Chris Eatough’s athletic career started on the soccer field, not on the mountain bike. British by birth, the rider played varsity soccer for Clemson University while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, then began working toward his master’s degree in transportation engineering at the University of Virginia. At that point, he switched gears and began racing mountain bikes, turning pro a few years later in 1998.
Since then, Eatough has made a name for himself on the 24-hour endurance mountain biking circuit, racking up six world wins and five national wins as a solo 24-hour mountain bike racer. Additionally, he has captured 10 100-mile endurance mountain bike races and earned the 2007 National Ultra Endurance Championship, among other significant career highlights. Now retired, he has created a wide range of training plans, with many customized for specific race courses, and he also offers individualized coaching.
Since his retirement from pro racing in 2009, Chris Eatough took a position as program manager for Bike Arlington and led the group’s efforts leading up to the successful 2010 launch of D.C.-area bike-sharing program Capital Bikeshare, the regional bicycle sharing program for the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Five years later, he moved on to Howard County, Maryland, where he now serves as the county’s first-ever Bike and Pedestrian Manager for the Department of Planning and Zoning.