In 2019,just before COVID, I was mostly doing CrossFit because I always believed that my knees were not capable of coping with the demands needed to run enough to achieve what I wanted to in running. However, CrossFit was not making me happy, and I guess I’ve never been a lover of team sports, although I played a lot of football when I was younger.

So I started running. And I loved it. At first I was coached by a friend who is an experienced runner for around 6 months. After that I followed a generic plan leading up to my first marathon in 2021 where I ran 2:41. From this very early period I knew that I was passionate about running and coaching. I would read anything and everything I could get my hands on, and I still do today. So I decided to start training myself. I made all of the usual mistakes, I tried to increase my volume too quickly, I ignored niggles that turned into injuries, I went out way too hard in races and suffered. Now I’m not saying I don’t ever still do that, but I learned. But most of all I realised I enjoy teaching and supporting others through what I know about running.

Since then I’ve ran 2:32 in the marathon, 1:13 in the half marathon and 33 minutes for 10km. I’m still regularly running 160km+ per week including many double days and twice going to the gym, including a 40 hour work week. I understand what it is to make a plan fit around your lifestyle and goals.

As well as this I started a running club in Amsterdam in October 2024. This has created a community where many friendships have developed and where we regularly run together, but also hang out together.