For Tiffany McKenzie it was marriage, grad school and a baby. For Katrina and Matt Vernon it was his dad's stroke in May. For Mike Zimmerman, it's the "gorgeous summer nights at Cameron Village."

Three cases, three reasons for getting involved in a program that vows to make runners out of mere pedestrians in 12 weeks. Or at least promises to get them to move quickly for 3.1 miles -- about the distance from the state Capitol to the Beltline out Wade Avenue.

Fit-tastic is similar to other popular programs that offer coaching, training and encouragement to non-runners and, over the course of three months, make them runners -- or at least fitness walkers.

The local Godiva Track Club has produced about 300 runners in eight years through its Running Start program. Similarly, the N.C. Roadrunners Club draws about 75 new runners a year to its 10-year-old Women's Beginner Running Program.

The goal of Fit-tastic isn't to create the next Bernard Lagat or Kara Goucher (the country's top 5,000 meter contenders going into next month's Olympics). It's to help people create more healthful lifestyles.

"You don't go out and talk to one person who doesn't want to lose weight," says Zimmerman, program organizer and owner of the Cameron Village Athletes Foot store.

To that end the program, run in partnership with WakeMed, kicks off July 31 with a health screening -- blood pressure, heart rate, weigh-in -- to establish a baseline. Though participants will get together once a month for clinics, the bulk of the program is done online.

Participants are given a flexible training program, and then have online access to coaches from the Roadrunners, who answer questions about training, injuries, whatever, and e-mail tips and encouragement. By Oct. 26, Fit-tastic aims to get you across the finish at the Monster Dash 5k in Cameron Village.

Online coaching programs have been around for a while, but have been targeted to more serious athletes. Tell your coach what event you're preparing for and he or she will prescribe a specific workout schedule.

The process isn't for everyone, cautions Jay Crooker, who lives in Durham and has been coaching online for 11 years.

"Online coaching tends to work best for athletes who already have a good amount of experience in the sport," Crooker responded via e-mail Monday from a running camp he's conducting in Brevard.

But, he adds, they also work well for folks who are "very self-motivated."

Looking for results

Matt and Katrina Vernon got their motivation in May when Matt's dad had a stroke. Though the couple are only in their late 20s, the stroke got their attention.

"The lifestyle we're leading now," says Katrina, "would make us weigh 30 pounds more in 10 years."

The couple say they eat OK, but two years of grad school -- in library sciences at UNC for her, public history at N.C. State for him -- left them with little time to exercise. Their May graduations, coupled with the stroke, provided a perfect combination of motivations.

What the couple like about Fit-tastic is the structure. Join a gym, says Matt, and you're often locked into spending a lot of money for something you may not use.

"This is $30 for a finite period of time and you come away with a set of skills," Matt says.

Katrina hopes Fit-tastic picks up where a recently completed 10,000-step (a day) program with her new employer, Wake County libraries, left off.

Both are looking for long-term results.

"We may want to have kids in five years," says Katrina. "This is a good chance to start good habits that we can pass along to them."

Matt reports that his dad is doing "fantastically well."

"But we realize he was lucky," he's quick to add. "We don't want to rely on luck."

Back on the wagon

A decade ago, when she was in her early 20s, Tiffany McKenzie would speed walk 4 to 8 miles a day on a track (that's up to 32 laps, by the way).

"I was fit," she says.

Then she got married, went to grad school (that education again), had a baby. At 32, she now finds herself 75 pounds heavier than she would like to be.

"I fell off the wagon," she admits.

McKenzie started climbing back on the wagon three weeks ago, walking the Apex Community Trail near her home. At first, she couldn't make it around the 2-mile loop trail. Today, she's walking the whole way and regaining her speedwalking mojo from a decade back.

Despite her apparent self-discipline, she says Fit-tastic is ideal for her. "I'm a structured kind of person," she says. "I need the motivation, the e-mail tips, the constant reminders."

She's also motivated by her 3-year-old, Brenna.

Six weeks ago Brenna wanted her mom to go out and play. Swing, kick the soccer ball -- kid-play things.

"I couldn't," says McKenzie. "I was too lethargic. That was a heartbreaker.

"I want to be a good role model," says McKenzie. "I don't want her growing up to think it's OK to be a couch potato."

Coaching online

Tom Hughes of Durham is a structured guy, too. That's why he hooked up with Crooker in 2006 to train for a marathon and why he stuck with his online coach to train for last year's Ironman Florida triathlon, which Hughes completed in just over 12 hours.

"He does the thinking for me," says Hughes. "He tells me what to do and when to do it, and I just go out and do it."

This year Hughes is back with Crooker, hoping to break 12 hours at the triathlon.

The Vernons and McKenzie hope for similarly successful results from their online coaching experience.

"I intend to do my best at jogging it," says McKenzie of the Monster Dash. "If I can't, I'll let myself walk."

Matt Vernon expects to run the race and enjoy doing it. Katrina's goal, in addition to establishing a lifelong exercise routine, is more basic.

"I hope to learn not to hate running."

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