I completed a great course on the weekend, held by Athletics Victoria. It’s their Level 2, Recreational Running Coach accreditation, and pretty new to their education line up. I’ve been luck enough to do a little coaching of late, filling in here and there for Running Fit, and the course was terrific for both my knowledge and confidence.

In this post, I thought I’d give a wrap to the two guys that facilitated on Sunday, Nick Bowden and Tim Crosbie. I’ve written before about how lucky (I think!) Melbourne is to have such a vibrant running community. This year’s Melbourne Marathon was a record breaker for finishers, and I think that reflects on the city’s love for the caper. The local scene produces some inspirational figures, and both Nick and Tim are good examples.

Crosbie Crew
Everybody knows about the Crosbie Crew, right? Tim’s contribution to coaching in Australia has reached hundreds of people through his group. The knowledge he has gained through years of coaching all types of runners led him to develop the Recreational Running module (Tim works at AV). Whether he’s coaching a beginner or a national contender, Tim seeks to instill and foster a love of running first, knowing that’s the path to long-term improvement. He has a great passion for the sport, is an accomplished runner in his own right and most of all, he’s genuine about sharing his expertise with anyone that drinks coffee!

The Crosbie Crew is free to join (at the time of writing) and you can find out about training times etc. HERE

Run Ready
Smaller than the Crosbie Crew, Run Ready is Nick Bowden’s coaching and training business. Nick’s coaching is personal and top line, and he guides aspiring young track hopefuls (the elite) as well as the everyday plodder (the rest of us) to better running. Nick has specialized running programs for Mums, kids and people wishing to increase their foot speed for sports like footy and basketball. His portion of the course was theoretical, and his knowledge of the mechanics of running is amazing. Again, he’s a guy that’s very giving with his expertise and time and I know (personally) that he’ll help you run stronger if you get yourself under his wing.

Run Ready has regular groups and seasonal programs, all outlined on the website HERE

If either of you guys ever happens across this, thanks very much for a great course and for helping to make Melbourne’s running scene what it is.