Become a Race Mentor
Guide athletes preparing for races you have completed
This is not traditional coaching. It is structured, race-specific mentoring where your lived experience shapes better decisions.
What is a Race Mentor?
A Race Mentor is someone who has personally completed a specific target race themselves.
This is more involved than one-off plan writing. It is less involved than full high-touch coaching. It is structured, template-led, race-specific mentoring.
What Race Mentors Actually Do
You will:
- ✓Start from a proven race-specific training template
- ✓Review the athlete's intake and circumstances
- ✓Personalise the plan based on their situation
- ✓Keep an eye on progress at a sensible level
- ✓Adjust the plan when circumstances change
- ✓Use your lived race experience to make better judgments
- ✓Communicate clearly and practically
- ✓Make race-specific decisions that matter
You are not expected to:
- ✗Write every plan from scratch
- ✗Provide daily support or coaching
- ✗Run frequent Zoom calls
- ✗Be available at all hours
- ✗Manage general fitness coaching
- ✗Handle races you haven't completed
- ✗Build detailed training plans—use templates
- ✗Provide sports medicine or physio advice
Why This Role Exists
Generic coaching is not enough for these races
Races like Marathon des Sables, Sahara Race, and Grand to Grand Ultra demand more than mileage. They demand judgment shaped by completing the exact event. A mentor who has done it understands the multi-day fatigue, the heat adaptation, the mental challenge, the gear that matters and the gear that doesn't.
Lived experience changes decisions
You know what felt easy and what felt impossible. You know what you wish you had trained differently. You know what surprised you. You can tell an athlete: "Most people neglect back-to-back running. I thought I was prepared, but the multi-day fatigue was harder than expected. Let's make sure you're ready for that." That is not generic theory. That is practical judgment.
The structure already exists
We have built proven race-specific templates. Your role is not to invent training plans. It is to personalise and adjust them based on the athlete's situation and the judgment only you can bring.
How This Is Different
Traditional Coaching
Frequent calls or check-ins
Builds plans from scratch
Daily support
Covers many races
Template-based adjustments
Race-specific judgment
Race Mentor Role
Frequent calls or check-ins
Builds plans from scratch
Daily support
Covers many races
Template-based adjustments
Race-specific judgment
One-Off Plan Writing
Frequent calls or check-ins
Builds plans from scratch
Daily support
Covers many races
Template-based adjustments
Race-specific judgment
Why Your Lived Race Experience Matters
You have completed the race. You know what it was actually like.
These insights—born from completing the race yourself—are what athletes need. You understand:
- •What the race actually demands (not what training forums say)
- •What mattered in your preparation
- •What turned out to be unnecessary
- •What you would now prioritize differently
- •What surprised you
- •What the race felt like at mile 80, when fatigue is real
- •What mental challenges arise
- •What gear actually matters
Ready to learn more?
Understand how the mentor role works, what we expect, and how to apply.
See How It Works