PROFILE:

What’s your biggest sporting achievement?

Finished 6th in my first marathon at Snowden Marathon, Llanberis, Wales.
Finished 10th in my first Ultra Marathon (100km).
First non professional/sponsored athlete at the Seven valleys Ultra, Krynica, Poland last September.

What are your goals?

Short term, I would like to place top ten at the Paris Eco Trail 80km Trail event at the end of March, but long term, I would like to qualify for the Great Britain Ultra Team.

Who is your coach?

I am self-coached.

Tell us a bit about yourself

I live in Godalming and work for a local Civil & Structural Engineering firm, Crouch Waterfall, as a Business coordinator. When I am not working, I teach spin classes at the Charterhouse club as I am also a qualified personal trainer, exercise therapist and spinning instructor.

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I live with my girlfriend and her two young boys, and we have a recent addition to the family in the form of our puppy pug, Coco. As yet, haven’t convinced my girlfriend that she would be fine in my rucksack when out on my long training runs!

I enjoy running (obviously) but also triathlons, Duathlons, open water swimming and cycling. When I am not out getting hot and sweaty, I enjoy reading and going to the cinema, as well as travelling when I get the opportunity to.

Tell us about your career history to date

I started running 5 years ago after stopping football and was looking for something else to keep me fit. I was persuaded to enter a local 10km event at Dunsfold aerodrome by some friends. To be honest, my first experience was not the best. In fact, I absolutely hated it and didn’t want to do another, ever! I finished in 38 minutes, which my friends said was a good time, and they persuaded me to enter another event a few weeks later. In this second race at Fleet I managed to knock four minutes off my first races time two weeks earlier and finished 3rd overall. Despite the improvement, I still was not convinced as I found the routes fairly dull - running on pavements around aerodromes or town centres. So my friends pointed me in the direction of some local events I could try.

I absolutely loved the trail and x-country races and since then I haven’t looked back. I have been fortunate to have won a number of the local trail run events in the area, including the Loseley 10k, Clandon 10k, Cranleigh, the Hard as Snails run, and I even went back to win the Dunsfold 10k in terrible conditions of snow and ice in the middle of April! I was also part of the Runner’s World magazine world record breaking team who travelled the furthest distance on a treadmill in 48 hrs.

In the last 2 years I have stepped up the distance and ran my first half marathon at Bolt Around the Holt…and won! This was a big surprise having never raced this distance before. Later that year I finished 6th in my first marathon - the Snowden marathon.

I then decided (or rather, was persuaded again by the same friends), to try an Ultra Marathon. I ran a very tough 100km (62.5 miles!) trail mountain run called the Seven Valleys Ultra in Krynica, Poland, and finished 10th overall at my first attempt. To give you an idea of how tough this race is, it is one of only a handful which give you 3 qualifying points if completed to put towards entry to the UTMB event in France (4 points required to enter), and of the seven climbs on the route, all were as high, or higher, than the summit of Snowden!

I am now currently training for the Paris Eco Trail 80km race at the end of March and hope to run well and finish top 10 again if I can.

How did you hear about Care for Health?

Through my boss who has received treatment on his back.

How has CFH treatment/advice helped you?

I am currently talking through my training and strength and conditioning with Glenn and Alex . I am very excited about how their ideas and techniques can be incorporated into my training to help me run faster and further!

What does your training routine involve?

6 days of running a week (of around 6-12 hours depending on the phase of my schedule). 5-7 hours of cycling, and between 5-7k of swimming a week, along with 1-2 strength training sessions.
 
What do you like best about Ultra Marathons?

Ultra Marathons give you the opportunity to travel on trails in some inspiring and beautiful parts of the country and have enabled me to experience some amazing scenery in foreign countries. I love the way you can test your limits and find out more about yourself; about how much you can suffer whilst at the same time seeing stunning landscapes and making friends

What’s your proudest moment?

I think just finishing the 100km in Poland as, if I am honest, I was very nervous before this event and wasn’t even sure I could or would finish, let alone finish 10th as an amateur.

Who is your inspiration?

My two friends, Darren and Sarah, who persuaded me to start running in the first place - they are fantastic athletes and fantastic friends!

What’s your top tip for someone trying to improve in your sport?

Believe in yourself. When you look out the window and it’s wet and cold and you have a long run on the schedule and no motivation, just remember - those miles will be banked and will make you stronger both physically and mentally, and help you achieve your goals, be it finishing such a long distance event, to placing on the podium.