There’s only one place to start with this weeks Team Orange update and that’s Berlin. Forget the World Record, we are more interested in Sue Wilkinson adding another of the World Major Marathon Medals to her impressive collection.

Sue joined the team around 10 weeks ago with the goal of running a time of 4 hours and 30 minutes. I was really pleased with her efforts throughout her training block and she smashed the long runs, especially towards the end of the plan.

Marathons are brutal and sometimes no matter how well prepared you are things can go wrong. Sue was going great guns but sadly at 17-18 miles was sick and struggled to recover from that. Even despite the hiccup she completed the course in under 5 hours and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

I’m still new to this coaching lark and will continue to evolve my methods and training plans to give the team the best chance of achieving their goals on the day. Sometimes other factors step in, especially on long races like this, but I will always analyze my own contribution and if there is anything I could have done differently.

I’m delighted to announce that Sue will be rejoining the team. I’ve kindly given her a week off to recover, before we discuss her next goals. It doesn’t involve running a marathon, not yet anyway.

Plenty of the team took on the Rye to Hastings challenge as part of their training plans. It actually marked the conclusion of Sue Mann’s third training plan. Lately it’s been tough, another to suffer the effects of Covid, but Sue has done amazingly this year, running more races than anyone else in the team. Once again I’m delighted that Sue will be starting training plan number 4 in a weeks time.

New member Paul Lambert was third place (I’m taking full credit for that, despite the fact Paul has yet to do a single of my training sessions). Myself, Andy Alabaster, Adrian Barratt (another new addition to the team), Kate Lewis, Alison Anderson, Sarah Marzaioli and Louise Weatherley all completed the course, some smiling more than others.

I should also give a mention to Jacqueline Scott (I don’t want to get in trouble) for her 150th parkrun at the weekend. Jax has been struggling with a foot injury and also caught Covid from me, so it’s great to see her back running and starting her own new plan today.

A special congratulations to Sarah Marzaioli who celebrated her 75th birthday and retirement on Friday. She’s set to run Loch Ness Marathon at the weekend. I’ve lost count of how many that is now, but it’s certainly well over the 100 mark.

If you’re interested in joining the Team then get in touch. It’s not always just about improving your running but also enjoying it more.

Thanks for reading.

Coach Simon.