Who I Coach
All sorts of runners, at all sorts of starting lines.
There's no single type of person I work with. Some have never raced; some have decades of medals. What they share is a goal that matters to them and a want to get there in one piece, still enjoying it.
First Timers
Signed up for a half marathon or a first big challenge with barely a parkrun behind them — and quietly wondering if they can. They can. We start where they are and build the runner underneath.
Mountain & Distance
Multi-day events, hundred-milers, big mountain rounds. People chasing long days on their feet who need the training, the fuelling and the night-time head sorted.
The Hikers
Returning after time out, illness, or a health chapter that took the wind out of them — including athletes rebuilding after treatment.
Comebacks
Returning after time out, illness, or a health chapter that took the wind out of them — including athletes rebuilding after treatment.
Women's Performance
Menstrual cycle, perimenopause, menopause and HRT factored in from day one.
If you're not sure you "count" as a runner yet — you're exactly who I mean.
"...taken me from a woman who DNF a big race in rubbish conditions and had lost her confidence, to one who pushed herself through other challenges in objectively worse conditions with a smile on my face by giving me a whole bank of mindset tools to help me keep going when my brain screams to stop."
Alice Townend - First Female Tyne and WeaMetro Challenge, Endure 24, Escape from Meridan, Rasselbock BYU
Ultra, Trail & Road Running Coaching
That Teaches You Why
You've done the training. You've read the books. You've followed the plan. And somewhere past mile thirty, none of it seems to help, because the problem stopped being physical a while ago.
Maybe it's the self-doubt that arrives on long runs. The race-day nerves that undo months of work in twenty minutes. The voice asking who you think you are. Or maybe you're just tired of plans that treat you like a machine, all mileage and no sense of the person doing the running.
I'm Kayleigh. I went from Couch to 5K to winning a backyard ultra in four years. I've also had stress fractures pull me out of races I'd spent a year dreaming about, and I've had to start again from almost nothing more than once. I know what it's like when the whole thing falls apart.
I work with all types of runners (and now hikers!) who want more than a schedule. People who are curious about why they think the way they do under pressure, and willing to do something about it. My coaching comes from a psychology degree, UK Athletics and UESCA certification, movement analysis training with Shane Benzie, and a long list of mistakes I made myself.
Why my coaching works differently
The plan is the easy bit. Anyone can write you a schedule. What's harder is knowing what to do when it doesn't survive contact with your week, and what to do at mile forty when everything in you is arguing for stopping.
I coach both. Psychology is built in, not bolted on. It's in every session, every check-in and every conversation. We work on your head at the same time as your legs, because on race day they don't operate separately. Your life is data, not an excuse. Work stress, poor sleep, family pressure, hormonal cycles. These get accounted for rather than ignored. Your plan adapts to the week you're actually having. I've been where you are. Complete beginner. Terrified first-time ultra runner. Injured athlete watching a goal disappear. I coach from having lived it as well as having studied it.
The aim is that you outgrow me. You'll finish knowing enough to make good decisions on your own. A coach who leaves you dependent hasn't done the job.
