European Endurance Conference 2024

Sarah Benson has worked with England Athletics as Head of Talent Development for over two years following similar roles in athlete talent and performance development with UK Athletics, British Gymnastics and the SportScotland Institute of Sport. As a former international steeplechaser and volunteer coach within the English club system, Sarah is passionate about developing optimal talent development environments and systems to enable athletes to maximise their potential. Her role at England Athletics leads the strategic plan across multiple areas within the English talent and performance landscape including Talent Hubs, Talent Programmes, Commonwealth Games, England Teams, National Championships and domestic competition.

Andi Drake completed his PhD in the Physiological and Biomechanical Determinants of Performance in High Level Race Walkers at Coventry University in 2007, where he was a Senior Lecturer in Sport Science. In 2009, he set up the National Centre for Race Walking in a partnership between Leeds Beckett University and British Athletics. He is Manager of the England Athletics Leeds Beckett University Talent Hub, working across endurance events supporting athletes and coaches. Andi was Team GB Marathon and Race Walk Coach at the Tokyo Olympics, and coaches a group including school/university performers to Olympic athletes.

Ciara Everard has an undergraduate degree in Physiotherapy, an MSc in Sports Medicine, and has worked as a physiotherapist for over eight years. Alongside her studies and professional career, Ciara competed as a professional track and field athlete, including participating in the 2016 Olympic Games. Her own athletics career was peppered with multiple injuries, and these experiences coupled with Ciara’s professional background led her to pursing a PhD in sport injury psychology. She currently lectures in sport psychology at the University of Roehampton and works with various sporting organisations regarding the standard of care provided to injured athletes.

Dr Phil Hayes is an Assistant Professor at Northumbria University and whose PhD was on physiological factors influencing running performance. His research is mainly on topics relating to middle- and long-distance running, in particular the role of muscular strength, both acute and chronically, on running performance and offsetting fatigue-related changes in gait. Phil has also provided sport science support to numerous athletes in the north-east of England, from international athletes to club runners. Outside of academia, Phil is a UK Athletics Level 4 middle-distance running coach, working with a local athletics club.

Andrew Henderson is the England Athletics Leeds Talent Hub Head Coach. He has been a Great Britain & Northern Ireland and England Team Coach on numerous occasions since 2013. Andrew has coached athletes from junior to senior level including Alex Bell (Commonwealth 800m and Olympic 800m finalist), Emma Clayton (World and European mountain medallist), Georgia Malir (European Junior Mountain champion) and Phil Sesemann (GB international marathon runner with a PB of 2:08:02). Furthermore, Andrew received the England Athletics Dave Sunderland Endurance Coaching Award and the British Milers Coach of the Year award in 2019.

Florentina Hettinga is Professor at the Department of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation at Northumbria University, where she leads the ‘Sport, Physical Activity and Health across the lifespan’ research theme. She has >150 publications in the field of sport, exercise, and rehabilitation sciences. Florentina has explored head-to-head competition in middle-distance and endurance sports, both in the laboratory and in the field, and developed a framework to better understand competitive performance, training, exercise motivation, pacing and in-race decision-making, and interactions between athletes. She also explores novel ways to analyse large datasets of competitive performances to better understand athletes’ tactical decision-making and pacing.

Vicky Huyton is an experienced coach and coaching consultant, and the founder of the Female Coaching Network. She has spent the last 20 years examining how coaches develop and how to create safe and effective high performance environments. Vicky’s work with the Female Coaching Network has impacted the sporting landscape not just for women who coach, but for all coaches. Vicky is a keynote speaker and creator of unique online content aimed at providing a platform for female coaches, leaders and athletes. In 2021, she was nominated by UK Athletics for the World Athletics Woman of the Year Award.

Áine MacNamara is an Associate Professor in Elite Performance at Dublin City University and the Chair of the Professional Doctorate in Elite Performance (Sport). Áine’s background is in physical education, youth coaching and talent development, and she has worked in a range of sporting environments as an educator, coach educator, and consultant. Her main research interest is in talent development, youth coaching and the design, implementation and evaluation of systems and policies in sport. Áine consults with a range of sporting organisations in Ireland and the UK to help develop player development and coach development pathways and policies.

Dr Andrew Manley is Head of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences within the Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University. He is a Registered Practitioner Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council, a Chartered Sport & Exercise Psychologist with the British Psychological Society, and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Andrew has over 15 years’ experience of working with high-performing people to enhance psychological aspects of performance and well-being. Andrew is particularly passionate about the ways in which professional relationships can be optimised, and the role these interpersonal relationships play in creating “healthy high-performance” cultures.

Dane Mitchell is the lead strength conditioning coach at Leeds Beckett University. Within this role, he oversees and delivers the university sport programme alongside delivering to a wide range of partners including TASS, British Triathlon and British Athletics. His passion for endurance sports was developed through his work with many elite triathletes and track & field athletes in Leeds, including finalists and medallists at all major games.

Yann Kai Oh is a PhD researcher in the biomechanics of elite female distance runners at Leeds Beckett University. She is a qualified England Athletics coach and works on the Olympic pathway programme for promising British athletes at the Leeds Talent Hub. Her research focuses on the distinct mechanical profiles of middle- and long-distance female runners to identify key performance variables, which can then be applied in performance assessment and training development. Yann Kai holds an MSc in Sport & Exercise Science from Leeds Beckett University and a BA (Hons) in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge.

Jessica Piasecki is a Senior Lecturer in Exercise Physiology at Nottingham Trent University. She completed her PhD in 2018 in musculoskeletal ageing and has since gone on to continue her research in ageing along with developing her work in female physiology and the wider implications of the menopause. Alongside her research career, Dr Piasecki has continued to compete as an elite endurance athlete, most recently competing in the marathon at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and achieving a 12th place finish at the World Championships in 2022. 

Alison Rose is a physiotherapist and Clinic Director of CSPC Leeds. She has over 20 years’ experience working in sport. Amongst others, Alison was the physiotherapist to double Olympic Champion Dame Kelly Holmes in the last two years of her career and 2012 Olympic heptathlon gold medallist Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill throughout her career. Alison specialises in working with individuals with a complex injury history, postural alignment issues, and with chronic musculoskeletal dysfunction preventing normal activities and affecting performance. Clinical special interests include osteitis pubis and chronic pelvic dysfunction, complex injuries, visceral work, and breathing disorders that affect sporting performance.

Laura Weightman is a recently retired middle- and long-distance athlete, who represented Team GB at two Olympic Games, making the 1500m final in both 2012 and 2016. Laura has won multiple European and Commonwealth medals over 1500m and 5000m. Laura is a Leeds Beckett Sport & Exercise Science graduate who now is now transitioning into coaching and performance lifestyle working with athletes across England Athletics, British Athletics and TASS programmes.

Pippa Woolven is a former elite athlete and the founder of Project RED-S, a pioneering athlete-led initiative focused on increasing awareness and education about Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). After competing internationally in steeplechase and cross country for over a decade, Pippa transitioned her passion for athletics to advocate for athlete health and well-being, gaining a master’s degree in Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology and mentoring fellow athletes. After experiencing the condition herself and recognising its prevalence and impact, Pippa established Project RED-S in 2021, inspiring positive change and promoting a culture of sustainable performance in sport.