During my teens and early 20’s I loved to run. Firstly on the track, 1500m was always my favourite event, and then progressing onto cross country 5k and 10k competitions, reaching County level, and eventually taking on the half marathon distances.

Then life happened. A career in the construction machinery industry and a growing family, which would eventually be 5 children strong, and a keen semi professional footballer, time was at a premium and choices had to be made. Family, work and football won the battle for a couple of decades, but I always held the dream to come back to running and put a few full marathons on the CV.

During my working life, I always found myself in some kind of coaching role. I guess it’s a vocation you find yourself in when you find yourself enjoying it and be able to communicate well, and for a long time I held the dream to coach what I love, sport and especially running.

So, I formed Zone Coaching & Performance – a business that is dedicated to providing our clients the very best in elite level coaching, even though they might not be elite level athletes. We all have targets and dreams to fulfil, why shouldn’t the level of coaching represent those important goals? I made a promise that Zone will never be generic and always client specific, and we always work with real world situations (please read the section on being a UESCA trained coach to understand “real world”)

I am proud to provide a level of detail in my coaching practice that is unmatched outside professional sport, and whether you are a seasoned athlete or complete beginner, you are not only very welcome, but I will deliver what you need to achieve incredible results, and make sure you learn and enjoy the process. Enjoyment and learning always equal a successful outcome.

Today I hold the following qualifications…

• UESCA Endurance Running Coach
• English Athletics Running Coach
• Level 3 Personal Trainer
• Level 2 Fitness Coach 
• Strength & Conditioning Coach
• Level 4 Nutritional Sports Coach
• Level 2 Football Coach / Goalkeeping
• Level 1 Football Scout

You can read a lot more about being a UESCA coach here https://zonecoaching.co.uk/uesca-run-coaching/ as this underpins all of the coaching I provide, no matter what the discipline might be. I don’t believe in generic coaching, everyone is unique and deserve to be treated as such.

Now in my 50’s, I am a 4 x London Marathon runner, 1 x Berlin, plus multiple other regional races at from 10k to Ultra distances. I practice what I preach.

I am incredibly proud of the fact that I have now coached over 150 people to a successful London Marathon, an event I class to be the best in the world. Not just because its my most local major race, but it’s a day when the very best of humanity is on show, and whether I am there as a runner or a coach, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. It’s my Christmas Day.

I have, of course, trained many more people for other races, a variety of popular marathons, but also many other distances and race types. Most recently the Back Yard Ultra has become a challenge that has meant some specialist training techniques and 100 mile Ultra marathons in extreme environments.

As well as running, I love to coach people who just want a healthy lifestyle. Weight management, fitness training and running  does lead to many positive outcomes, but a healthy heart has to be the main one. Heart disease and heart failure are the single biggest reason for death in the world, I believe we can make a huge difference to avoid being another statistic just by regular exercise and a sensible healthy diet.

I am just incredibly passionate about helping people achieve their dreams. Achieve things they once considered impossible to ever consider, let alone do. I love helping people change their life for the better, helping them feel more energised, more confident, and with develop an attitude that means anything is possible.

On offer is a free of charge consultation, always without obligation. A client and their coach need to be confident in each other. Can the coach deliver what you need? Is the client willing to work hard and be realistic in their goal setting and time scales? Coaching is a partnership.