David Roche (runner)

David Roche, born on June 22, 1988, is an American ultramarathoner, running coach and internet personality who holds the course record for the Leadville Trail 100. He began his college athletics career as a football player at Columbia University, turned to cycling after an injury and took up endurance running in graduate school at Duke University. He won the 2012 USATF 10k Trail Championship and was named the 2014 USATF Trail Runner of the Year in the sub-ultra category, and he won the Quad Dipsea in 2016 and 2019 and the Way Too Cool 50k in 2016. In 2024 he won the Leadville Trail 100 in 15:26:34 in his first 100-mile race, breaking the record Matt Carpenter had held for 19 years, and in 2025 he won again in 15:12:30. With his wife Megan he coaches elite runners, writes The Happy Runner and hosts the podcast Some Work All Play.