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Meryl Cooper Coaching, Glenshee Ski Centre Cairnwell, Braemar Aberdeenshire, Ballater (2026)

21/05/2026

May racing round up part 1!

There have been lots of training races happening lately for runners that I coach!
runs has been enjoying the Scottish hill running scene taking on the Stuc a’Chroin race and also the Scottish Islands Peaks Race. Neither have been the main focus for her training so she has done really well in them whilst not being super specifically trained 👏🏼 . Fastest female run pair at the SIPR and first in age category at the
Long classic hill race.

Clare has been running really well in some local races near Aberdeen over the last few weeks setting some improved times from last year. She did this at the Longside Loop 10 mile race. She also ran well at the Duthie Park 10K and has improved her times at park run! Well done Clare!

Mary has been doing some local races as part of her prep. She covered the hilly John Wayne 50K in sub 6.5 hours and also enjoyed running La Jolla half marathon the week after. She is stacking up some really impressive weeks and big back to back days with lots of hard work going into working out her fuelling strategy for the WHW.

took on the Pressendye hill race, ticking off another race for his club championship. Great running despite a lot of time cross training recently due to a ni**le!

I am a bit behind in my posts but next we will celebrate great performances at and !!

#2026

01/05/2026

London marathon and Beecraigs Backyard Ultra round up

More great running from last weekend in the sunshine! ☀️

ran a PB at London marathon! I was following intently from half way in. Fortunately, I had not seen that he was estimated for a 3h 10 marathon at the 10K mark or the baby 👶 might have come early 🤣🤣. Brilliant running though to come away with a PB still and a great time of 3h 48. He says never again for a road marathon but I am going to say that if he went out with the 3h 30 pacer… I wonder what he could have ran 🤪

took on his first backyard ultra and he did a brilliant job running 24 laps!!!! This is a very impressive debut and this is down to what I know would have been some superb preparation for all the things he could control on the day and great self-management throughout. Well done!! 👏🏼

29/04/2026

Parents of primary school age kids; this post is for you!

Here’s our elder Green Grocerette (she does think it’s her shop!) picking her veg to get her Be Well Fruit & Veg badge for Rainbows!

Whether it’s to get a badge or just help with healthy eating, kids can come in and get 5 pieces of fruit for just £1!

Perfect for taking a piece each day for school break time, we find kids are really keen to eat their fruit when they’ve picked it themselves and hopefully this is a great encouragement to get kids eating more fruit and veg!

28/04/2026

Devil o’ the Highlands footrace round up

What a weekend!! ☀️ 😎

ran another fantastic race to add to an impressive array of ultra results of late! 6:04 is such a great time at this race and in hot conditions! Delighted for Daniel and the amazing progress he is making 💪🏽 He can be VERY proud of his race ex*****on 👌🏼 7th place in a very strong field
runs.ultras also had a great day out despite battling nausea for a lot of the race. This was a training run for the WHW race which is her exciting A race for the year!! She exceeded her time goal despite feeling crap for a good part and taking it pretty easy! Very pleasing progress again. It is great to see Sarah finishing so strong and managing to overcome such challenges 🙌🏼🙌🏼

25/04/2026

Runthrough trails Lake District, the Big Cheese and Sandnes Trail round up!

In mid April we saw take on the Lake District 48K. He had a really good race, managed some challenges well, finished strong and really enjoyed the route and race! Top 50 finish in a very competitive field and 5th in category. 👏🏼👏🏼

was running at The Big Cheese race earlier this month. It is an off road trail race in the Mendip hills - 15 miles with over 2000ft of elevation gain. She took a brilliant 13 mins off her previous best time on the course! Well done!

Paul is building up for the 100 mile race at the end of May and did the Sandnes Ultra Trail 43K with 2500m of ascent as a training run. He did really well and recovery is going good too post race. He finished the race strong which bodes well for the next challenge 💪🏽 plus was able to give his race nutrition a good test over a long race effort.

#2026

16/04/2026

Simon is a MDS legendary 40th year finisher!

Simon completed the MDS on April 11 in the Moroccan Sahara, finishing the 270km, six-stage race in 43 hours and 34 minutes! 🏃 🐪 🌵

The 40th edition of the iconic desert ultra saw over 1,500 runners from 68 countries endure extreme heat, dunes, and a historic 100km stage (for stage 4)— the longest in race history!

Simon’s preparations were meticulous 👏🏼 🫡He was 100% committed to the process doing many training runs with his pack, on sand, heat training plus researching everything he can to possibly maximise for efficiency.

He paced the stage race brilliantly, looking after himself really well over stages 1-3 so he could have a strong long, 100K stage! Turned out he also then had a really strong marathon day too after this before then tackling the final day which was a half marathon.

