Katy Barden speaks to a solicitor who also has a wealth of experience when it comes to guiding endurance runners
Andy Hobdell is a senior solicitor specialising in criminal law. In addition to his ‘day’ job where he deals with a wide range of cases within the magistrates’ court and the Crown Court, he is also a highly regarded endurance coach and has guided athletes to four Olympic Games.
Most recently recruited by Hoka and working with the Hoka-supported Team Makou – a professional group that includes Callum Elson, Rory Leonard, Scott Beattie, Ellis Cross, Efrem Gidey and Sarah Astin – Hobdell continues to coach Hoka-sponsored athletes Tom Anderson and Simon Bédard, as well as a host of other runners that range from those targeting their first 5km through to club athletes who are on the cusp of breaking through to international teams.
How did you get into coaching?
It was pure chance. I never set out to be a coach. I loved running and I grew up in an era with some of the greats of our sport. In my late-20s/early 30s, as I was coming towards the end of my own running career, a 13-year-old lad [Mark Draper] turned up to one of my jogging groups. We went for a five-mile run and as I tried to push the pace he was still there. We were clipping along at six-minute miles and he was just chatting away. To cut a long story short, he kept turning up and after a few weeks he asked if I could help him get fit for his county schools championships. I wasn’t his coach, I was just helping him out, but after he won that race he came up to me – and I’ll never forget it – and said: ‘Thanks coach’, and that’s where it started.
Andy Hobdell (Charlie McCarthy)
Has your coaching philosophy changed over the years?
It’s changed massively. As a young coach I felt really sorry for the likes of Drapes [Mark Draper], Katrina [Katrina Wootton] and Badders [Andy Baddeley], because I learnt through them. We made some mistakes in the early days but we learnt together.
I remember with Badders, we went to his first European Indoor Champs in Madrid and he got knocked out in the first round. We’d pushed too hard in training and he was cooked. I went to the warm down track and Mark Rowland just looked at me and said: ‘Alright coach?’. He said: ‘This is where you earn your stripes, this is where you go in and sort things out, and you come back and you’re better.’ They’re true words and that’s what coaching is about, it’s about working together.
The guys I look after now have the benefit of the 28 years I’ve been in the sport as a coach. I’m more experienced and I’m very clear on when to push, when to hold back and when enough is enough. We know what works; we’ll work hard when we have to work hard, but if it’s the time to hold back, I’ll hold them back.
Andy Baddeley at London 2012 (Mark Shearman)
You joined Hoka as a coach last year. How did that come about and why is Team Makou such a good fit for you?
I received a call from Hoka about 18 months ago asking if I’d like to work with them as a coach. I was already coaching Tom Anderson and as things progressed I began working with Rory, Scott and Ellis.
Callum Elson joined us on a camp in South Africa in January – he’d signed for Hoka but I wasn’t coaching him at that point – then quite soon after that I started to coach Efrem Gidey, so we then had these five guys working and training hard together.
The boys, with the support of Hoka, then started Team Makou. It was very organic, and from my point of view I was very lucky. I only work with people who are committed, who have the right mindset, the right chemistry, and who want to buy into my coaching philosophy, and this is the first time that I’ve had the opportunity to work as a coach with a team of such talented athletes.
I want to create an environment where the athletes are 100 per cent focused on their training and want to train hard, but once the session is done they can then enjoy the post-training buzz and have that post-session banter which is much needed. There’s no better way to get 110-mile weeks done than running with your mates, getting the same work done and having a laugh along the way. There aren’t too many places in the UK, or even the world, where you can get six or seven guys working together who are all running under 13:30 for 5km, or sub-28 minutes for 10km. That’s quite special, isn’t it?
Andy Hobdell (Charlie McCarthy)
What are the challenges of working with different personalities within the team?
Experience helps, and the fact that I’m invested. You get to learn about the athletes individually, what makes them tick, what gets them excited and what they need from training by way of emotional support, but that’s the exciting part I think as a coach. It’s not just about writing a training schedule and saying: ‘Just get on with it’, it’s about seeing how each athlete responds to the training stimulus and pushing them on.
Ultimately, they’re human beings just like everyone else. They’re so committed and focused on what they’re doing that it upsets them if they don’t perform to the level they want to or expect. But it’s like anything, you give them a bit of space, sometimes you might just give them a hug, and you pick them up by getting them to put one foot in front of the other and getting back on it. I’ve always believed that once you start to perform in training that lifts you and all of a sudden you’re more positive about everything.
Liverpool Cross Challenge men’s leaders (Gary Mitchell)
Do you find it hard to manage expectations when there’s so much potential within the group?
I think the athletes all realise that there will be highs and lows along the way. They know the process and what we’re focusing on, but if we’re committed and we continue to work hard, then the high standards that we set are achievable.
They’re all improving and we’re doing the right things. We’re keeping it simple, they’re working together, getting the work done, and they’re getting the rewards. They’re all very different but they give and take from each other. It’s a process, and one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learnt in coaching is not to rush the process.
What the guys and Sarah are doing just now is something that’s needed in our sport. It’s showing that hard work and working together takes things forward. It’s showing other runners that it can be fun and exciting and you’re not totally reliant on federation funding, because this has been very much supported and driven by Hoka. It’s not an easy thing to do, but we’re building something quite special and I think if we can carry on as we are, getting the work done, then who knows what can happen?
Also, the standards being given to athletes today are unbelievable. 27 minutes for 10km is absolutely bonkers. To be able to do that you need to have the right backing from your coach, from your team-mates and from your brand. You need all the help you can get and that’s what we’re all about.
What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in athletics since you first got involved?
When we first started in this sport social media wasn’t a big thing. The standards that the athletes have to achieve now are harder, but the pressure put on them by social media is off the scale.
It’s also a distraction and I’ve experienced that with one or two athletes over the years when they turn up to training and say: ‘Why aren’t we doing this or that?’. It can be very difficult for an athlete who isn’t 100 per cent committed to the coach and who is distracted by other training ideas and philosophies that they hear about or see on social media.
I make it quite clear fairly early on that I’m as invested as the next person in helping someone in their running career, but there has to be an understanding that if I’m invested, then they have to be equally invested; they have do what’s asked of them to the best of their ability so we can work together to help them become a better runner. It’s as simple as that. I’ve always felt that I’m old school with a forward-thinking philosophy, so I’ll look at everything else that’s going on and I’ll decide what we will and won’t use.
What keeps you going?
When I first started coaching it was with Drapes, then Katrina, then Badders. They were all lovely people and a pleasure to work with. As coaches we don’t get rich off the sport, we get rich off the memories and what our athletes do. We get rich off them enjoying the sport and that’s what it’s all about for me. I can’t think of anything better than working with an athlete and getting them to the stage where they perform and do something way beyond what they ever thought was possible. It just puts a smile on my face. It’s like: ‘There you go, I told you that you could do it’. It’s having belief in an athlete’s ability and showing them that they can do more than they think they can. It’s a very simple thing, but it’s very special.
» This article first appeared in the December issue of AW magazine. Subscribe to AW magazine here, check out our new podcast here or sign up to our digital archive of back issues from 1945 to the present day here
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