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From First Ultra to Team GB | Meryl Cooper
82 Plays10 hours ago
In this episode of the UKRunChat podcast, we’re joined by Meryl Cooper, who has represented Britain on the international ultra stage.
Hailing from Aberdeenshire, Meryl shares her journey from a background in football to discovering trail and ultra running in 2017, and how quickly the sport became a defining part of her life. We explore her progression from early races to earning selection for Great Britain & Northern Ireland, and what it’s really like stepping onto the international stage in mountain and trail running.
Meryl reflects on racing at home and abroad, adapting to different terrains and conditions, and the lessons she’s learned through both strong performances and tougher race days. She talks openly about the mental and physical demands of ultra running, how her approach to racing has evolved over time, and what keeps her motivated to take on long, mountainous challenges.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Growing up in Aberdeenshire and early involvement in sport
- Moving from football into trail and ultra running
- Discovering ultras in 2017 and progressing through the sport
- Being selected to represent Great Britain internationally
- Racing abroad and adapting to different courses and conditions
- The physical and mental challenges of long-distance trail racing
- Learning from both successful races and difficult days
- How her mindset and racing approach have evolved
- What continues to motivate her in trail and ultra running
About Meryl Cooper
- British Ultra-Trail Champion (2021)
- Represented Great Britain & Northern Ireland at the World Trail Running Championships (2019)
- Represented GB at the World Mountain & Trail Running Championships (2022, 2023)
- Competed at the European Off-Road Running Championships (2024)
- Winner of the Swiss Alps 100k (2025)
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the UKRunChat podcast and share it with a fellow runner.
Follow Meryl
Photo credit: Stuart Ross Media
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Transcript
Introduction to Meryl Cooper's Athletic Journey
00:00:00
UKRunChat
Welcome to the UK Run Chat Podcast. I'm Michelle and today I'm joined by Meryl Cooper. Meryl hails from Aberdeenshire and came into endurance sport via football before discovering ultra running in 2017. Just two years later, she was pulling on a GB vest at the World Trail Running Championships, the start of an international career that's seen her represent her country across the world and European Championships in mountain and trail running. She's a former British ultra trail champion So really excited to speak to her today. I'm hoping to find out about her journey into ultras, racing internationally, and some of the places and moments that have shaped Meryl as an
Running and Pregnancy: Adjustments and Challenges
00:00:42
UKRunChat
athlete. Hi, Meryl. Thank you so much for coming on to the podcast today. It's really nice to meet you.
00:00:47
Meryl
Thank you. It's nice meet you too. And thanks for that lovely introduction.
00:00:52
UKRunChat
well wellll Yeah, well, yeah, we'll kind of we'll get into how you you pulled in you pulled on that Team GB vest. But and kind of where are you right now with your running and what what did today's run look like?
00:01:02
UKRunChat
You've just been for a run today as well, same as I have, haven't you?
00:01:05
Meryl
Yeah, I have. and So where am I at the moment? So at the moment, I'm not sure if you you know this actually, but I'm actually pregnant. I'm actually 17 weeks pregnant, nearly 18 weeks.
00:01:18
UKRunChat
Oh, congratulations.
00:01:20
Meryl
so yeah, and my running is looking very different at the moment. and So today's run, and I've had a bit of nausea coming back. I'm not feeling actually very optimal.
00:01:32
Meryl
But I went out and we did do eight, nearly 9km. I was with the dog, mainly on trail, mostly on trail and along the river.
00:01:43
Meryl
and it was, yeah, very wet. Sometime, i at one point I decided I was just going to stop running and just walk. But then I actually realized I didn't have enough time to do that. So we kept running.
00:01:54
Meryl
We just turned around and, yeah. So it wasn't, it was a fun run, but I wasn't feeling my best, actually. But we got it. We got out there and just went really easy.
00:02:06
Meryl
So, yeah, that was it.
00:02:08
UKRunChat
Yeah, oh, nice. So your dog is quite, is your dog good off the lead? Mine needs to be on a lead all the time.
00:02:12
Meryl
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
00:02:14
UKRunChat
She's a bit, yeah, she's a bit a
00:02:17
Meryl
Yeah, he's amazing off the leader You know, I have to say I'm so grateful. He's actually terrible on a lead. So I've got the opposite.
