Meet the coaches
- Qualified by UKA (United Kingdom Athletics) as Coaches in Running Fitness (CiRF) or as Athletic Coaches (AC), all are also Leaders in Running Fitness (LiRF)
- A dedicated and committed team with a wide variety of sporting, coaching and mentoring backgrounds
- Experience across all disciplines of middle distance and endurance running including cross country and Ultra’s
- All our coaches are volunteers
Our Coaches
Alek Lach
Junior Section: Level 2 Coach CIA (Children in Athletics) ; Level 2 Coach Jumps
▪ Coaching athletics for circa 20 years
▪ First Aid – Sport
Isabelle Baraffe
AC, LiRF
I qualified as an Athletics Coach in 2017. I particularly enjoy
sharing my track experience with athletes of all ability, both with those
who have specific goals and want to improve thanks to the track-
training, or those who just want to experience the great sensations
of running on a track.
Victoria Hill
CiRF, LiRF, Level 3 Personal Trainer, Level 2 Gym Instructor
I have been a member of SWRR for 5 years and have a real passion for running and fitness which has led to me starting my own coaching business Run-Fit. I have been professionally coached as well as self coached for a number of years and have seen considerable improvements in my running over that time, which has led to me representing Devon over the half marathon and recently running a sub 3 marathon. It’s been a real labour of love and has given me a wealth of experience which I hope I can utilise to help others also improve their running.
Martin Shelton
CiRF, LiRF
I have been involved with the coaching of SWRR sessions since 2021, having been a run
leader for several years prior to that. I have worked with runners at all stages of
development, from couch to 5k participants through to event-winning athletes. I enjoy
delivering varied and purposeful training sessions and helping the participants on track to
achieve their running goals.
Maggie Gellersjo
Coaching Assistant
I started volunteering with the junior in 2022 as a way to give back to the club. I have recently completed the assistant coaching qualification, which gave me confidence when assisting with the sessions. It is great to see the athletes grow their confidence and consistently improve.
Charlie Withers
CiRF, LiRF
Qualified as a CIRF 2024.
Danielle Cox
Coaching Assistant
I started assisting with the junior group as my children were running with the group.
More recently I have completed the coaching assistant course.
I have seen how the junior running group has been able to increase over the years and it has been great being able to assist with their progress.
Paul Barter
CiRF, LiRF