Following the American model of elite athletes living and training together, head coach Steve Vernon and Pete Riley set up the Stockport based Team New Balance Manchester in 2015.

In the space of four years the training group has demonstrated that the model can work in the UK, and currently living under the one roof – living and breathing running – are British athletes Ben Connor, Ross Millington and Elinor Kirk, Swedish international Anna Silvander and Irish Olympian Ciara Mageean.

Additionally, Jonny Mellor and Andy Heyes live close by and meet up with their fellow New Balance athlete to train.

Fast Running caught up with the head coach to learn more about life inside the training group.

Fast Running: How did you become involved with Team New Balance Manchester? How did it all begin?

Steve Vernon: A good friend of mine Pete Riley and I had aimed to set up a professional running team ever since we raced and trained together.

We formulated a good group training set up in Stockport in 2005 and often spoke about it as the ‘dream’ to get top athletes training together every day.

Pete started working for New Balance in 2014 and we started the team on a shoestring budget in January 2015.

New Balance put their athletes and performance running at the forefront of the business so we have had great support in setting it up.

FR: What is a typical day like for you as the coach?

SV: It can vary from day to day because not all of the group are full-time athletes and work too.

We have a weekly structure that everyone can work around with Tuesday and Friday as the key session days each week and a long run Sunday.

As a professional coach though I have the luxury of being at all of the sessions and at a lot of the easy running and gym sessions around that.

I also work within the Marketing Team at New Balance too, but my working day is built around coaching first.

At certain times of the year, I will split the group based on their event group or race schedule. So I could be at a tempo based session on the trails in the morning and a track session in the evening.

FR: What is a typical day like for the athletes who live together?

SV: A typical day is simple and boring to be honest. Run, eat, rest, eat, run, eat and repeat! They cook good healthy evening meals on a rota and eat most meals together which works well.

There is also a rota for household chores etc. It’s certainly a step up from student living!

Each day they run at 8.30am and 5.00pm and sessions start at 9:30am, so there is a good routine for everyone to adhere too.

FR: What is your coaching philosophy and are there particular things you try to instil into the group?

SV: I try to keep things simple and a have healthy training routine. I am all about creating ‘aerobic monsters’ and work by the mantra that ‘a happy runner is a fast runner’.

I like the guys to work hard but have fun. We take training seriously but are always having a laugh doing what we love.

FR: This is your first time in such a setup, what challenges have you faced or lessons learnt?

SV: There have been so many challenges! Managing people and expectations is a challenge for anyone dealing with a group of highly driven and motivated people.

It’s not easy to run a professional team when you have athletes with varying ability and financial support, but we have made it work and tried to help people as best possible based on their own circumstances.

Not all the athletes are able to run full-time so there has to be flexibility in what we do.

FR: Are athletes left to their own devices when it comes to nutrition/cooking in the house?

SV: We have had input from nutritionists at OTE and the guys all know what foods they need to be eating in order to refuel properly.

I don’t believe in strict diets and don’t think its good for athletes to be strict with their diets.

FR: What has been your proudest moment since you began coaching the group?

SV: Our first Olympian Ross Millington in 2016 was very special for the team, but we have also had many great days with multiple national championship wins and also a number of top 10 performances in Europe.

For me simply seeing athletes improve and develop themselves is always a proud moment.

FR: Do you envisage a day when similar setups will be common in the UK and across Europe?

SV: It would be great to see! Other brands could invest in similar models like they do in the USA. It can be done simply to start with and grow as we have.

I think professional teams are the future for distance running in Europe, but we need more investment from performance running brands and sponsors to assist in their development.

They are a great marketing tool as well as a great development ground for athletes to make the next step to international level.

FR: Finally, do you have any fun stories you could share from your time with the group?

SV: We have lots. So many revolve around poor Jonny Mellor though and his simple food habits. He isn’t very adventurous with what he eats and in his exact words “won’t try anything I can’t spell”.

We constantly wind him up. I once told him I was eating frogspawn when I was eating black beans in a burrito, he was disgusted!

When Anna joined the Team he was worried sick that she would cook “weird Swedish stuff”.

Sometimes when the guys cook for him they lie about what’s in the meal, because he will actually eat most things if he doesn’t know they are in there.

Team New Balance Manchester are fuelled by OTE Sports‘ natural hydration, energy and recovery product.

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The post An insight into Team New Balance Manchester appeared first on Fast Running.

Face paint adorning every cheek, crowds of excited students swarming over fields to cheer on their team, loudspeakers and trumpets adding to the shouts and screams of the supporters. High stakes, competitive spirits running high, bragging rights at risk…. you might think this is the NCAA National Cross Championships but there’s far too much mud being flung up by hundreds of pairs of spikes to be some stateside golf course race.

