Christine Poff, Executive Director
Christine Poff has served as executive director of FPC for nine years and lives several blocks from the Egleston Square side of the park. She came to the organization as a park user who loves the feeling of deep woods in the middle of the city and the music and food of the Caribbean Carnival. Previously Christine worked for a community health center in Dorchester and ran a battered woman’s program in Brooklyn, NY where she lived for many years (next to Prospect Park – another Frederick Law Olmsted masterpiece). Christine has a master’s degree in community organizing from City University in New York.
Lanae Handy, Deputy Director and Senior Project Manager
Lanae Handy oversees the Woodlands Restoration Campaign and is a longtime Roxbury resident. She previously ran the South End Lower Roxbury Land Trust and has a master’s degree in urban planning from MIT. Lanae brings to FPC her experience developing environmental education curriculum for young people, advocating with city officials, and managing capital improvement contracts.
Julie Arrison, Marathon Team Leader
Julie Arrison is a longtime volunteer with the Franklin Park Coalition and author of a recent published history on the park, Images of America: Franklin Park. Julie is a graduate of Northeastern University's Public History program and Nonprofit Management program and will be assisting the FPC as a volunteer in this endeavor. She is manages two historic museum properties in Salem, Mass. She is a member of the Wicked Running Club and has completed seven marathons. She is currently training for the 2013 Chicago Marathon.
All FPC Marathon Team related inquiries should be directed to Julie. Email is the preferred contact method and responses should come within one week. julie@franklinparkcoalition.org.
Michael Toomey, Marathon Team Coach and Trainer
Michael Toomey, an experienced individual, collegiate and high school running coach, is USATF certified and a six time NEC coach of year. He currently is the indoor and outdoor girls head track coach at Marblehead High School where in 2010 and 2011 he earned Salem News Coach of the Year honors. As a private coach, he focuses his attention on on the Boston running community through on-line programs, city-wide clinics and the Wicked Running Club – a local running club he helped start in 2004. Mike works with athletes of all levels from beginners to experienced recreational athletes to world-class runners.
Mike is a 1995 graduate of UMass where he was an All-American in Cross-Country and was on the 1991 NCAA National Championship Cross-Country Team. He is also a member of The UMASS Hall of Fame. In 2010 Mike formed Toomey Sports Running Center, a private coaching business, helping individuals reach their running and fitness goals. He also created the North Shore Running Project, a Toomey Sports Running Center program, designed to provide running coaching, guidance and inspiration to pre-collegiate and collegiate athletes.
Mike has agreed to assist with coaching the FPC Marathon on a volunteer basis in 2012, 2013, and 2014. To learn more about his business, please visit http://www.mypersonalrunningcoach.com/. Mike can be contacted via email at mike@mypersonalrunningcoach.com.
