Therese Iknoian’s Bio
The girl formerly called “chicken legs” in school, Therese lknoian loves to dabble at all things that involve forward motion. As a journalist, educator, coach and exercise physiologist she channels a passion for motion into stories and advice that speak to every man and woman in her writing, breaking down the science to simple truths.
After a getting her degree in journalism, Therese spent a decade as a newspaper journalist before she launched a freelance career specializing in sports, training and fitness writing. As a freelancer, she also earned her master’s degree in exercise physiology, while also becoming a nationally ranked race walker and setting an outdoor 3K record for her age group.
Then the pursuit of forward motion turned multi-faceted: She became a runner – qualifying for the 2001 Boston Marathon in her first marathon – and then an ultra-runner – completing the grueling Western States 100-mile run in 2006. Forward motion is the name of the game, from mountain biking and paddling, to adventure racing and hiking. And don’t get her started about the benefits of balance training, gym workouts or weight training….
As a writer she has authored numerous books, including two editions of Fitness Walking, Tai Chi For Dummies, Mind-Body Fitness For Dummies, and Walking Fast, plus she was a contributing expert-author to Precision Heart Rate Monitoring and to Men’s Fitness Magazine’s Complete Guide to Health and Well-Being.
She has been published in Backpacker, Men’s Health, Fitness, Health, Shape, Women’s Day and Parenting, among others, was a contributing editor for the new-defunct Walking magazine, was the founding Ask The Coach columnist for Trail Runner from 2003 to 2010, and has written a self-syndicated fitness/sports newspaper column.
With her husband, Michael Hodgson, she co-founded and developed SNEWSnet.com, an online trade news service for the outdoor and fitness industries where she is editor in chief. She was also a founding partner in GearTrends® (www.geartrends.com) established in 1999 as an information website for new products and trends in outdoor and fitness and merged with SNEWS in 2002. They nurtured SNEWS, along with partner Gene Treacy, from 360 subscribers to 
more than 5,000 when the company was acquired by Active Interest Media on Dec. 31, 2007. Click here to read the complete history of SNEWS.
Along with Michael, she launched Total Fitness Network — a 1999 and 2000 Golden Web Award winner — in early 1999 while also working on Adventure Network. Both sites were re-launched in 2011 as “Adventure Network® + Total Fitness Network.” In high demand as a fitness/training consultant for other dot-coms, she was the associate editor/fitness expert at online sports retailer, Fogdog Sports.com. As a consultant, she has worked with numerous sports brands in program development and as a spokesperson, including Nike, Polar, adidas, PowerBar, and Star Trac, where she developed and led the company’s “Trekking” treadmill running/walking program. Along the way she also won writing awards, including a 1990 Pulitzer as a member of the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News team that covered the Loma Prieta Earthquake and, in 2011, she was a finalist for a Maggie award for an investigative series on sunscreen in SNEWS.
Fluent in German, she also works as a translator for outdoor-sports-fitness companies in German-speaking countries. Tired of seeing awkward translations, she loves to apply her knowledge in those areas with her writing ability to make a company’s written materials sound authentic and truly sing in English too.
Therese is certified as a Health/Fitness Instructor by the American College of Sports Medicine and gold-certified by the American Council on Exercise. She is also USA Track & Field-certified Level 2 Endurance coach who has coached national- and world-class youth and junior athletes.
