Couch to 5K to Backyard Ultra Winner.
✔ UK Athletics Coach in Running Fitness
✔ UESCA Certified Ultra Running Coach
✔ BSc in Psychology
✔ Couch to Ultramarathon winner
✔ Author of The Happy Diet
Hi, I’m Kayleigh, founder of Run Smile Inspire, a proud running coach, ultramarathon champion, and psychology graduate committed to helping runners push beyond their limits and run with heart.
My journey started with a Couch to 5K run November 2020. Fast forward to now, and I’m a UK Athletics Coach in Running Fitness, UESCA Certified Ultra Running Coach, and proud winner of the Golspie Backyard Ultra 2024.
Through Run Smile Inspire Run Coaching, I support ambitious runners with coaching that covers every angle—training, strength, mindset, and nutrition. I combine real-world race experience with a BSc in Psychology to offer a science-backed, athlete-first approach.
Whether you’re aiming for your first 5k, ultramarathon or chasing a new PB, I’ll help you run stronger, think smarter, and fuel better—with a plan that adapts to your life, not the other way around.
Kayleigh Webster
BSc Psychology
UK Athletics Coach in Running Fitness
UESCA Certified Ultra Running Coach
Author of The Happy Diet
From Couch to Coach
I started with a Couch to 5K in November 2020. Then a half marathon in 2021, a marathon in 2022, a 50-miler in 2023, and a 100-miler in 2024 — which I won. If you're a newer runner mapping out that same progression, I've been exactly where you are.
I've also got properly obsessed with Backyard Ultras. I love the simplicity — one loop, one hour, repeat until you can't. No advantage for the fast starters. It's the tortoise and the hare played out in real time, and I'm here for it. My first BYU in 2023 I managed 12 laps. By 2024 I'd won Golspie.
The Injury
In 2025, I lined up for a 100-miler with what I thought was a minor tendon niggle. By mile 36, I knew it wasn't. I DNF'd — my first ever — and got the diagnosis: stress fracture.
I'd been due to race 215 miles across Scotland and represent Team Scotland at the 4 Nations Backyard Ultra Championship. Both gone.
But honestly? I'm glad it happened. The world didn't end. I learned how to stay positive when the thing I'd built my identity around was taken away. I worked on visualisation, mindset skills, picked up other hobbies. I came back running better and stronger — and now I coach with a perspective I didn't have before: what it actually feels like to lose the thing you love and find your way back.
Beyond the Races
When I'm not coaching or running, I'm usually in my campervan with chasing trails somewhere in Scotland or beyond. I set an FKT on the Mourne Way in Northern Ireland. I wrote a cook book called The Happy Diet. I'm plant-based, alcohol-free, and unreasonably excited about homemade honey-based energy gels.
Why Run Smile Inspire?
Because that’s my story. I started with zero background in sport, driven by the encouragement of others. Every runner I’ve met has sparked something in me—and I give that spark back through coaching and storytelling.
The smile is real. It's in every finish line photo, every soggy training run, every hill I probably shouldn't have attempted. I smile when it hurts. I smile when it's going well. It's just what I do — and it turns out it's contagious. The best feedback I get isn't about PBs or race results. It's when someone says "you made me think I could do that too."
If you're ready to work together and run with heart, I’d love to hear from you.
About Kayleigh from the Blog
