CEO and Head Performance Coach

With over 25 years of experience, Jay is a veteran USA Track & Field and USA Triathlon certified coach as well as certified personal trainer and master-level outdoor boot camp instructor.

In April 2002, Jay led the launch of PacWest Endurance (formerly PacWest Athletics) and quickly grew and expanded the organization throughout the San Francisco Bay Area serving well over 2,500 athletes over its history. Programming included running, cycling, swimming, outdoor boot camps as well as personal training and, for a period of time, event production. He also successfully sponsored and directed the Team PacWest professional and elite amateur coed race team in 2009 for both triathlon and road running. For seven years, Team PacWest athletes dominated local and regional races while also performing exceptionally well in national and world championship events including several national and world champions.

From 2013-2015, in support of his team president daughter Emily, Jay became the head coach of the University of Missouri triathlon race team and remotely coached the team while also traveling out to host training camps and attend the USAT Collegiate National Championships in Tempe, AZ and Clemson, SC respectively. He has additionally been head coach of the Dipsea Kidz Youth Development Program as part of the historic Dipsea Race Foundation.

In 2024 and in partnership with USAT, Jay is launching the new PacWest Youth/Junior Multisport Development Program based in the Greater Reno-Tahoe Region to support some of the top talent in the region while helping introduce and grow the sport within the community.

Also in 2024, Jay is leading the (re)launch of PacWest Productions (pacwest.events) to introduce five major events split between Northern California and Northern Nevada notably the inaugural Reno-Tahoe International Marathon and the PacWest Championship Series (triathlon).

Personally, Jay started competitive running at the age of 11 and completed his first triathlon back in 1985. He attended the University of Oregon and has been a competitive age group runner and triathlete for the past 40+ years. He has completed numerous full and half Ironmans to go along with more full and half marathons than he can remember. Prestigious marathon majors include Boston (6x) and New York City (2x). He has earned multiple USA Triathlon All-American honors and proudly represented Team USA at previous ITU World Championships. For additional fun, Coach loves being a race announcer and is known as the “Voice of USA Productions”.

In 2021 after a seven year break, he came out of “triathlon retirement” and competed in Ironman 70.3 Hawaii and Arizona as well as the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in St. George, Utah.

Jay now lives in Reno, Nevada with his wife Dr. Johanna Lelke and baby daughter Elliana and loves training throughout the spectacular Reno-Lake Tahoe region while still overseeing and coaching for PacWest along with his adult daughter and coach Emily (Ridgeway) Torluemke.