Our team of coaches have been fortunate to train and race in some of the biggest settings in the world including the Olympic Games, World Championships, Commonwealth Games and European Championships. Surrounding ourselves with top class athletes, coaches, sports scientists, nutritionists and physiotherapists along the way. Learning from elite runners can help you to understand the importance of timing, structure, periodisation and training SMART to achieve your goals and aims. Over the years it has become clear it’s not just about training as hard as you can but getting the right balance of training, recovery, family and work life to train not just more, but better.
JM Coaching goes the extra mile to offer coaching services that fit in around your current daily schedule, rather than having to fit your life around your training programme.
Personal bests don’t automatically make you a top coach. As a result our team have been carefully selected based on their love of the sport and scientific understanding of training principles. Each coach has their own specialism and we work hard at communicating with all our athletes to ensure all plans are designed specifically to each individual runner and adjusted accordingly. We’re not just your average elite runners, looking to make a quick buck or running a side hustle, we’re serious about what we do and love helping runners achieve their goals. We see coaching as a career and an opportunity to pass on over 40 years of knowledge and experience to fellow running enthusiasts.
You can read more about JM Coaching and it’s beginnings in 2013 here.
Jonny Mellor
British Marathon Champion Jonny Mellor is the founder of JM Coaching and an elite distance runner representing Team New Balance Manchester. Having starting with a small group of athletes out of the Underground Training Station Gym in Hoylake in 2013. Jonny has since developed his coaching services to help support a number of athletes across the UK. Jonny is proud to offer online coaching that is based on communication, supported by science, forged in experience and tested and proven on the international stage working with you and not for you.
With over 18-years competing at the highest-level Jonny is strongly positioned to offer training tips and advice. Over a distinguished career, Jonny has competed in over 320 events as shown on his Power of 10 Profile, including 8-marathons around the world. Therefore helping you prepare both physically and mentally to reach your goals. As a result of running 2:10:03 at the Seville Marathon in February 2020, Jonny has finally shown his potential as one of Europe’s leading marathon runners. Therefore showing his ability to win medals on the international stage.
Jip Vastenburg
2016 Rio Olympian Jip Vastenburg joins the JM Coaching team with a wealth of experience as a professional athlete representing the Netherlands. Having ran 31:35 for 10,000m Jip qualified to represent her country at the 2016 Olympic Games gaining valuable experience at the pinnacle of the sport as well as winning European Championships as a junior athlete.
Having successfully transitioned to the marathon distance, Jip moved to Manchester to further her own athletic career training with Jonny and the team at New Balance Manchester. A real student of the sport, Jip has amassed a wealth of experience to share with runners of all distances and abilities.
Ross Millington
Olympian Ross Millington joins the JM Coaching team with a wealth of experience having represented Team GB at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio over 10,000m. A graduate of the University of New Mexico in America, Ross is a proven performer having won national titles over 5,000m and 10,000m in recent years and an ever present at the forefront of British endurance running.
Ross’s coaching experiences come from working with current coach Steve Vernon since 2013 having previously worked under the tutelage of legendary Stockport coach Dave Turnbull. With a personal best of 27:55 for 10,000m and a half marathon best of 62:30 Ross knows what it takes to get the most out of your training programme.
Adam Craig
Having represented Great Britain at the World Half Marathon Championships and running a 2:13 marathon debut, Adam Craig is an exciting young coach and top athlete, with a strong passion and understanding of the sport. Adam has experience of working with runners from 5k to the marathon distance and has boasts personal bests of 28:32 for 10k and 13:45 for 5k, whilst helping others to achieve their running goals alongside his own running career.
Having started coaching in 2018 the Scottish International has been expanding his knowledge and experience coaching since working under the leadership of his own coach Steve Vernon and more recently Helen Clitheroe.
Izzy Fry
Introducing British international and coach Izzy Fry who came through the ranks under the renowned Mick Woods at Aldershot Farnham & District before moving to Manchester to join Team New Balance Manchester under the guidance of Steve Vernon.
Izzy brings a wealth of experience, talent, and passion for helping others in our team. Now based in Loughborough, Izzy has dedicated over 10 years of her life to running, achieving incredible levels of success over a range of distances and surfaces. Like our other coaches, Izzy is a real student of the sport and puts as much into her coaching as her own athletics career and a real asset to the JM Coaching team.
Sophie Mellor
Sophie Mellor qualified as a personal trainer in 2010 and has since gone on to complete her LiRF qualifications with England Athletics and coached a number of athletes of varying abilities. Sophie has also competed at a high level previously running 17:06 for 5k and 35:48 for 10k and has a passion for helping others achieve their targets given her background in fitness. Sophie works with a number of our first-time runners helping them to train on a more consistent basis.
Using her background of working in running specific retail, Sophie is well-positioned to offer guidance on gait analysis and assistance with picking the right pair of trainers for your needs as well as utilising her experience in the gym to offer support with injury prevention.
With all our one to one coaching plans (Gold, Silver and Bronze) we like to think of the schedules as following the athlete, rather than following the plan. Coaching plans will be updated and posted weekly via TrainingPeaks, which allows us to monitor and analyse progress and provide feedback.
Silver
- Call at Start of Training Block
- TrainingPeaks Premium
- Unlimited WhatsApp
- Access to JM Run Club
- Access to Community WhatsApp
- Partner Discounts
Gold
- Monthly Calls
- Structured Workouts
- JM Coaching Hoodie *
- TrainingPeaks Premium
- Unlimited WhatsApp
- Access to JM Run Club
- Access to Community WhatsApp
- Partner Discounts
Bronze
- Unlimited WhatsApp
- Access to JM Run Club
- Access to Community WhatsApp
- Partner Discounts
* JM Coaching hoodies will be sent after a minimum of two months training with JM Coaching