This is the BUCS Cross Country Championships, the NCAA’s less flashy cousin, emergent as one of the most atmospheric and exciting days of racing on the domestic calendar, largely due to the rivalry and team camaraderie that is unmatched in other UK races.

Despite athletics being an individual sport, there is still ample opportunity to compete as part of a team. Road and cross country relays, point-based cross countries leagues, club fixtures on the track, even track relays, all give runners the chance to be part of a bigger picture, to work alongside teammates for a collective result.

While athletes might train together a few times a week at their club, there are few places where a tight-knit team unit can be forged like those made in the university running clubs across the UK.

Students will train together almost every day, live in neighbouring streets or shared houses, study together and drink too many beers together at the union. By the time BUCS rolls around each February the students have had at least five months, or for the older athletes, almost three years, of team bonding time – these guys are ride or die.

Photo: Elizabeth Egan

When the time comes to put yourself on the line for your team, the students are ready, willing and able.

So keen in fact, that in 2009, when the race in Aberdeen was called off the night before due to heavy snow, over 100 students refused to be put off, and still turned up to the race venue to run around a course marked out by their own footprints on a communal warm up.

And that was in the days when the festivities were limited to a bit of face paint and a few ribbons from the most militant of universities.

From strength to strength

Since then the hype around BUCS has just kept growing. You might not find a tent village to rival those you’ll see at the National (tuition’s £9000 now, can’t be throwing money away on gazebos) but what the students lack in infrastructure they make up for in noise.

Loud hailers, trumpets, cow bells; the result is a cacophony that turns narrow areas of the course into corridors of noise, and the finishing straight will often become a tunnel of people and sound, especially in the event of a close competition.

Teams make stencils to painstakingly decorate their cheeks with their university’s mascot. And there’s always at least one joker who’s covered head to spike in purple, red, or blue and white face paint. It is often the same joker who will win the annual race to be at the front after 400m, thus gaining maximum exposure of their war paint.

Photo: Adam Kerfoot-Roberts

Students’ commitment to BUCS is tested by the fact that the competition rotates between the home countries, with regular excursions to Scotland and Wales and the occasional jaunt to Northern Ireland.

No other national cross country event is hosted in such far flung locations. The Inter-Counties stays resolutely in the Midlands, and the English National is limited in its travel by Hadrian’s Wall and the Severn Bridge.

Perhaps BUCS’ nomadic status is in its favour. The course will be unfamiliar to all but the host team, keeping racing fresh, and nothing builds a team bond like 10 hours in each other’s company on the M1. Students from all over the UK descend on one ‘lucky’ town, arriving the night before the race, quietly preparing for the race ahead, then painting said town red at the after party.

While the traditions and hype around BUCS cross country grow each year, so does its popularity with the UK’s student athletes.

Photo: Adam Kerfoot-Roberts

Participation numbers have grown from a steady 700 to 800 total competitors in the mid-noughties, to more than double that in 2018 when a record 1609 competitors toed the line across the three races.

Much of that increase has come on the female side, growing from less than 300 up to 2010, to a record of 704 finishers in 2018; an increase unmatched in any other domestic competition. The inclusive nature of the women’s race – everyone gets a run, and team mates who will finish first and 501st will all line up together – may well account for much of that growing popularity.

Memories of past competitors

While BUCS cross country’s popularity may be on the rise, it has always been a favourite with talented cross country runners.

Former cross country and mountain running international Steve Vernon, and who now coaches the successful New Balance Manchester team, was a regular at the competition, winning three individual medals and picking up team titles with both Loughborough and St Mary’s in his early career.

He found that it was a good stepping stone from junior races into the longer senior ranks, and would often use the race as a build-up to the World Cross Country trials.

When asked about his abiding memories, however, it’s not necessarily the day’s events that are at the forefront of his mind…

“The after-parties were always fantastic and the rivalries then became a bit more friendly,” he says, “The banter however was at another level! Loughborough weren’t always the most popular so we were usually the brunt of the jokes.”

Another, perhaps less expected, fan of BUCS cross is Adelle Tracey, sub-2:00 800m runner and European finalist. Known for her speed on the track, Tracey says she loves the challenges of true endurance. She also connected with the team aspect, which is no surprise as she captained the St Mary’s team in her third year there.

“I loved competing at BUCS cross in particular as there’s such a buzz around the team you are a part of, which you don’t get a sense of as much on track,” she says. “The spectatorship is also an experience in itself, having people chant and cheer all the way round only motivates you to work harder.”

Even for those who might not be at the sharp end of the competition, it’s not hard to pin-point BUCS cross country’s enduring and indeed growing charm – the team spirit, the rivalries and the traditions make for a truly memorable event each year.

For those whose university days are long behind them, I hope this has been an enjoyable reminder of the magic of BUCS. After all, a little nostalgia never hurt anyone. For those who are lucky enough to be competing this year, enjoy!

