As a runner...

I began running inspired by the London Olympics. Sat watching all the sports (yes, all of them), I picked up the nearest sports clothes and went for a run. The shoes were ankle-high hiking boots, combat trousers and a cotton t-shirt. I huffed and puffed for 30 minutes because that's the time I thought you had to run, along a tow path, up a hill and through forests. It hurt so much, but I carried on. I learned everything the hard way. The right kit, the right pacing - the power of walking! But as I progressed I kept thinking “I wonder how much further I can go?”

I didn't know anyone else doing ultra running - but I read that it was like a picnic with a bit of running thrown in and was sold. After a particularly glorious 5k in the sun, I came home and promptly signed up for my first ultra. Covid threw a spanner in the works, but a bit of adjusting I found myself on the start line of a 50k ultra across the Cotswolds. Coming into the final few miles, when I realised that I was actually going to do it, was like no other feeling in the world. That feeling is the feeling I continue to chase. I joined my local running club and loved it.

Honoured to be asked to be captain, it's through that volunteering that I've grown as much a runner and coach. I've had some notable successes - a couple of times on the ladies' podium, including one where I set myself the target of doing so, and representing my region at cross country. I've also had some notable failures - getting lost on a fell race and nearly missing cut off, and coming in near last when I didn't train at all for a race. I've raced hard on the road, easy on the trail and vice versa. I've gone up mountains, hills, fells, through rivers. I've travelled abroad for races and undertaken acclimatisation training. I've raced in the biggest marathon in the world and won my local park run. I've turned up to races feeling ill and having to just get around, abandoning all hopes of a PB. There are other coaches with much more impressive PBs than mine. But as a runner, I've learned a lot of things runners like you will experience. Juggling life around running; dealing with the unexpected hiccups; putting pressure on yourself to perform; removing pressure on yourself to complete. My running history is as broad as the runners I work with.