00:02:24
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:02:24
Meryl
Yeah.
00:02:27
UKRunChat
Oh, so running is looking a bit different for you at the moment then.
Exploring Sports During Pregnancy
00:02:30
Meryl
Yeah.
00:02:30
UKRunChat
yeah. yeah
00:02:32
Meryl
It is, but I like and really hope, sorry,
00:02:32
UKRunChat
So you're finding yourself needing to slow down yet?
00:02:37
UKRunChat
Are you finding yourself needing to slow down a bit and and ease back a little bit?
00:02:41
Meryl
just just day to day, completely different. So, and I've just decided I'm going to just go with it, how I'm feeling every day. And rather than try and follow any kind of plan at the moment, if I feel good, I'll and maybe throw in some intervals or push a little bit more. And if I'm not, then like I'm not doing anything. I'm not doing much, but i I am like prioritizing things like my strength work and pelvic floor work and things like that. So I'm also like, and I'm actually hoping also to play like some gentle squash this week and some golf. I've started doing few more lessons in practice with my golf, you know, so just,
00:03:28
Meryl
I love sports so much that um obviously i love running the most, but I feel like it's, yeah, I quite want to do like just some other bits whilst I can, because I know it's going to be gone for a while.
00:03:44
Meryl
um So yeah, just doing as much as as much as I can when I feel like it. Yeah.
00:03:50
UKRunChat
Yeah. ah Yeah. Well, not not gone completely, just just different. Yeah, I think.
00:03:54
Meryl
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, definitely. and I did have to have a bit of time off and in the first trimester, probably about six weeks where I was advised not to run.
00:04:06
Meryl
um And so that was interesting, but I've managed to get back to running after quite easily with no problems. So really chuffed with that. But yeah, I think there's just so many changes in your body.
00:04:19
Meryl
I've just got to listen to it and be prepared to stop if needed.
00:04:22
UKRunChat
Yeah, yeah, that's really flexible. Yeah. Yeah. So it's clear you've always done a lot of sport then. Have you have you always
Early Sports Experiences and Discovering Running
00:04:30
UKRunChat
been, what when did running start for you you?
00:04:30
Meryl
yeah
00:04:32
UKRunChat
Because you started off with football, is that right?
00:04:35
Meryl
yeah yeah just um yeah as a as a child I just did all different kind of sports I think I only very briefly did a little bit of athletics I didn't particularly enjoy it and the club was really small um so I preferred going along where you know I'd team and it was more fun and just you know that it's like when you're younger you gotta go where your friends are and uh but just yeah I love trying all sorts of different sports and um running probably like I dabbled I remember i think again it kind of just came and went with transitions in life so like when I started my first full-time job it was like the easiest way when you were busier and I was busier to go out and and do
00:05:01
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:05:25
Meryl
you know, just go out and So I think that was probably around 2007 or something. I did a little bit. And I remember I ran Edinburgh 10K then. And then I didn't run for years until the by ah you about, about 2015.
00:05:45
Meryl
um And did then like kind of just enjoyed seeing progress and getting a bit faster, 10K, that kind of thing. but very much like not anything special you know um you know it was just I was very average I would say um running wise but I must have had like this really good base that I did quickly make quite a bit of progress so and I also had like a bit of time remember I was quite anemic and I didn't realize so once I'd
00:06:22
Meryl
um got iron supplementation none and then I was like a lot better than I was so um yeah it's all like it all kind of has just been a bit of a journey and then i um yeah just like I just a strong memory was chipping away at the 10k time and I was just so so keen to get under 40 minutes and and and then once I did that it was around that time that I'd someone showed me like the trails where I was living at the time and just really enjoyed that um and then it just escalated from there really
00:06:28
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah.
Rediscovering Running and Embracing Trail Running
00:07:01
Meryl
oh
00:07:01
UKRunChat
Yeah. So what drew you back to running in 2015 then?
00:07:09
Meryl
I think it was i think it was a bit of a age that I was at so I was just around turning 30 years old then And I just got this like motivation. I wanted to be like the fittest I'd ever been.
