Since 2011, Kennebec Valley Coaching has been built around a simple belief: people are capable of more than they think—and we’re better when we discover that together.

Our roots are in endurance sports, where some of the most meaningful moments happen far from the finish line. They happen during early-morning training runs, long rides, first attempts, crazy weather, unexpected setbacks, and conversations with the person beside you. Whether the goal is a first 5K or a hundred-mile finish line, there is something powerful about working toward something meaningful as part of a team.

KVC founder Amy Lawson has spent much of her life drawn to endurance challenges. Her background includes competing as a Division I collegiate runner, running the Boston Marathon, finishing Ironman Lake Placid, and completing the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race. But the biggest lesson from all those miles wasn’t about racing or finishing times. It was about community—and the extraordinary bonds that form when people work hard together.

That idea became Kennebec Valley Coaching in 2011. A few years earlier, Amy’s husband, Jared, opened his chiropractic practice in Downtown Augusta. His office happened to have an open space and an ideal location directly at the end of the rail trail. Running was booming in the early 2010s, and the idea-pieces came together for an experiment: a Couch to 5K program based out of Jared's office.

The hope was that five people might sign up, ten would be amazing, and fifteen felt like a wild dream. But somehow, FORTY people showed up on the first day, and many of them are still part of the KVC community today.

What began as one Couch to 5K group grew into something much bigger. Since 2011, more than 1,000 people have been part of KVC while pursuing goals that once felt out of reach—from single miles to marathons and triathlons, mountain bike races, hikes and outdoor adventures, and recovering from health challenges.

But, like most good stories, KVC hasn’t followed a perfectly straight course. In 2024 and 2025, KVC became more of a side project while Amy stepped into another adventure: teaching high school math. But Amy's love of coaching never disappeared, and neither did the KVC community. After a few years in the classroom, Amy began to plan her full-time return to KVC. But then, in early 2026, Amy and her family experienced a life-changing tragedy when she lost both her parents in an accident.
After the accident, Amy found herself thinking differently about goals—and about the unspoken expectation that we should always want the same things we once wanted--because we don’t. Life changes, and our goals should change with it.

The friend who once wanted to run 50 miles in a week may now want to lose 50 pounds. The person who once chased fast qualifying times may now want to disappear into the woods for a long solo hike. Someone who once wanted a marathon finish line might simply want to feel safe walking around the block again. Each and every one of us might wake up one day and realize that the old goals don’t fit anymore. Sometimes we need a huge goal on the calendar, and sometimes getting out the door three mornings a week is exactly the goal we need. At KVC, we do both.

As Kennebec Valley Coaching works its way back toward becoming a full-time endeavor, we’re expanding what coaching can look like. There will still be races, training plans, finish lines, and big adventures. But there will also be strength, weight loss, hiking, biking, trying something completely new, returning after years away, changing direction, and figuring out what matters now.

Through all of these seasons, our core values remain the same: community, optimism, hard work, and humor. We show up, we work together, and work toward things that matter to us. We change course when life asks us to, we laugh a lot, and we keep going.

KVC isn’t here for one training cycle, one race, one resolution, or one version of you--we’re here for the long game. Life changes, and goals change. We’ll meet you where you are—and help you figure out where you want to go next.