Athletics Essendon

National cross country champs 💪

Anna Kasapis: Long distance, middle distance and sprints coach.

Anna is offering a trial session for any athletes wishing to join her group on Monday 17th August.

Anna has over 20 years of involvement with Athletics Essendon as a middle distance athlete, and brings extensive experience and passion to coaching. She holds a Level 3 Athletics Australia coaching accreditation and a Bachelor of Education (Physical Education). She held the position of Head of Athletics and Cross Country at Kilvington Grammar for 10 years, where she coached and mentored athletes of all abilities. During this time, she supported many beginners in their development, helping them progress through the sport and achieve state-level competition. Her coaching philosophy is centred on developing strong fundamentals, sound running technique and a positive training environment that fosters confidence and long-term growth. She is committed to guiding young athletes to reach their potential while building a lifelong enjoyment of athletics. She welcomes athletes aged 12 years and above and offer both private one-on-one coaching and small group training sessions.

Anna was the Victorian Open 800m Champion in 2006 and x2 Victorian Mile Champion. She holds state Junior titles over 800m / 1500m. She has represented Victoria at Australian Cross Country and Track and Field (junior and senior). She was the World Masters Champion in 2016. She holds numerous Victorian and Australian Masters records over 100m, 1500m, Mile and 3000m.

Contact Anna on 0422114377 or email [email protected]

Coaching Times at Track: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 4-7pm

Mark Donahoo – Racewalking Coach

Mark Donahoo is a racewalker who has been an International representative as well as a coach and an administrator.

He is an AFTCA level 5 Racewalking Coach. Mark began coaching athletes in 1993. During that time he has coached junior and senior men and women, and masters athletes in the sport of racewalking. Mark conducts Racewalking Courses on behalf of Australian Athletics, as well as conducting training sessions with LaVic.

As a racewalker, Mark represented Australia in International competitions, before changing his focus to the World Master’s competitions, in which he won world championships in distances from 3000m to 20km.
He has represented Australia at 4 World Walking Cup events:
• 1987 New York 50 km event
• 1989 Barcelona 50 km event
• 1993 Monterey 20 km event
• 1995 Beijing 50 km event.

Mark has been an administrator, overseeing racewalking events for over 30 years, including being vice president at the Victorian Racewalking club, Club coach and Race director for events from club races to World Athletic accredited events.

Mark is a life member of the Victorian Racewalking Club and Racewalking Australia. He has been a member of Athletics Essendon for over 25 years.

Training is conducted at the club on Wednesday nights. Racewalkers of all abilities and ages are welcome to attend the session beginning at 5.30pm

Contact Mark on 0428331550

Exciting news! Jude will be returning to Essendon as of next Tuesday August 11th from 5pm-6.30pm and is offering a trial session to any athlete aged 12yrs and over who would like to join him. Jude nutures small groups of athletes to ensure his squads get his full attention always so be quick! Personal bests here we come!

Contact Jude on 0402504326

Athletic Performance Training

Some snippets from our awards and AGM on Sunday 🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶 thanks to all who came along and celebrated our hard work from the season ❤️🖤

All members are invited to attend the the Annual General Meeting of Athletics Essendon Inc., which will be held on Sunday, 2 August 2026 at 11:30 AM in the Bill Burke Room, located in the clubrooms at the Moonee Valley Athletics Centre.

A morning tea will be provided at 11:30 AM, followed by the summer season awards for 2025-26, followed by the AGM.

Well done to our athletes who competed yesterday at State XCR in Bundoora Park. We had a good turnout and saw some fantastic results 👏👏👏
Only 4 rounds of XCR left! Let’s continue to show up and work hard.
More content to come…

📸: Lara Sacaner