00:07:25
Meryl
So it was it was that. um I started going to go into the gym. Like I had always just been fit through sports. Like I'd never done the gym and the gym, ah going to do like strength work in the gym just didn't appeal. Like it wasn't sport to me um and it didn't seem fun. And so I just had never done it. But I then started going to some classes.
00:07:50
Meryl
with um it was actually people at the school that I worked at and their kind of business it was it was brilliant it was actually like basically like high rocks now but it wasn't you know what I mean it running and it had circuits um so it was that they got me running there and I just was like I just wanted to get better at it because I thought it was hard like I felt felt really hard and um and then yeah that was so it was kind of there so that was literally like just running probably a kilometer
00:08:28
Meryl
in this work i i was feeling it fighting very hard um and then again like i said wanted to be fit as i'd ever been i knew running got you very fit um you're more are in control of your fitness than uh when playing football like i you know there's some games would be really easy i wasn't getting much of a workout at all and So, but running was much more controllable way of increasing fitness. So did that. Yeah.
00:08:57
UKRunChat
Yeah. so what what pulled you towards the trails then and away from the roads?
00:09:02
Meryl
Well, I think, I think it's always been in me. Like I grew up in the countryside. i did get quite into mountain biking at one stage of my life again, when I was living in Edinburgh, i was really close and, um,
00:09:17
Meryl
Yeah, I was living actually out in Dubai at the time when I was getting into this running. So yeah, from like 2013 to 2019, I was out there.
00:09:28
Meryl
And I also think I was starting to just like miss the countryside. I was like in like such urban, huge buildings and stuff.
00:09:39
Meryl
And I just needed to get some greenery and escape that. So yeah,
00:09:44
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:09:45
Meryl
the trails kind of drew me out and then I just yeah like how I always had been working on my running a bit um i then like ran on trails and just found it really fun and that it didn't actually slow me down as much as I expected like I thought it would really slow me down but it didn't so I was quite comfortable on them just through having I think a good sport background and being quite agile and about having good balance and coordination and all these things so it just and I guess I was naturally quite good at it which helped but then I just found it so much more enjoyable rather than being on the road um and with the views and the quiet peace out there in the desert
00:10:29
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:10:37
Meryl
and and yeah I also was i remember that time, or kind of around that time, I was doing some mindfulness training through my job. And I could see how it it was like a nice way that I could do you like active mindfulness, which seemed to suit me better than sitting still and doing it. so Yeah.
00:11:04
UKRunChat
Yeah, there's something about just kind of getting in the zone when you're out. It's somewhere beautiful, isn't there? Like I've i've experienced that this morning. we've We've just been out for an hour on the trails and it's I was like, wow, I really needed that.
00:11:12
Meryl
Yeah.
00:11:15
UKRunChat
You know, it does does something to your brain, doesn't it?
00:11:16
Meryl
Yeah.
00:11:18
UKRunChat
Like a nice view.
00:11:19
Meryl
Yeah, definitely.
00:11:19
UKRunChat
And yeah, definitely. So when did ultras become the thing then? Because that's what you do now, isn't it? You do a lot of long distance racing.
00:11:27
Meryl
Yeah.
First Ultra Marathon Experience in Oman
00:11:31
UKRunChat
So how did you go ultra distance then?
00:11:31
Meryl
Yeah. So, I did do like a couple of half marathons. Again, this is just on the road, but i gradually like built up from like the 10K to half marathon.
00:11:47
Meryl
Then and i did some like 30K trail races and 20K, even a 20K trail race was obviously harder than a road half marathon with the hills and the underfoot and so on.
00:11:57
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:12:00
Meryl
and And just kind of built up from there. and and then i did... I was, had a couple of friends who had got into running ultras probably a year before I did.
00:12:15
Meryl
and yeah, just kind of was following what they were doing. And then I, it just got me kind of interested. so i kind of copied what two of the races that they did the year before they did them.
00:12:28
Meryl
One of them, at least again, I ran one of them with them, which was also brilliant. So just having, you know, some friends to, run with, to learn from, because it did seem really daunting and scary. There was so much to think about. Like for the first one you do, like, you know, navigating all the nutrition, the kit, the, just all this stuff. Like even we had weather to contend with, like the first ultra I did out there, actually flash floods came through. So um I was like the last female female to get to finish the race, I think.
