Mike Dunhom

Coach Dunhom coaches the Nashua PAL Gate City Striders boys cross country team in the 11-12 year old division. His squad finished second at the USA Track and Field (USATF) New England Championships last fall, and advanced to the Region 1 (northeast) championships where they were the runner up team. Although the team qualified for the USATF National Championships in Kentucky, Covid prevented the team from attending. Coach Dunhom has coached several Top 15 team finishers at Nationals, and one Top 10 finisher.

Mike started his cross country coaching career as assistant coach at Elm St. Middle School, and soon joined the Nashua PAL Gate City Striders organization coach of the 9-10 year old team. He eventually moved up to the 11-12 year old squad, and his teams’ regional and national success in Junior Olympic meets has contributed to PAL’s reputation as one of the top programs in the United States. Coaching hundreds of runners over the years, he has established a foundation for producing some of the top cross country and track athletes in the state. Coach Dunham also assists fellow PAL-GCS coach Tom Cassetty in his capacity as head coach of the 2021 NHIAA champion Bishop Guertin High School boys cross country team. Last season, Coach Dunhom trained one all-state runner and three all-division runners, all of whom also competed for PAL as well.

According to PAL Athletic Director Nick Dahl, “Coach Dunhom believes running isn’t just a school sport or youth activity. He sees it as a sport kids can stay with for a long healthy life. He views his job is developing a love of the sport so PAL kids want to continue running for years. He is a firm believer in character over talent and instills those qualities by modeling positive behavior.”

Coach Dunhom, an alumnus of both Nashua High School and the Gate City’s former Daniel Webster College, has worked as an air traffic controller for the Federal Aviation Administration for 33 years. He lives in Nashua with his wife Pam and children Alexandra and Drew.