Meet the team
Coaching and Trail Runs
Andy Pye
The moment you decide not to quit, you commit to your goal
An experienced and highly motivated UK Athletics qualified Fell and Trail Coach in Running Fitness, Endurance Coach, Leader in Running Fitness and UESCA Ultra Running Coach with a specialisation in sports psychology, L4 S&C coach, and youth S&C coach. Andy uses his up to date knowledge and experience of road, trail, XC and fell running to help you achieve your running goals, whether they be getting started in off road running, improving your personal best, training for a challenge of a lifetime or improving your trail running technique, he will guide you to achieve your goals.
Coaching in particular downhill and uphill running technique, testing your current fitness levels and providing a strength and conditioning plan to make you a better runner. And because he runs his local trails all the time, he can show you the best Birmingham has to offer!
Qualified through the Fell Runners Association, UKA, UESCA, and Strength and conditioning education, he has previously worked as an outdoor fitness and circuit instructor specialising in HIIT training. He was in the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment for over 6 years, which has given Andy a great track record in motivating both groups and individuals to reach their running and fitness goals.
Andy has competed in short, medium and long distance trail and fell races and ultras. He is also a competing member of Mercia Fell Runners. He has completed the Clarendon trail marathon, and Trail Marathon Wales, Race the Train (and beating it), Tough Guy, Tough Mudder, Snowdon International, Snowdon 7s, Ultra Trail Snowdonia 50, which covers 55 miles over the snowdonia mountain range and covering 16700ft of elevation. He has personally experienced the different demands, training from Road to Trail to Fell has.
Working a shift pattern in full time employment as a public servant, he truly knows the difficulties of fitting sessions into a demanding life style has and will cater for your needs.
He has successfully coached his athletes to completing various marathons and ultra marathons, amongst other events.
Leah Atherton
If it isn’t fun, you are doing it wrong
Leah is a UK Athletics qualified run coach and long-time trail runner with a wealth of experience both racing and on solo projects of distances from 10k to 600+ miles.
Having worked with Trail Run West Midlands since 2022 she has been closely involved with the Hiit the Trails sessions as well as being our resident poles expert at the Heart of England Trail Camps. As she likes to remind her groups – she’s had to learn a few things the hard way so you don’t have to, and is always ready to bring practical experience to whatever questions and challenges you have coming up.
On a personal level she has completed multiple road and trail marathons and ultras including the Loch Ness Marathon, Arc of Attrition 50mile, South West Traverse, Escape from Meriden and Tour des Fiz. Outside of racing she has fastpacked the 630 mile South West Coast Path solo and later attempted the (supported) FKT in 2020, making it 525 miles in 11 days before having to stop due to injury. She holds the women’s FKT for the North Worcestershire Path, and has run numerous UK and international long distance trails as self-supported fastpacks both alone and with groups.
A Devon transplant to the Midlands, her enthusiasm for getting out into beautiful places is infectious, and she takes her role of “friendly neighbourhood bad influence” seriously – if you’ve got a goal that scares you, then you can count on Leah to hype you up and get you believing in yourself as you work towards it while having maximum fun.
Leah will answer all your burning questions including: how to take on your first big trail event, how to work up to new distances or how to use running poles correctly.
She is an expert in the field of solo/self-supported projects and FKTs, how to crew ultras and obviously where to get the best hot chocolate and cake on the trail!