00:13:04
Meryl
And then everyone else basically got picked up by the by the race organisation and taken off the course for safety. So it was like, wouldn't expect that in i' in usually the warm Middle East, but it was. And there was someone actually on the top got hypothermia.
00:13:20
Meryl
It was like, yeah, there's a lot there's a lot going on for a race in the, you know, it was it was actually in Oman.
00:13:24
UKRunChat
yeah
00:13:26
Meryl
It was just over into the Oman border I did it. But yeah. m Anyway, just basically it went quite well. I think I surprised myself, I surprised my friends um when I wanted to pull away after getting through the marathon distance and I felt really good and I just was like, I think I'm going to just speed up a bit because feel really good. So I did and um yeah, just kind of discovered that I plenty in in my legs and didn't have any issues with the fueling and things like that and really enjoyed it.
00:14:02
UKRunChat
I think that's key isn't it the fact that you've come out the other end thinking that I enjoyed that despite the challenges how far was that first ultra yeah
00:14:07
Meryl
Yeah.
00:14:10
Meryl
That was 50k and I think it had about 1,500 metres of elevation gain and descent.
00:14:20
Meryl
Yeah.
00:14:23
UKRunChat
yeah so so you've done that first ultra you you obviously signed up for more so at what point did you think oh I've
00:14:28
Meryl
Hmm.
00:14:31
UKRunChat
I can do this. I'm actually quite, quite good at this. Like, did you ever expect a race for your country?
00:14:36
Meryl
Yeah.
00:14:38
UKRunChat
How do you go from just kind of doing some ultras to putting on a GB?
00:14:43
Meryl
Yeah, no, not at not at all. i think i think, again, I surprised myself there. And, you know, these two friends who I was running with who had done this for a year more than me, and i they were flagging and I wasn't. And it was just, and that so that was a bit of a bit of a surprise. And then when I then booted the next one, so I went out and did one in Switzerland. i did Eiger Ultra Trail, which is absolutely beautiful.
00:15:12
Meryl
course again I just like didn't quite have back myself I didn't really have the confidence to do it myself so I ran with a friend's husband um and and it was originally meant to do it with my friend but then she got pregnant so I ran with her husband he took her place um but we were quite different paces and and I eventually like just decided and I also waited for him for quite a while at a checkpoint um
00:15:44
Meryl
And I was just, ah well, quickly realised you've got such different strengths and weaknesses often, unless you've got someone that's a complete match as you.
00:15:49
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:15:52
Meryl
It's very hard to run these races with somebody because um like i could run the technical terrain so much faster than him. And it was just, so I wasn't getting to actually run it properly. I was having to go slower or or then wait and stop and wait.
00:16:06
Meryl
So I eventually just decided around halfway I was going to go on myself and I felt okay to do that I wish I'd felt like that from the start but I just didn't I didn't feel confident enough um and then I ran the rest of the race at the pace that I wanted to um and at the end of the race I was like absolutely destroyed it was it was hard going because it would you know it had what three and a half thousand meters of elevation gain over 50k which was a lot and I couldn't train for that
00:16:40
Meryl
very well in Dubai, you know, the long descents.
00:16:43
UKRunChat
No.
00:16:44
Meryl
And because I could descend technical, i ran them quite hard, you know. what So I couldn't, honestly, I couldn't walk for about a week after it. um
00:16:55
UKRunChat
Ouch.
00:16:56
Meryl
ah Yeah. But i i um i then looked had looked at the results and I saw the section I ran myself. And I was passing so many people, through that. You know, I was passing...
00:17:11
Meryl
hundreds of people um but that was because I'd gone too easy at the beginning for me but um but in terms of then I could compare myself to the females in the race and I was generally ah in the top 20 for all of the sections I ran on my own at my own pace um so that gave me a bit of evidence that okay now maybe I'm like okay at this um and then
00:17:38
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:17:41
Meryl
Yeah, I basically just then thought, right, what am I going next? So I then booked a race in the Alps for the following summer in July in Austria called Grossglockner
Winning the Grossglockner Ultra Trail in Austria
00:17:56
Meryl
Ultra Trail. And I decided after Eiger that I was going to prepare for that and race it on my own and see if I could be competitive in the sport.
