Testimonials

The running is only the half of it. I was keen to build up my stamina and distance, but Sarah showed me how to get there. She herself is a great model and has been a huge encouragement on my journey from 5K in my late 60s to marathon at the age of 71. She provides a wonderful combination of inspiration, challenge and know-how. Sarah has helped me achieve things I never felt I would be capable of, and I am so grateful.

Maria (coached for her first marathon at the age of 71 which she ran in 5:00 hours achieving London GFA, plus various half marathons, 10ks and 5ks)

The coaching process with Sarah has been a revelation for me; I genuinely feel like running has become a team sport. When we first met up, I had a few dream running goals, the big one being a sub 3hr marathon. After just 12 months, I achieved a 2:58 marathon and other significant PB targets along the way. Under Sarah’s tuition, I have grown leaps and bounds in a relatively short time, growing mentally and physically. As a result, we are now setting goals I wouldn’t have dreamed of capable a year ago.

Gareth (coached for his first sub 3 marathon and PBs at 5k/10k/half marathon)

I had ‘good for age’ entry in to the London marathon. Determined to get a PB in this iconic race, I upped my weekly mileage for my training plan only to find I ended up alternating between high mileage weeks and no-mileage weeks as I kept getting ill or injured. Needless to say, the race was a disaster! I was so disappointed in myself that I approached Sarah about coaching for another marathon to try and understand where I had gone wrong.

Sarah was great from the start. She came up with a plan specific to me and that worked around my incredibly hectic and complicated lifestyle. She initially reduced my mileage to a lower level and then we worked on building it up to a manageable weekly number of miles in a consistent way that helped avoid the injuries that I had been experiencing. Instead of the high mileage she introduced a more varied training plan that incorporated speed work and intervals. Not only did this make my training more interesting but it also started to improve my speed! The monthly chats were great for motivation and to discuss anything and everything running related. I learnt how to use nutrition to improve my race experience, what shoes I might want to try running in and how to tackle any niggles I was experiencing. I ran Valencia marathon and I was so, so happy with my result. No walking, back to being ‘good for age’ and more importantly I enjoyed every minute of it. I could not recommend her more highly as a coach!

Mel (coached for Valencia marathon where she ran 3:27)

I am so grateful to benefit from Sarah’s wealth of running experience, but most of all, and I think everyone training with her would agree, what I truly appreciate is her comprehensive, honest and kind-hearted approach to coaching. Sarah not only creates a tailored running plan for each of us, she also listens and cares that we enjoy it to the max, allowing changes to it when life throws a curveball, or (and my favourite by a mile) giving us a good kick in confidence (aka kick in the butt!) when she knows we can do what our mind tells us we cannot.

With all this, I’m excited for the year ahead and cannot to start the training for SDW50!

Flo (coached for her first 100k ultra and various trail marathons and shorter road races)

I have been attending Sarah’s Pilates for Runners classes for over two years. The strength and core stability I have gained have transformed my posture and my running efficiency. Sarah is a brilliant teacher. Her classes are fun and challenging with lots of variety and progression. She is supportive and friendly and makes everyone feel welcome. Pilates is now an essential part of my fitness programme.

Carol (regular at Pilates for Runners classes)

My experience with Sarah has been just brilliant. She guided and encouraged me in all aspects of the training for my 180km mountain trail race in Nepal. Sarah uses her vast experiences of running, health issues and injuries to provide a comprehensive coaching experience, and always showed empathy, understanding and patience. She was always happy to answer any questions I had about the training. Communicating with Sarah was easy, she responded to emails and messages quickly. Our monthly catch up chats were very useful to talk things through and set targets. Sarah responded to my comments of my training sessions in a positive and encouraging way. She was always efficient in changing the training plan if the unexpected happened, and provided a completely bespoke plan, that fitted around my availability, lifestyle and location on a daily basis. If I had access to trails or not for instance she would always find a session that worked to help achieve my race goal, constantly working with me and what we had access to. Given the amount of interaction you get with Sarah as a coach, her training plan represented great value for money.

Prior to working with Sarah I was running lots of junk miles without taking rest days. The weekly plans for each of my sessions had a clear realistic purpose and challenge and that made the training more interesting. Working towards the goals she set meant that every week I achieved beyond what I ever thought I could do. I now understand the importance of rest days too! She has made me into a much wiser runner!

I really enjoyed training with Sarah and I know that when I decide to do another big challenge event, I will be asking Sarah for her wise, knowledgeable, expert advice again! Thank you Sarah, you have been an amazing coach!

Diana (coached for Manaslu Multi-Day Race)

Since starting with Sarah my running has improved beyond my expectations. Sarah offers a bespoke service that is second to none, and she’s so supportive and knowledgeable. I’m looking forward to my first 100 mile race as I know I’ll be starting with the best possible preparation thanks to Sarah.

Sam (coached for A100 and Lavaredo Ultra Trail)