We don’t normally recognize coaches in our athlete stories but could not resist with this one.  Parker Spencer began his journey with Endorphin Fitness when he was a senior at Liberty University.  He was all in from the beginning – which should not surprise you if you know Parker – and quickly began improving. He quickly asked if he could intern with Endorphin Fitness which led to his “dream job” as director of adult coaching at Endorphin Fitness.  Since this time, Parker has not only accomplished amazing feats as an athlete across all distances sprint to Ironman but also guided tons of athletes to their goals, including a world championship.  Recently, Parker has been dealing with IT Band Syndrome after racing Challenge Roth.  Parker does not like the slow down. Luckily, he did…taking time to let the injury heal before he slowly rebuilt but knowing all along he had a big race approaching at USA Triathlon‘s Draft Legal World Championship Qualifier which occurred this past weekend. Parker was signed up to race the triathlon on Saturday and duathlon on Sunday. With only a couple week’s of run intensity under his belt after months of easy jogging to recover from the injury, Parker left for Louisiana to race with his always-positive mindset. Parker opened up the weekend big on Saturday with an 11th overall (2nd age group) win despite the triathlon being turned into a duathlon calling attention to his low run volume. Then on Sunday in the duathlon, he did the unbelievable finishing 2nd overall and 1st american! His performance on Sunday combined with previous results earned him his duathlon elite athlete license (pro card)! Parker’s weekend is a true testament to his attitude and refusal to ever count himself out. More so, Parker also had an amazing weekend as a coach with his athlete – Megan Merryman – finishing 6th at the NCAA Draft Legal National Championships at the same venue also earning herself an elite license. As you can imagine with Parker, he is even more proud of Megan than himself.