Helen Clitheroe's coaching journey
Helen Clitheroe’s career as an elite athlete might be over, but she remains as busy as ever in the sport. From crack of dawn appointments with her personal training clients to coaching up-and-coming runners on cold, dark evenings, she is every bit as immersed in athletics as ever.
The two-time Olympian won the European indoor 3000m title in 2011, held the British record for 3000m steeplechase and once out-kicked a Russian to win the European Cup 1500m. In total, she competed for Great Britain 53 times – a tally that even Mo Farah can’t match – and she is now bringing her huge experience to the world of coaching.
“A big part of it has been doing the team stuff for GB – for example at the World Half recently - and at the Commonwealth Games for England,” she says. “Since I retired I got into it pretty much straight away and it helped that I had a fair experience of competing at major championships.”
Clitheroe, who is now 46, actually got her first coaching qualification about 14 years ago when she signed up for a course with fellow runner and friend Jenny Meadows. As elite athletes they were fast-tracked through the system due to their experience and Clitheroe now coaches a small but select group that includes Mhairi Maclennan and Elsey Davis.
Some of her athletes are based near the Preston Harrier’s home in Lancashire. Others, like Maclennan in Edinburgh, are coached from afar.
Like many athletes Clitheroe’s group have also faced challenges this year with their Preston track closed since the lockdown in the spring. Improvising, Clitheroe has held some sessions on a disused piece of land and has even measured and marked out a makeshift track on the concrete.
“The track is part of the university here and they own it,” she says. “So that’s been a massive hit for Preston-based athletes. For endurance it’s not so bad but I feel for sprinters, field eventers – it’s a nightmare.”
Clitheroe has also worked as a personal trainer for a few years and helps people of various ages and fitness levels to get into shape. This often involves rising early because clients want to get their exercise done before work or the school run. “The 6.30am slot is like gold dust,” she jokes.
At the start of this year she also began an exciting job working at the new Talent Hub in Leeds for two days per week too. Despite living in a tier three area during the pandemic, she is allowed to travel over to Leeds to work and she works with coaches like Andy Henderson, Andi Drake and the super-experienced Malcolm Brown to co-ordinate the training of the many talented young runners who are based there.
“It’s been challenging because we have to adhere to all the rules and various students haven’t been able to attend due to isolating etc,” she says. “But we have some really good athletes who have started there this year and others who were already based in Leeds.”
They include Keely Hodgkinson, Olivia Mason, India Pentland, Almi Nerurkar, Sam Charlton, Josh Dickinson and Tiarnan Crorken, to name just a few. Other more established athletes based there, or using the facilities, include Laura Weightman, Tom Bosworth, Alex Bell, Beth Potter, Georgia Taylor-Brown, Bronwyn Owen and Lizzie Bird.
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“I am either coaching or overseeing a coaching plan,” says Clitheroe. “So with someone like Keely, I go to (watch) her training but it’s set by Trevor Painter. A big part of the hub is having a relationship with the athlete’s coach and keeping it going. We also help them access all the services like strength and conditioning coaching, physiotherapy at Alison Rose’s nearby clinic, sports psychology and nutrition.”
Clitheroe enthuses about the Talent Hub too, saying: “I think it’s massive. After being an athlete who was on funding and off myself, it’s huge. They might not appreciate it right now but they will in time.”
On her own personal coaching, Clitheroe says: “I’ve never had a massive group but I try to have a fairly personal relationship with the athletes who I do coach.”
She has tried to pick the best bits from coaches who have guided her over the years like Jeremy Harries, Trevor Painter, Terrence Mahon and John Nuttall, while also picking the brains of Steve Vernon and George Gandy, the latter of whom sadly died recently.
But when asked what her own coaching philosophy is, she laughs: “I don’t know yet!”
When it comes to coaching, Clitheroe admits she’s “still like a baby” and makes plenty of mistakes but like all coaches is on a never-ending quest to improve.
“I feel like I’m still a baby in coaching terms. I’m still learning every day. I still make mistakes. And that is coaching, I think," she says.
“Every athlete is different I quite like working out what makes a particular athlete tick," she adds.
“To be still involved in the athletics community at any level is important to me and it’s why I’ve stuck around. Like any coach I’m happy to give up my time and stand out in the rain coaching because I want athletes to have that experience of how rewarding athletics can be.”
(Photograph by Mark Shearman)
» See the November issue of AW magazine to read Helen Clitheroe’s thoughts about being a female coach in a male-dominated world
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