How to Become a Running Coach

I never dreamed when I started out running as a complete beginner that, several years later I’d be teaching other people how to run as a job, but here we are.

I’ve been leading and coaching runners since 2013 and I’m also now a resident coach for Women’s Running magazine meaning i write the training plan each issue as well as a column about my coaching life, and I tutor for England Athletics teaching other runners how to become Run Leaders.

How I started coaching

There’s a video below with more background on my journey…

Your first steps into coaching

Your first port of call (if you live in England) is England Athletics to look at their coaching courses and pathways. Welsh Athletics and Scottish Athletics will have their own courses. Most runners will start with the ‘Leadership in Running Fitness’ (LiRF) course which qualifies you and insures you to lead groups of runners in real life.

If you want to coach runners one-on-one and create training plans tailored to an individual athlete, you’ll need to then go on to do a little more study and gain you ‘Coach in Running Fitness’ qualification. This is more study and costs more so I’d recommend doing your LiRF and doing some leading for a while and seeing if you like it.

Making coaching your business

It’s definitely possible to make an income from coaching. I’ve never relied 100% on run coaching as I’m also a freelance writer. Although as a lot of that writing is about running the lines are a little blurred.

I coached for a couple of years in the evenings while doing a 9-5 job. So when I decided to leave that job and become self-employed, I already had a regular income from coaching. What I’m basically saying is: don’t quit your dayjob just yet.

Do you have to be a fast runner to be a coach?

Short answer: no. Long answer: plenty of elite level coaches are coaching athletes who are way faster than the coach will ever have been.

I coach beginner runners up to mid-pack marathon runners. These runners have more in common with me than they do Paula Radcliffe – I know what it’s like to start running from scratch as an adult and juggle training with a full-time job. I know their fears about being last and how it feels turning up at your first ever race, and that’s part of why they choose me. Also Paula is pretty busy.

Think about the sort of runners that you want to work with and think about, if you were looking for a coach, what skills and attributes you’d want them to have. Is being fast at the top of the list?

What makes a good running coach?

Yes, knowledge of running and training is important but being a good running coach is about more than that.

There are skills that you probably already have that would help you become a great coach. I think it’s important to listen to people, be non-judgemental, be positive, be a good communicator and be good at problem-solving. There’s also a fair amount of admin involved.

Making Fitness Your Business

Need some help getting started? During lockdown I wrote and hosted a series of workshops called ‘Making Fitness Your Business’. These workshops are designed to help guide you through the early days of setting up a coaching or fitness based business.