Hi, I'm Kel! I'm a 53 year old Level 2 Recreational Running Coach and Marathoner from Sydney, Australia. I have been endurance running since 2016 and have now completed seven marathons including the 2018 TCS New York Marathon, five Half Marathons and 104 parkruns.
Achievements
I have now completed seven Marathons including the 2018 TCS New York Marathon. This was an amazing experience and something that I would recommend people to do. The atmosphere from start to finish was electric and the entire city supports you. They don't just support you on race day but all race week and Marathon Monday. As we left New York people at JFK were all congratulating us like we had won the race. It didn't matter what our time was but the fact that we completed the distance. In 2020 my goal is to run most of the races that I didn't have to opportunity to run last year due to COVID-19. It starts with a 12km in Western Sydney as part of RunWest. That is followed by Half marathon in Canberra, the Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon in Sydney on my birthday in May, The Gold Coast Marathon in July, Sydney Half Marathon in September and I will finish off the year with the Melbourne Marathon. My goal for the Marathons this year is to run a Sub 4 hour. To date my PR for the Marathon is 4:54'58 back in 2017 at Sydney. I have had a number of lower leg injuries over the past few years preventing me from achieving my best. With consistent training I am hoping that this year will be that year.
“If you run, you are a runner. It doesn’t matter how fast or how far. It doesn’t matter if today is your first day or if you’ve been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run.” – John Bingham
What Inspires You
All my athletes inspire me every day they turn up and train. Life is difficult at the best of times and we are not elite athletes that have time to spare to recover and train. Most of us have jobs and families that we have to juggle along with our training and recovery. So when they get out there no matter the weather and complete the session it inspires me. I look up to Eliod Kipchoge (Sub 2 Marathoner). I love his work ethic and his gentle disposition. He is always confident in his ability and has shown the world that with training anyone can achieve their dreams.
Big Goals
My ultimate goal is to run the Abbots World Majors in the Marathons. That is - London, Berlin, Tokyo, Chicago, New York and Boston.
Nutrition Tips
The biggest tip that I can provide for nutrition is to make sure you find exactly what works for you and the only way to achieve this is through experimentation in training. On race day the event will most likely have gels and fluids out on course. If you are going to take advantage of these then find out what they are using and try it out in training. Also try using it at the same time or distance that they are set up on course. If you prefer to use you own then again try it out in training and implement what works on race day. For me I use Bindi during my training runs. I mix it up and carry it in my Salomon water bottles. I then sip on one usually at 10km and then every 10km after that. I know that I can run 21km without the need for additional fluids but it is always better to keep your nutrition levels stable throughout a race rather than being behind and trying to catch up. A great example of being in deficit in the conditions is at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Marathon when Callum Hawkins from Scotland collapsed from heat exhaustion and required medical treatment. With 5km to go you can Callum starting to swerve as he ran and he then missed a couple of drinks stations which placed him in deficit and eventually led to his collapse.
