Marathon Coaching Consultants- MARKET RESEARCH

forestgump123

Hi all,

I am doing some market research for my uni degree and would like your opinion. I have seen some of these businesses overseas but not to many here in Ireland. What im asking is- would you pay for someone to give you advice/guidance on running your first/next marathon, half marathon, 10k, 5k etc?

The idea is a marathon/running coaching consultant- giving you full 8, 12, 16 week progressive individualised training programmes. But not only programmes, also advice on nutrition, injury prevention, 1 on 1 coaching and group training. Target audience would be people who are new to the sport of running or a seasoned veteran looking for a personal best.

With the running boom at present, I feel that there is a target audience for such a business but need your opinion as runners. Would you pay for this service? And how much would you pay?

ThePiedPiper

I probably wouldn't pay for it. There are enough freely available plans out there for the novice runner to work from. An intermediate runner will more than likely invest in a decent book and follow a plan from there or else join a club or a group and have a coach of some sort. That's my opinion anyway.

RayCun

I wouldn't pay either - boards, books, and clubs for me - but isn't there a crowd (Irishfit?) that charge for a marathon training programme, run in the park through the summer?

forestgump123

Thanks for reply. Trying to get as many opinions as I can.. Cheers

opus

I got a free sub to a bunch in the UK called Full Potential running club so out of interest I joined, they sent me a generic marathon training plan with no real guidelines on pacing etc despite asking in advance for my current best time & what I hoped to achieve in the next one.

In fact I offered a second code here a few weeks ago but got no takers

Would I pay for it, the answer would have to be no given the amount of free advice/guidance/experience that's available in this very forum!

menoscemo

RayCun wrote: »

but isn't there a crowd (Irishfit?) that charge for a marathon training programme, run in the park through the summer?

Yeah, I have never understood this. We often saw them in the papal cross car park as our own group were meeting up for our LSR's on a saturday morning. Funny thing is they would just meet up and then all charge off at their own pace with their mypods on. Why pay for that?

ecoli

I think there are a host of problems with this

- What qualifications does the coach have
- their running experiences
- Their track result as a coach

When you look to alot of the (decent ones anyway) you see that many of the coaches have masters or doctorite in exercise science or other fields. While this does not automatically make them good coaches atleast the athlete knows that they have some sort of expertise in the field

Also comparing US to Ireland is impossible to do as coaching in the US is a plausible job opportunity. Being a High School/ College Coach or indeed an Elite coach is a full time job and these people are paid to do it compared to the voluntary set up in Ireland. Over there the mindset is different and as such people will pay these online coaches simply because all (most) coaches over there are paid. Here however there is so much free coaching that simply put why would people pay for something they get free, this way they can try and test a wide range of advice and if it doesnt work they are not out of pocket however if they paid for it and didnt work out for what ever reason they feel personally aggrieved and as such the sites would get bad reputations very quickly. As such I don't think it is a viable market in this country personally at the current time due to the cultural mindset

RacoonQueen

Of course I would. Triathletes hire online coaches all the time and a member of this forum had an online coach for their marathon this year and did really well out of it. Once it was a reputable company who give you the one on one attention there's no reason not to, it's the same as hiring an offline coach.

How much I'd pay would depend on what I could afford. McMillan offers that service and sends customised plans for distances of 5k upwards, then does the one on one online coaching aswell. Fairly pricey like. :eek: If I had the money for a coach though, I'd probably hire one who I could meet up with face to face and who could watch me train etc

forestgump123

Great feedback folks. Keep it comin

Krusty_Clown

Are you talking about remote-support type environments, e.g. coaching and advice over the internet/e-mail etc? If so, it really doesn't make any different whether they are located in Ireland or abroad. The market is much the same.

I don't think Irish people would have an absolute affinity to using an Irish provider. They are more likely to go for the company that provides the best results and has the best reputation (whether they are Irish, American or International). Sure if the Irish provider has a good reputation, we will optimally choose to buy Irish, but I reckon reputation, results and value for money are a higher priority.

RoyMcC

Personally no. I think you would need to build a body of evidence that your coaching works and that you have a good set of references before you'd hope to make a business of it.

donothoponpop

forestgump123 wrote: »

The idea is a marathon/running coaching consultant- giving you full 8, 12, 16 week progressive individualised training programmes. But not only programmes, also advice on nutrition, injury prevention, 1 on 1 coaching and group training. Target audience would be people who are new to the sport of running or a seasoned veteran looking for a personal best.

With the running boom at present, I feel that there is a target audience for such a business but need your opinion as runners. Would you pay for this service? And how much would you pay?

Not a chance. There's nothing a newbie or seasoned vet could get, that they couldn't get free from a forum such as this. There's a million bits of free advice that will help any newbie improve. After that, they can step up a level, and get individual advice for the cost of a club subscription. If they were then hitting podium places in decent competitions, a personal coach might be worth paying for, based on said coaches expertise. At that stage there would be a decent return on any investment, but that's a long way off your target audience.

So in short, a newbie should only pay the same for advice as you've paid for market research;)

RacoonQueen

But you don't get individulaised training programmes or one on one coaching on here...

ecoli

RacoonQueen wrote: »

But you don't get individulaised training programmes or one on one coaching on here...

But you get your specific questions usually answered in relation to your particular circumstances

If you look to examples like Clearier you find them always asking training background/injury history etc in order to give specifically tailored answers.

donothoponpop

RacoonQueen wrote: »

But you don't get individulaised training programmes or one on one coaching on here...

