Fernando Cabada
Fernando is a native of Fresno, California. He started running 24 years ago in 1991 when he competed in Cross Country for Tarpey Elementary (Clovis, CA) when he was 9 years old. He hasn't stopped running since then. Fernando was a 2000 graduate of Buchanan High School (Clovis, Ca), where he was a Six-Time Individual Central Section "Valley" Champion, Two-Time All-State in Track, and Buchanan's Student Athlete of the year. In June of 1999, Fernando broke the 9 minute barrier in the 3200 meters at the Golden West Invitational in Sacramento, CA, which made him the fastest Central Valley runner in 30 years and the fastest high school Junior in the history of the Central Valley.
College
At the College level while attending Virginia Intermont College (Bristol, VA) under coach Scott Simmons, Fernando was a Seven-Time NAIA National Champion. One of the fastest American born collegiate athletes in NAIA History, running personal bests of 13:34 in the 5000 meters and 28:25 in the 10000 meters. In May 2006, still with the Virigina Intermont College uniform on, Fernando lined up at the USA 25km Championships in Grand Rapids, MI, winning his first National Championships in the professional division and breaking the American Record (1:14:21).
PROFESSIONAL CAREER
Fernando signed his first professional contract with Reebok in the summer of 2006. After getting the American Record in the 25km, the marathon was calling him. His first marathon at age 24 was December 2nd, 2006 at the Fukuoka International Marathon in Japan, where he ran 2:12:27, making him the 7th fastest marathon debut in American history. In 2007 Fernando relocated to Boulder, Colorado where he called home for 7 years, within that time was a part of elite training groups under the guidance of world renowned coaches such as 2:07 marathoner Steve Jones (Former Marathon World Record Holder) and Brad Hudson. While training in Boulder Fernando garnered two more National Championships, 2008 US Marathon Championship and 2011 US 25k Championship. In 2012 at the USA Olympic Marathon Trials (Houston, Texas) he was 7th in 2:11:53, which was the fastest Olympic Marathon Trials in US History. In any other Olympic Trials, Fernando's performance would have made the Olympic Team.
In 2014 Fernando returned home to Fresno to enjoy the rest of his professional years of racing back on his old stomping grounds. The move back proved to be very successful as Fernando achieved two lifetime personal bests in the Half Marathon running a 1:02:00 (Houston, TX) and in the Full Marathon 2:11:36 (Berlin, Germany), while being self coached. His marathon performance at the Berlin Marathon ranked him #5 in the USA for 2014! His goals are to continue to compete at a high level both on a National and International level, as well as use his years of experience racing, competing and traveling to help others in the community reach their goals.
Masters Running Career
In April of 2022 Coach Cabada turned 40 years old, which now made him a “Masters” Runner. The day after this birthday he would set a new USA 50km (31.1 mile) Road Masters Record in 2:57:35. 7 weeks later at the 2022 Grandma’s Marathon he would run a 2:16:52 which would qualify him for his 5th USA Olympic Marathon Trials (2024 Orlando). In January of 2023 at the Chevron Houston Marathon Coach Cabada would run a 1:04:15 half marathon. The following month at the 2023 Zurich Sevilla Marathon Coach Cabada would get two more Masters American Road Records in the 25km (1:16:53) and 30km (1:33:47) distances. Two months later at the Boston Marathon Coach Cabada would go on to win the Overall Masters Championship! Going on 42 years old Coach Cabada is still an elite runner while coaching many runners from across the country and world.