I am not the coach who shouts from the sideline.
I am the one who runs beside you, asks the questions nobody else has thought to ask, and stays long after the race is finished. That is the only kind of coaching I know how to do.
Honest before encouraging
Most coaches tell you what you want to hear. I tell you what your data, your body, and your consistency are actually saying — even when that conversation is uncomfortable. Honesty delivered with care is the foundation of every result I have ever helped someone achieve. Without it, we are both wasting time.
Curious about you specifically
I have coached enough people to know that no two are the same; not physiologically (how your body functions), not psychologically, not in terms of what they actually need from a coaching relationship. I ask a lot of questions. I remember the answers. I am genuinely interested in what makes you different because that is precisely where solutions are unlocked.
Patient with the process
Transformation is not linear and I have never pretended otherwise. There will be weeks that disappoint and months that surprise you. My job is to hold the long view when you cannot — to remind you of where you started, what the data is telling us, and why the plan still makes sense even when motivation has gone quiet.
Demanding without being harsh
I will challenge you. I will raise the bar when you are ready, and sometimes just before you think you are. I will never make you feel inadequate for being human. The standard I hold my clients to is the standard they set for themselves when they first told me what they wanted. My job is simply to hold them to it with warmth rather than pressure.
Present in a way that is increasingly rare
You will not receive automated check-ins or generated feedback. When you hear from me, it is me — thinking about your specific situation, your last session, and what I believe needs to happen next. That level of attention cannot be scaled. It is why I work with a maximum of six clients at any one time and no more.
I did not grow up as an athlete. I started running in 2003 as an overweight, time-poor working parent travelling two-thirds of the year and who needed a more efficient way to stay healthy. There was no grand plan. Just a decision that if I was going to keep giving everything to work and family, I needed to give something back to my own body as well.
For the next two decades I led multi-million-pound businesses across Europe, Middle East and Africa. I managed teams under pressure, navigated boardrooms, and lived the kind of professional intensity that some of my clients know intimately. That experience is not background colour. It is the reason I understand, without needing it explained, what a long working week does to a body and a mind.
I have also served with Warwickshire Fire and Rescue in the UK. The fire service teaches you things that never leave you: composure when others are afraid, service before self and the discipline of preparation. Those values are present in every coaching relationship I build.
"Friendly, kind, approachable and very supportive as both a coach and a competitor. That is how people have described me for twenty years. I have never wanted a different reputation."
The running itself has been an education of a different kind. Ninety marathons and forty-seven ultras do not just teach you about pace or endurance. They teach you how to suffer productively, how to listen to your body under genuine duress, and how to find the version of yourself that keeps going when every reasonable argument says stop.
In recent years my focus has turned increasingly towards genetics, diagnostics (the analysis of your biological markers) and the data that sits beneath performance. I do not believe in generic solutions for specific people. Understanding the biology beneath the behaviour is what separates lasting change from temporary improvement.
What clients actually say
"Ian remembers everything. Not just my training data, he remembers what I told him about my family, my work, the week I nearly quit. That kind of attention changes things."
Sophie, Business Owner
"I have had personal trainers, nutritionists, and executive coaches. None of them treated me the way Ian does. Ian is someone who is genuinely invested in what happens next."
Tim, Senior Partner
"When I met Ian I was no athlete! He never made me feel out of place, only capable of more than I believed."
Roberta, Retired Professional
Self · Family · Others
You cannot give what you haven't got. The most important investment a high-performing person can make is in themselves, not out of selfishness, but out of sustainability. When you are rested, strong and clear minded, everything else follows.
If you are looking for a coach who will still know your name in five years and still care how your life is going, Ian would like to hear from you...
Limited membership to six clients at any one time. Interview only membership.