Todd Tharen teaching a kickboxing class at the Y on Monday.
YMCA trainer Todd Tharen is teaching two Monday classes again at the Y facility on Via de la Paz: kickboxing and boot camp.
One of his students wrote “Did you hear that our beloved Coach Tharen Todd returned to the Y last Monday (January 22) to a warm welcome after his time away.”
The Y had a welcome back banner and “everyone signed and we are all so thrilled and grateful he is back stronger than ever to keep us fit!” the reader said.
Tharen, who has worked as a coach, teacher and trainer was diagnosed with colon cancer at the end of November. He was scheduled for surgery at the beginning of December.
Then CTN wrote, “While the prognosis is good because the disease was caught early, he will need to take a couple of months for recovery,” and members of the community set up a fundraiser for Tharen and his family.
For more than 16 years, Tharen has taught fitness classes at the Palisades-Malibu YMCA. For over a decade, he has been the Calvary Christian School’s football coach. Tharen started Coach Todd’s Football Academy, where he teaches football and athlete fundamentals.
Parents had high praise for his coaching style saying, “he’s taught kids that more than winning, what it is to be a leader and to have courage.”
He also trains clients and teaches classes at the Bel Air Bay Club.
CTN stopped by his 9 a.m. kickboxing class, where he was putting students through the drills. His long-running 8 a.m. boot camp class was filled to capacity this morning.
Tharen, who is back sooner than expected, is starting work one day a week. He jokingly told this editor on the 22nd, that his wife is ready for him to be “out of the house.”