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

John Caswell

CiRF, LiRF, Event Group Specialist-Endurance

I qualified as a UKA coach in 2012 joining the coaching team at SWRR the same year,
prior to that I had been a LiRF at the club leading road running groups. Although
involved in many sports over the years running and coaching runners has been one
of the great pleasures of my life. I hope that my coaching technique is viewed as
being inclusive, holistic and pragmatic; that it helps athletes reach their goals and
helps them establish or cement a solid base for fitness for life.

Isabelle Baraffe

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. 

James Benham

James Benham

CiRF, LiRF

I have been helping with the coaching of SWRR sessions since 2015 and qualified as a
UKA coach in 2016. I enjoy trying out new sessions and ideas to help athletes of all
abilities improve and enjoy running on the track.

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.