00:18:09
Meryl
So that's what I went and did. um
00:18:11
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:18:12
Meryl
and then but won that race. I didn't win it. I wasn't leading all the way, but I i finished in first in the end after a good battle with the girls who were second and third.
00:18:23
Meryl
um And yeah, that was how it kind of started and cemented that I could do it and had some ability to definitely explore. Mm-hmm.
00:18:35
UKRunChat
Yeah, wow. So, ah yeah, you you name that on your website, that area is one of your favourite kind of areas to run in. what What's special about that area for you?
00:18:47
Meryl
well I love it because of the the terrains like technical but not too technical that you know you're like you can't run it you're just walking and it becomes a hike so a nice balance of that kind of challenge but the views are just it's spectacular it's absolutely beautiful and the
00:18:59
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:19:07
Meryl
the lakes, all the glacier kind of lakes and ah yeah, just then different colours. Like i there's a lake, there was a lake that we passed. I've never seen anything that green kind of before and that jade kind of colour. was just stunning.
00:19:26
Meryl
I just loved the, loved the views. The weather was perfect as well. Yeah.
00:19:36
Meryl
Downside of the area would be altitude, but, you know, it's just, it's, you've got ah you've got to go to altitude to get these amazing views and that is worth it really.
00:19:47
UKRunChat
Yeah. how How do you train for altitude then? do you just have to go and expose yourself to running in in those environments a lot?
00:19:56
Meryl
Yeah.
00:19:57
UKRunChat
Is there anything that you can do?
00:19:57
Meryl
Yeah. so one year I've done a proper altitude camp where I went and stayed in Font-Rameau which is, I think it's about 1,800 meters, and stayed there. And I did at least three weeks there.
00:20:13
Meryl
that was before racing CCC for the first time in 2019. And then other times when I've not been able to go to altitude, then I do the best I can at home through sauna, basically in heat training.
00:20:31
Meryl
So just trying to increase blood volume.
00:20:31
UKRunChat
Right.
00:20:35
Meryl
that way i can have a similar effect but I still find it hard and I find it hard to get the nutrition right at altitude unless I've actually trained my gut there al altitude um so yeah
00:20:42
UKRunChat
Okay.
00:20:54
UKRunChat
Okay. So you gut responds differently at altitude, does it?
00:20:57
Meryl
yeah yeah so like you I think it's a little bit there's many factors but I think you're Obviously breathing rates so increased um and then it's just difficult to process the carbohydrates as well. Plus you're getting more dehydrated a bit up at the altitude.
00:21:20
Meryl
um And yes, it's just can be a little bit more challenging to process the fuel and you've got to stay really on top of hydration i find. So yeah, there's just a few more challenges.
00:21:36
Meryl
That's where I've had, unfortunately, a few kind gut issues that have ended races.
00:21:36
UKRunChat
Yeah. there's a lot about yeah
00:21:43
Meryl
They've always been at altitude and and in the heat. So a bit of a double whammy.
00:21:46
UKRunChat
yeah
00:21:47
Meryl
I'm sure the dehydration plays a part. Yeah. Yeah.
00:21:54
UKRunChat
How do you approach nutrition on a race like that then? Do do you have kind of ah a plan A, plan B, plan C, you know,
00:22:01
Meryl
Yeah. yeah Yeah, definitely. Plan C is just like, just drink black Coke if there's nothing going in. But um yeah, no, I do tend to have that.
00:22:13
Meryl
Nutrition wise, a lot of practicing and training and making sure that when I start the race, the food that I am planning to consume I like and I want to eat still.
00:22:27
Meryl
So that means not not overusing it a bit in training where you can just get yourself sick of
00:22:27
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:22:33
Meryl
the the fuel umm and making sure that I've got the right balance for me of hydration salts and the carbohydrates per hour.
00:22:45
Meryl
um What I kind of discovered in my last race of in August, I did the Swiss Alps 100 and I thought I would need solid food. It was a very hot day. It was like in the mid thirties.
00:22:59
Meryl
um And I didn't want anything solid. So I should have just stuck to just gels and um carb drink, really.
00:23:10
Meryl
But I tried to put in some solid food because I did have a long spell where I wasn't about to see my crew.