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The post What makes BUCS cross country so special? appeared first on Fast Running.

The second UK Endurance Conference took place in Liverpool on Sunday (November 25).  The conference attracted coaches from the local region and beyond with three key speakers leading interactive discussions. 

Following the success of the inaugural event in London over the summer, organiser Keith Scofield was keen to host an equivalent conference in the North of England and scheduled the event to coincide with a big weekend in the athletics calendar, the Euro Cross trials, held in Sefton Park.

Steve Vernon

Headline speaker Steve Vernon, lead coach of Team New Balance Manchester, highlighted that a focus on having fun with running was how his coach introduced him to the sport, and this is a principle to continues to instil in his athletes. 

Vernon has channelled his competitive drive into a rigorous learning approach – absorbing ideas from leaders from within and outside of athletics to bring the best ideas to his coaching. 

He has developed his own ‘coaching philosophy’ and believes it’s important for all coaches to do the same – distilling the wealth of knowledge out there from books, to conference talks, to informal chats at the track – and deciding what works for you and individual athletes.

The Team New Balance house, where the runners live together, presents its own challenges and Vernon carefully ensures he’s available for his team whilst also setting some boundaries that a coach is not there to solve all problems.

Mike Baxter 

Former GB athlete-turned-coach Mike Baxter also talked about dealing with the life of an athlete beyond just running and structuring sessions around the fact that most amateur athletes have a normal day job. 

While session duration should vary from athlete to athlete depending on their circumstances, Baxter emphasised that mileage is key and whilst less is more for interval sessions, building sufficient mileage around tough sessions is what builds aerobic capacity and the endurance that’s needed.

Allison Benton

Allison Benton brings together high potential athletes together in the Brighton and Sussex area and her philosophy is about the benefits of group training and the power of the collective being greater than the sum of its parts.

Benton inspires results by fostering a strong sense of ‘belonging’ within her athletes.

The coach creates a training environment where the group inspires and motivates each other from within to drive up levels of performance. 

Sharing results, celebrating success and bonding activities, like training camps, are key ingredients alongside strong, resilient leadership.

Five key takeaways from the three coaches

1) Be bold and ask for help: Fellow coaches are generally open to having conversations about challenges and more than happy to help. 

Tap into the network of the coaching community.

2) Find smart ways to access the tools that will help support your athlete’s performance:  Physiological blood testing can be expensive but some university’s offer it for free. 

Those training in massage and physio might offer free or cheap access to their services. 

3) Use social media to your advantage: While constant comparisons of race performances on Power of 10 or Strava can be a distraction, WhatsApp can be a tool to build a sense of team and belonging among training groups.

4) After a disappointing race performance, don’t jump to find answers straight away: Take some time for you and your athlete to reflect on how to improve and remember no-one gets a personal best every time they race.

Failure can be tough but it’s an opportunity to learn.  

5) Be as committed as you expect your athletes to be:  Coaching is a feat of endurance for both coach and athlete.  Be thick-skinned and prepared to ride out the tough times and challenges and always keep learning.

For more snippets from the conference and updates on future events, check out @endurance_uk on Twitter or contact Keith Scofield via email: ukenduranceconf@gmail.com.

RELATED: Endurance conference for coaches hailed a huge success

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After the success of the inaugural UK Endurance Conference in London, the first event in the North of England takes place in Liverpool on Sunday, November 25.

Three more respected coaches will share their knowledge at the Liverpool Hope University hosted event, four months on from the first conference at Kingston University in London.

Coaches, like anyone in everyday jobs, should have a network of people that they can call on to chat things over, ask people their opinions and think out loud to see if they can solve issues.

The concept of a ‘Community of Practice’ was first theorised by Lave & Wenger in 1991 and then expand on by Wenger in his 1998 book of the same name. A group of people who share the same profession or craft work together to increase their knowledge and share experiences.

A community of practice may naturally occur, but can also be deliberately created. This is key when important networks of experience are spread over a larger area. The UK Endurance conference, organised by Keith Scofield, is working to create a UK network so that British coaching can develop together.

By getting experienced coaches and former top distance runners to share their experiences, it is hoped that coaches can learn best practices, learn from experts and each other, which will hopefully influence the future of British endurance running.

The speakers

Mike Baxter, a former international runner and coach to athletes like Claire Duck, will talk about his experiences as a runner and a coach.

Allison Benton will talk about the creation and development of her ABT group in Brighton with athletes such as James Westlake, who made his England debut in Toronto recently.

Steve Vernon will be talking about the transition from runner to coach and the formation and coaching of Team New Balance Manchester.

The UK Endurance Conference is a not for profit event and tickets details can found here. There is a limited space at the venue so book early to avoid missing out.

For further information, you can contact the team on ukenduranceconf@gmail.com or follow UK Endurance Conference on Twitter or Facebook.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

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