Not needed for 99% of the posters here, in order for times to improve. There's a lot more basic changes they could make to their training, based on free advice here, before they would reach a stage where one on one coaching would pay off.

BeepBeep67

Our club coach will do you a personalized plan for the price of a cup of coffee, then you text or email him your weekly updates and meet up every few weeks - 16 week plan will probably cost 4 Americanos

TFBubendorfer

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Of course I would. Triathletes hire online coaches all the time and a member of this forum had an online coach for their marathon this year and did really well out of it.

But I did not pay for mine!

The experience of training with a coach was positive enough for me to look into this again, but basically I was shocked by the cost.

Even without the financial aspect, I would only go for a coach that I fully trust, and there are not many around.

earlyevening

donothoponpop wrote: »

Not a chance. There's nothing a newbie or seasoned vet could get, that they couldn't get free from a forum such as this. There's a million bits of free advice that will help any newbie improve. After that, they can step up a level, and get individual advice for the cost of a club subscription. If they were then hitting podium places in decent competitions, a personal coach might be worth paying for, based on said coaches expertise. At that stage there would be a decent return on any investment, but that's a long way off your target audience.

+1

Rantan

I dont know - I agree with most of the sentiment posted here, I'm running 5yr now, everything I know is from here/web/one or two books and the guy at work. I am at a cross roads now -I bombed in DCM last week and have finally learned that running is about more than marathon training and am really determined to go through the correct steps and build on 5m 10k etc. The logical step for me now is to join a club..however..I have always been scared of running clubs and club runners...I cant explain it but the thought of me rolling up to the local harriers with all these really strong experienced runners scares me!! Yes its pathetic but I cant help it...when I think about it I feel like that shy 8yr old going to cubs for the first time ..."noooo mammy I dont want to go in...all the big lads are in there looking at me!!":o:o
My point is that for people like me who like the solitude of running and are a bit weird about it in a billy no mates kind of way - there might just be a place for a service like this, for me proven track record and affordaility would be key..( I hope to grow up any day now though and just join the local club)..

RayCun

Rantan wrote: »

The logical step for me now is to join a club..however..I have always been scared of running clubs and club runners...I cant explain it but the thought of me rolling up to the local harriers with all these really strong experienced runners scares me!!

Your local club will have really strong, experienced runners - and that's great, because they're the people you'll learn from.
But it will also have people who are much less experienced, and much slower most likely, than you.

RacoonQueen

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

But I did not pay for mine!

But your experience did underline the benefits of a coach who is working specifically with you, you were already more than capable of going sub 3 the individual coaching was obviously a big help to you, right? You were very complimentary about it. Very few people on this forum are qualified to provide that sort of a service. They can provide advice and guidance which is not the same thing.

metamorphosis

If i were to pay for a coaching consultant it would want to be someone who i know is more than just an expert with running but will also take into account and have expertise in

-strength and conditioning for endurance athletes
-flexibility for endurance athletes
-nutrition for endurance athletes and be up to date with the science of nutrition
-know my bio mechanics and examine them

In short, I wouldn't pay for such a service that you suggest as it can be easily already be gotten for free through numerous ways so that you cn do it yourself (apart from biomechanics etc) BUT such a service should, I think, encompass all of the above. Many people who are not good at self coaching and learning will benefit, I do see a market but not a huge one tbh. I dont think it would work as a business just for marathons in and off itself

TFBubendorfer

RacoonQueen wrote: »

But your experience did underline the benefits of a coach who is working specifically with you, you were already more than capable of going sub 3 the individual coaching was obviously a big help to you, right? You were very complimentary about it. Very few people on this forum are qualified to provide that sort of a service. They can provide advice and guidance which is not the same thing.

Oh absolutely, it was a fantastic opportunity and I still cannot believe I had been lucky enough to be coached by a great coach for nothing more than one postcard!

At the same time I don't think I'll ever find an internet coach that will provide a service as good as the one I received, and quite frankly the cost of the online coaches I looked at is just staggering.

village runner

donothoponpop wrote: »

Not a chance. There's nothing a newbie or seasoned vet could get, that they couldn't get free from a forum such as this. There's a million bits of free advice that will help any newbie improve. After that, they can step up a level, and get individual advice for the cost of a club subscription. If they were then hitting podium places in decent competitions, a personal coach might be worth paying for, based on said coaches expertise. At that stage there would be a decent return on any investment, but that's a long way off your target audience.

So in short, a newbie should only pay the same for advice as you've paid for market research;)

What if the coach said you dont pay unless you hit a pb.
For example what if the coach said you would break 3 hours would you pay 200 euro for the experience ?
I helped two people for dublin. Both had pbs by more than 15 minutes. Those two would have paid big time. Lets put it this way I was asked for help for the nxt one. I prefer to use barter.

Emer911

village runner wrote: »

What if the coach said you dont pay unless you hit a pb.
For example what if the coach said you would break 3 hours would you pay 200 euro for the experience ?
I helped two people for dublin. Both had pbs by more than 15 minutes. Those two would have paid big time. Lets put it this way I was asked for help for the nxt one. I prefer to use barter.

Now there's an idea that most of us <tight feicers> could go for.;)
Don't know if it's a viable business model though

pconn062

I agree with Ray, there is a wealth of knowledge available in your local club (at least there is in mine),without the need to pay big fees apart from the joining fee which is normally minimal. You get a good mix of excellent club runners and coaches who are very willing to pass on advice and encouragement.