It was a pleasure to coach him through this process and I take very little credit for his result! I think the true credit must go to Simon and also his wife/family who have supported him through the months of training. It will have been a true team effort 💪🏽

Simon is also raising money for so please support if you can!

https://www.justgiving.com/page/simons-mds?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL

Well done simon 👏🏼 .si

14/04/2026

Moray Marathon round up

Huge congratulations to Rob who completed his 40th birthday year challenge and ran a new marathon PB (to add to his collection 5K, 10K & half marathon PBs in the last year) at the running event on the 5th of April

3:13:04, 6th in age category

It was a great effort despite reduced running beforehand due to a slight ni**le! Also, going into the very strong headwind at the 32K mark (which can often be challenging enough) was an additional unwanted element he had to navigate!

As always he kept his positive mindset and did the best he could in the moment 💪🏽💪🏽
Excited for what Rob does next!

📸:

02/04/2026

‘Not the Lakes or Dales Traverse’ round up

After sadly folded I had 3 runners who had worked incredibly hard for races, had done all the training (all were in taper) but now they didn’t have a race. What they all did next, however, was super impressive…

Huge congratulations to .brechin for finishing 2nd female at 55!! 🥈 Kim showed incredible resilience taking on this race one week earlier and on a course she had not ran any of! She had a really strong race!! Kim had invested a lot into the Lakes Traverse race, having recced the majority of the course over two separate trips. She very quickly got over the disappointment and sorted out a plan B. Super impressive! (Also, very grateful to the race directors who opened up more places in the race to accommodate runners like Kim!)

Lynne .ultra also did something amazing. She decided to run the Dales Traverse route still, solo, and not as part of a race on Sunday past. This was in pretty horrific weather and she completed most of the low level/bad weather route. Lynne can be very proud of this! This was her first very big day out after an unfortunate ankle break which curtailed her last planned race. She has brilliantly and patiently rehabbed herself back and to do what she did on Sunday without the race vibes was so impressive. Lynne is back!! 💪🏽💪🏽

#2026

31/03/2026

Training races round up

There have been lots of great training races lately that I want to share!

The D33 took place on Saturday 14th. .si took this race on as a final big effort ahead of the in April. He was carrying some extra weight in the MDS race pack and ran a strong race. He had some big challenges in this race last year but has fully overcome these now with some great training banked 💪🏽 Please see link in bio - he is raising money for a great cause

Congratulations to Mary who ran the mermaid half marathon in San Diego in a super fast time taking 1st in the F50 age category in a time of 1:44:02. Super impressive and she continues a great build for the (she did another long run the day after this race!)

Last weekend ran the 20 miles along the forth. He had a really strong race, maintaining good pace and effort level throughout. He is in a great place for the next few races of the season. Well done!

Going back to the start of March, Clare ran well at the Culzean 10K, going out her comfort zone on the trails. Well done Clare 💪🏽 so good to see!

#2026

16/03/2026

LA marathon and Inverness half round up

Huge congratulations firstly to who ran her debut marathon at the LA marathon in 3 hours 48 mins at just 20 years old! Jasmine is the youngest runner I have ever coached on a plan and it was sooo great to work with her. I coached her Dad to run his first marathon a few years ago and now Jasmine too which makes this one even more special! She did so well in training and the race itself, running so many distance milestones and getting ready in less time than most marathon blocks due to an injury in early weeks. Well done Jasmine!!

Huge congratulations to who ran 1:25:35 👏🏼 at Inverness half marathon. This was another great PB (7 minutes!) to add to his big 4-0 birthday year of running challenges having already ticked off a 5K and 10K PB. Moray marathon next!! 💪🏽💪🏽 Rob keeps proving that you can very much get faster still at 40 (which makes coach happy with that birthday ahead this year too 🤣)

Also, huge congratulations to .richard who, despite having a one of his less consistent training blocks, ran a huge PB of 1:26:42 (taking 5 mins off his last half marathon time). A good reminder that a lot of good aerobic building has happened since then still and it’s not just the final few weeks before a race that counts! Very impressive racing.

#2026

01/03/2026

round up!

A great snow covering for this years race meaning the crampons were on for the duration! There were some pretty challenging running conditions after dark up on the final two climbs.

Huge congratulations to:
who was 1st V40 and 5th female overall 💪🏽brechin who finished 8th female (currently also in a punchy block of training for the Lake Traverse! 🫡)

Some great consistency in training from both of these ladies is really paying off! It was great seeing them both enjoying the race so much yesterday too 💪🏽

📸: pic 1, Me! Pic 2

#2026

Meryl Cooper Coaching

21/05/2026

01/05/2026

29/04/2026

28/04/2026

25/04/2026

16/04/2026

14/04/2026

02/04/2026

31/03/2026

16/03/2026

01/03/2026

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