00:23:10
UKRunChat
Right. okay
00:23:15
Meryl
And I thought, oh, I probably need to eat something in case, you know, I can't get anything. And yeah, it just seemed to have a few problems after that. And I didn't want any of the solid stuff, you know, so it was...
00:23:29
Meryl
so that's where plan b comes in you're swapping out stuff and taking in taking more gels rather than bars or whatever so yeah um definitely practice it really well make sure stuff i want to eat on the day works for me and and then be quite disciplined with it because i know a lot of people don't enjoy it you can get to the point where you don't really want to eat but you need to especially if you're
00:23:56
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah.
00:23:57
Meryl
still moving up with some intensity and stuff. um But then, yeah, there's some other times I have been too rigid and wished I wasn't because I shouldn't have had a gel as my stomach was struggling, clearly struggling to process the previous one. Then I've put another one in there on top of it and it's not gone anywhere. So it's things like that. and But yeah, I've discovered definitely in the last few years that how big a part your hydration plays.
00:24:27
Meryl
You've got to get it right for you based on your sweat rate, based on the conditions um in order to process that nutrition.
00:24:38
Meryl
So yeah, like if people ever come to me, because...
00:24:39
UKRunChat
Yeah. Do you...
00:24:43
UKRunChat
So I was just going ask, do you tend to have a strategy for hydration or do you kind of, is do you do it on, I'm thirsty, i should drink or how does that work for you? Yeah.
00:24:53
Meryl
Yeah, no, I'm in the elite trail team, we've done some testing in the lab in Loughborough and kind of know my sweat rate at some different temperatures, altitudes, humidity levels and so on.
00:25:09
Meryl
um I've also done quite a few just myself, just home kind of sweat tests where you've weighed yourself before and after. So using that data, that' what that's what I'm basing off how much I'm aiming to drink per hour.
00:25:23
Meryl
um
00:25:24
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:25:24
Meryl
So, yeah, no, I do work it that way and have a strategy rather than drinking to thirst. And then can change, though. Like, you know, it's not set every single hour because obviously if you're doing a really long race, some of that race will be in the dark and in the lows, maybe single digits. And then, you know, then you're getting to 12 o'clock and it's 30 degrees. you You know, I don't need as much.
00:25:53
Meryl
earlier on so this flex is flexible but it's based on the time of day and altitude you know as well and things like that just considering it all so it does change but um but yeah no
00:26:03
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:26:08
UKRunChat
And a lot of that is just practice. And like you say, knowing your body, isn't it? And how it responds in different environments. Do you tend to, in terms of nutrition, do you tend to, cause you mentioned your, your Swiss Alps, a hundred K, which you won by the week, first, your first lady, weren't you?
00:26:22
Meryl
yeah yeah
00:26:22
UKRunChat
Um, which, mentioned that you, you would have preferred to stay on gels. Can your kind of, can your gut cope with gels over a hundred K? Cause that's a long way, isn't it? And a lot of ultra runners,
00:26:32
Meryl
yeah
00:26:33
UKRunChat
say, you know, real food's better, but what's what's your opinion of that?
00:26:37
Meryl
yeah well I have to say I didn't think I didn't think I could I thought I would get hungry but I think in that heat in that heat your appetite is so like suppressed isn't it so um I think in hot conditions i can um you just want liquids like you just want liquids and
00:26:44
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:26:51
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:27:00
Meryl
stuff you can slurp down rather than having to chew and because again that it probably well it's going to increase your temp body temperature break that down so you just don't want it you want to just stay as cool as possible um and that was a huge thing and that raised ice like we were we were using so much ice and ice is really expensive in Switzerland
00:27:15
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah.
00:27:28
Meryl
but yeah so it's um I think I can. And i feel like there's more and more of the top runners are just using gels and carb drink. They're not using real food um at all.
00:27:44
Meryl
So, yeah. and the And the thing about the gels that I use that I love is they've got a lot of salt in them. So I don't need to faff around with salt tablets or other getting electrolytes in another way. They're just they're in the gel and it's.
