"I ran because it only required running shoes. It was also a great outlet for frustrations. He ran the 800m in 2:57 on dirt and clocked a 4:31 in the 1600m at the USC All Comers Meet."
Growing up in Los Angeles, Marlon Duarte ran track and cross-country because running was the sport that cost nothing. No registration fees. No gear. No coaching. Just the road and his legs. Triathlon was something he watched from the outside — a sport guarded by equipment costs and access barriers that kept most people who looked like him out.
Then came the Navy. And with it, elite swim training. As a Search & Rescue Swimmer, Marlon trained to enter conditions that would terrify most swimmers — night rescues, high seas, hostile open water — and bring people home alive. The ocean became his territory.
In 2001, it all came together at the Jamba Juice Triathlon — the moment swimming, cycling, and running converged for the first time. Years later, leading the CHLA Triathlon Team from 2013 to 2022, Marlon helped raise over $10 million for pediatric cancer research — one finish line at a time. The sport that once excluded him became his vehicle for impact. Now Marl.On.1 is his way of closing that gap — making elite, intelligent triathlon coaching available to everyone who was ever told it wasn't for them.
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This is where most triathletes struggle most — and where Coach Marlon has the deepest credential. Navy SAR training gives him tools no other coach has: breath control under extreme stress, ocean reading, and the mental reset protocol that turns panic into power.
From the Pacific Coast Highway to race day, Marlon coaches cycling with the same Zone 1 philosophy that underpins everything at Marl.On.1 — sustainable power, smart pacing, and the discipline to hold back when everyone else is burning out.
Running is where Marlon's story begins — track and cross-country on the streets of LA. That foundation of running as something pure, accessible, and fundamental shapes how he coaches it: build your base, find your pace, go the distance.
NOW I TRAIN ATHLETES TO CONQUER IT.
Most triathlon coaches teach you how to swim. Marlon teaches you how to be unafraid. The SAR-level mental and physical protocols he brings to open water coaching are unlike anything available in civilian triathlon training.
Marlon doesn't just teach stroke mechanics. He coaches the relationship with the water — the breath, the trust, the moment panic becomes power. That transformation is the Marl.On.1 difference.
I was terrified of the open water ocean swim. Knowing that Marlon was a Search & Rescue Swimmer in the Navy made me feel safe with him coaching me. Coach Marlon helped me overcome my fear of swimming in the ocean. Going through his training program, I was able to complete my first triathlon and look forward to doing many more!
The "On the 1" concept changed how I think about pacing — in my workouts and in my leadership. Marlon is part coach, part philosopher, and completely one of a kind.
