Chris Belof, Head Coach

Bio

In 2026-27, Chris Belof is in his 10th season as the head coach of the UNB REDS cross country and track & field teams, High Performance Coach for Athletics New Brunswick, and club coach for the Saint John Track & Field Club.

Chris is a three-time Atlantic University Sport Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year (2023, 2024, 2025) and was named AUS Women's Track & Field Coach of the Year in 2021-22 and AUS Men's Track & Field Coach of the Year in 2018-19. In 2019-20, he was named winner of the Dean's Award as UNB REDS Coach of the Year.

In 2025, he served as the head track & field coach for Team New Brunswick at the Canada Summer Games, and in 2026 was the head coach for Team Canada at the FISU World University Cross Country Championships, in Italy.

He holds a Masters degree in Coaching Education from the University of Victoria and Registered Chartered Professional Coach certification. Through the National Coaching Certification Program, he is Performance Coach certified in Endurance and trained in Sprint & Hurdles. He's also completed the Advanced Coaching diploma program with the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario.

Born in Regina, he came to UNB from a coaching job in Manitoba, bringing a wealth of experience to the position in the areas of sprints/hurdles, para-athletics and endurance events. Before joining the REDS, he was an assistant coach with University of Manitoba Bisons track & field team. Previously, he was on the staff of Athletics Manitoba, where he held numerous roles, including the leader of provincial team programs and an interim period of Executive Director.

He's served in intern and apprentice coach roles with Altis Sprints and Hurdles and the national relay program. In 2018, he served as an assistant coach with Canada's Pan Am Cross Country team. In 2020 and 2021, he served as head coach of Canada's half-marathon team. At the 2022 (Eugene, Oregon), 2023 (Budapest, Hungary), and 2025 (Tokyo, Japan) World Track & Field Championships, and 2024 Summer Olympics, Belof worked with Athletics Canada as an event coach. In 2024, he was the head coach of Team Canada at the World Cross Country Championships (Belgrade, Serbia). In 2022, he served as an event coach with New Brunswick's Canada Games team.