00:28:00
Meryl
um it just it also takes out that sweet still they're still sweet but they're also like a little bit salty so I think you've got to have that you need to you need something salty if you're just having super super sweet stuff you just get sick of it but you need it you still need the carbs coming in so yeah hmm
00:28:23
UKRunChat
Yeah, no, it's fascinating, isn't it? and Yeah, I think just getting to know how your your body reacts is is key, isn't it?
00:28:31
Meryl
Yeah.
00:28:31
UKRunChat
and So just taking us back, Meryl, to when you were kind of selected for the the GB in Northern Ireland team, but you know, how does selection work?
00:28:39
Meryl
the
00:28:41
UKRunChat
What happens? Does somebody ring you up and say, want you on the team? How does it work?
Joining the Great Britain Team
00:28:45
Meryl
Yeah. So you've you basically have to express interest and send in basically a running CV unless there is a trial race.
00:28:51
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:28:55
Meryl
So the year I got selected first there hadn't there wasn't a trial race it was a expression of interest you put in and you basically had to put your results um and by then I'd done that first race in Austria and I'd also gone and raced ultra trail Cape Town which is like my favorite place to run an an amazing race and I and it and the course suits me I think just because it's not about altitude and it's warm but not too warm
00:29:28
Meryl
um And there's some nice technical bits as well. um So, yeah, I put basically put those two races down um and then I was selected. I was actually selected as a reserve that first year and then got called up.
00:29:44
Meryl
So I think they had, did they have six? They had six in the team and then one got injured and couldn't race. So I got called up into her spot.
00:29:57
Meryl
So I think I find out quite late, like it was definitely around April time, i found out that I was going to be going early June. um But I would have got called earlier than that to be told I was reserved.
00:30:17
Meryl
I can't remember exactly when it was. that I found out, I a guess at least ah a couple of months before that, maybe earlier in the year, like February i or something, find out that it was reserved.
00:30:33
UKRunChat
So what's going through your head in April when you've you've kind of found out that you are actually, you've got to go race in June?
00:30:33
Meryl
So, yeah. isn
00:30:39
UKRunChat
What what's what are you thinking?
00:30:40
Meryl
Yeah. and Yeah, I just, like, can't believe It it was, yeah, the sport was still quite...
00:30:51
Meryl
yeah the sport was sport was still quiet
00:30:56
Meryl
it was quite new I think still then wasn't it well definitely not the number of people doing it that there is now i'm so I kind of remember why I like even how even heard about flying and stuff but anyway it was it was yeah I was just so glad I put my name in and and had gone for it because it was yeah definitely the right thing to do and paid off so And also like the races I'd chosen to do, like they valued international races and you going and putting yourself up against competitive fields.
00:31:36
Meryl
So that, that kind of stuff had paid off these decisions and yeah, so I just really pleased and knew I had work to do.
00:31:36
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:31:45
Meryl
i think I like hadn't been doing much strength work, but I was quite motivated. So I like got a PT, one of my friends to work with, um, And started doing some strength work. And I just started taking it all a bit more seriously. And now that I was pretty serious anyway, you know, I was very all in with it. But yeah, because that was, yeah, actually that was 2019. And I think I'd already asked my job for a sabbatical. So I was already like thinking I wanted to like fail to like take a year
00:32:23
Meryl
where I could actually go and train in the mountains to do then the mountain races because obviously before I'd had some good results but I wasn't really actually getting to train in proper conditions so so yeah
00:32:27
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:32:41
UKRunChat
So talk us through that first like world trail championships then pulling on that vest and how did the race go?
00:32:49
Meryl
so it yeah it was it was amazing like I loved the whole experience because had never been to one of these things before and obviously you've got like the whole opening ceremony where everyone walks around with the flag and um the novelty had definitely worn off for the people that have represented a lot of times because they just saw it as hours on their feet that they didn't need to be doing the day before a race but I think I was like just so excited
00:33:14
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:33:16
Meryl
and I will be honest, I didn't have a very good race. It started really well. And then I fell, had a fall about 10 miles in. And it was on like a cobbled street. So I just, I just got some new bottles in.
00:33:34
Meryl
And they were like, for some reason, I'd never, it's like of these things that happen in these races, they'd never happened before. I put the bottles in. We'd just been giving them from like GB staff, actually, like they were at the aid station.
