Marc Burns, the Razorbacks women’s head coach in cross country and assistant coach in track and field, joined the Arkansas program during the 2025 indoor season.
Previously, Burns served as Missouri’s men’s and women’s head cross country coach and assistant coach for distance and mid-distance runners for eight seasons (2014-2021). Recently, he has been director of sales with Boost Treadmills.
While at Missouri, Burns was key in the development and opening of the Gans Creek Cross Country course that will host the 2025 NCAA Championships.
Coaching honors for Burns at Missouri included the 2016 Midwest Cross Country Women’s Coach of the Year and 2017 USTFCCCA Midwest Indoor Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year.
During his coaching career, Burns has mentored 85 conference champions, 37 NCAA Championship qualifiers, 45 All-Region in cross country, 15 All-Americans, seven conference team champions, six National Champions, six conference Runner of the Year honorees, two Honda Sports Woman of the Year award winners and an Olympian.
His Missouri athletes set a collegiate record, four collegiate top 10 marks, and 23 school records. The Missouri women’s cross country team won the 2016 Midwest Region title and qualified for the NCAA Championships for the first time in more than a decade.
Tiger distance runner Karissa Schweizer set a collegiate record in the indoor 3,000m (8:41.60) during the 2018 season and in 2020 became the first female Olympian in program history since sprinter Natasha (Kaiser) Brown in 1996.
Prior to Mizzou, Burns was the head coach at Bradley for four seasons (2010-2014) as he was charged with the restoration of the men’s track and field team, which was disbanded in 1992 and reinstated in 2012.
At Bradley, Burns coached five Missouri Valley champions while 13 Bradley school records were broken.
Burns also coached at Wichita State University (2006-10) as the head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach. He earned the Missouri Valley Women’s Cross Country of the Year four consecutive years (2006-09) and was named 2009 USTFCCCA Midwest Region Women’s Coach of the Year.
Wichita State totaled 22 individual MVC Championship titles under Burns along with seven school records and three NCAA All-American performances.
Burns graduated from Loyola University in Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing in 1991. In 2019 he was inducted into the University’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
A two-time All-American at Loyola, Burns earn an individual honor in 1990 finishing seventh in the NCAA Indoor 3,000m. Burns was also a member of the 4 x 800m relay that placed sixth in the 1989 NCAA Indoor. His 3,000m time of 7:58.90 ranks second in school history while he was a member of the two fastest 4 x 800m relays in school history, still holding four school indoor and outdoor relay records.
In addition, Burns was a two-time champion in the 5,000m at the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Indoor Championships and a three-time All-MCC honoree in cross country.
Returning to his alma mater in 1996, Burns coached at Loyola for 10 seasons, first as the head women’s cross country coach and then head coach of both the men’s and women’s track and field programs from 2000-2006.
He guided the Rambler men to the program’s only NCAA Cross Country Championship appearance in 2005. While at the helm of the cross country programs, Burns’ teams never finished lower than second place in the conference championships.
Honors achieved by Loyola athletes included three Horizon League team titles, 53 Horizon League Champions, 49 All-Conference performers, and 16 All-Region finishers.
Burns and his wife, Alana (Crisman), have four sons – Connor, Brian, Sean, and Cris.
