Liz Yelling Keeps Running as a Big Part of Her Life, Even After Retiring from Racing

Today I’m doing my best to try and keep up with elite distance runner Liz Yelling.

Liz Yelling

Liz is probably most well known on the elite world stage as a marathoner, having run in 2 Olympics and medaling at the Commonwealth Games.

But Liz through me for a bit of a loop when she said that she actually prefers racing the half a little bit more than the full.

The Early Days to the World Stage

When Liz starting running as a girl, she was one of the fastest kids in her school and her club.

Even though she had a chance to represent England internationally at a young age, she didn’t think she had a chance to be an Olympian until her late 20s.

As she was coming up through the ranks, she was able to travel to some beautiful parts of the world because of running.

And the more opportunities she had to represent Great Britain, the more an Olympic dream started to become a reality.

Liz Yelling Running for Team GB

The 2004 and 2008 Olympics

Liz competed in the marathon at both the Athens and the Beijing games.

As you might imagine, both experiences were amazing. And they were also quite different experiences.

Beyond the more superficial differences of culture and locations in the games, Liz’s experiences at the two Olympics were also quite different.

In 2004, Liz was running in her second ever marathon and was still learning about what it’s like to run that type of distance against that level of competition.

In 2008, Liz was a much more mature marathoner and was going into the competition with a clearer sense of what to expect and what she was trying to accomplish.

The Next Phase of Her Running Career: Coaching

Since hanging up her competitive running shoes, Liz has found that coaching other runners helps keep her engaged with the sport that she loves.

And unlike me, Liz doesn’t get too nervous/antsy when her runners are racing!

But she did admit that coaching can still be a bit of an emotional roller coaster, but it’s definitely worth it!

If you’d like to connect further with Liz, you can check out her website and say hi to her on Twitter.

Talking with @girlwhatruns about #running in the Olympics & what running is like for her now. Click To Tweet

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