign, placing 2nd at 4A state meet and running a stunning 16:54 at the Running Lane National Championship earning 2nd team All American.

His personal bests are 2:27 1000m, 3:53 1500m, 8:29 3000m, 14:58 5000m, and 25:04 for 8000m.

He is married to Karen Tompkins a Naval Academy graduate who is a graduate of Lafayette HS and a Williamsburg native. Mark and Karen have five children and reside in Williamsburg, VA.

If interested please contact Mark Tompkins at (757) 784-2281 or at marktompkins1@gmail.com

Running Coach Dave Glass - Biography

Dave Glass has been a distance runner since he was 13 years old. He ran competitively throughout middle school and high school in Cross Country and Track, and transitioned to road races during his college years. Now in his 40's, Dave is still an active road and trail runner, having completed several hundred races during his running career, ranging from half-mile to half-marathon distances.

Dave began coaching youth runners when his first son, at 7 years old, expressed an interest in distance running and racing. Now, both of his sons (one in high school, and one in middle school) are accomplished road and cross country runners (who regularly beat Dave in races). Dave began coaching with Mark Tompkins and the GWDRC in 2015.

Dave is married to Suzanne Glass (since 1998), and they have lived in Williamsburg since 1999. He is a 1994 graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Civil/Environmental Engineering), and is a Virginia Professional Engineer.

Pole Vault Coach Pam Tomczak

Born and raised in Baltimore, MD, Pam earned nine varsity letters in 4 different sports (volleyball, basketball, softball, and tennis) during her high school career. She went on to become one of the first women to receive an athletic scholarship for volleyball at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and is a member of the UMBC Athletic Hall of Fame (volleyball & lacrosse).

Pam’s love of track and field began with watching her son compete in multiple events in high school, and then as a decathlete in college. Her daughter, Kathryn, transitioned from gymnastics to pole vaulting as a freshman at Lafayette High School. Pam assisted with her daughter’s training under the tutelage of Coach Kyle Bishop, who was recently named the 2016 National High School Coach of the Year at the National Pole Vault Summit in Reno, NV. Kathryn is a 4-time VHSL 3A Pole Vault Champion (2-time indoors, 2-time outdoors) and currently vaults for the United States Air Force Academy.

Pam is a certified to coach pole vault through the VHSL and the National Pole Vault Coaches Association (NPVCA).