00:33:47
Meryl
And my, whole pack just like was bouncing around like this it never like ever I don't know why this happened because I don't know if it ever happened again anyway it really like threw me off like balance wise a bit and I also had a runner like brush past me just like literally just at the same time and then I took a tumble on a slight downhill on the cobbles so my knees were totally bashed like I just took the whole fall onto both knees um and then yeah it just wasn't great after that I'll be honest um I think now with like much more experience I think um I find that very stressful like because I wanted to have the perfect day and I wanted to have a great race um and I think it did like completely flood me with like cortisol and and I just then like
00:34:44
Meryl
everything just went dead legs just went completely dead and I just had nothing in them um and it was an absolute battle it was the hardest probably mental battle I've had in a race but after that I started to work oh and always then work with sports psychologists races because it was like really tough um and yeah like the fall like it was really bad like I i
00:35:03
UKRunChat
Bye.
00:35:11
Meryl
my legs completely seized up. Like I could hardly go down steps and stuff after the race. And once I'd stopped and stuff, it was, they were really banged up. But yeah, was so pleased I finished. It just wasn't anything near what I knew I was capable of. It was still an all right time for that course and distance and so on. But yeah, I was just a bit, I was bit disappointed at first.
00:35:40
Meryl
been the first best to to have that so but I loved it I loved the whole experience and it obviously go gave me the drive to just keep trying to get back and I and I have and did then you know go on to get selected for every world champs after I've applied for I didn't go for Can Frank last year because I I knew I wouldn't be, I've been able to go to altitude before and I know I need to, to be able to actually perform my best there.
00:36:13
Meryl
So and I didn't go for that one, but you know, it's definitely given me that drive to just keep going for the best and which takes a lot of work and a lot of focus because you've got to get through the trial, the trial first.
00:36:26
UKRunChat
Absolutely.
00:36:28
Meryl
So, you know, you've you've got to make two start lines, healthy, fit, which isn't always that easy when you're doing big training blocks before and so on. I've had so many challenges along the way, but yeah, it's been fun. And I have to say, once I've had this baby, I'm hoping try and get back to maybe the 2027 World Champs, which is in Cape Town. Because as I mentioned, that's just one of my favorite places to run. And I really like the course.
00:37:03
Meryl
um but that's a big goal a big ambitious goal to have and I so much is out my control but that's the motivation right now to do my strength work and my pelvic floor work
00:37:13
UKRunChat
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I felt strong. Yeah, definitely.
00:37:17
Meryl
she with me
00:37:19
UKRunChat
So did did you feel you must have felt kind of Obviously, there's a privilege that comes with racing for your country. But did you feel under pressure as well? that I mean, you you've alluded to kind of the mental aspects and how that was hard. it It must feel like there's a lot of pressure on your shoulders once you do get selected. How do you deal with that?
Managing Competitive Pressure
00:37:38
Meryl
Yeah. Yeah. i I don't, I don't know if i'm the best example. Like I don't, I don't think I've necessarily got that completely dialed in and perfect to be honest.
00:37:48
Meryl
Well, not that this perfect exists, but I still think it's probably an area to work on because I have all the races I've had. i don't know. It's hard to know if you've had a bad race because of your cycle or because of just fighting something that day, you just don't know, or if it is linked with,
00:38:08
Meryl
pressure but yeah I would say I've still probably only had one really good day in the vest and and then probably had three not so great days so that's not know it's only one out of the four but um it is different and i think you just got to control all the things you can control to make you know, to set yourself up to have a good race. And that's what I have just focused on.
00:38:42
Meryl
so like, even down to like bringing your own pillow, because you're always staying in a room with someone else and not necessarily got comfortable pillows. And like, then maybe the person snores, so earplugs and like, you know, just like, just I've learned a lot from like, from the first one of how to kind of like, still just kind of try do it my way. And um not be ah to have my race kind of usual race routine massively affected
00:39:14
Meryl
um and yeah suppose just trying to remember like and i I always find this and I tell everyone I coach about this as well is the like you've got a choice in that week before a race to be stressed out and worrying and feeling under pressure or you have a choice of being happy, excited, having fun, just realizing how much a privilege this is and how, you know, and and just therefore feeling all those positive emotions and your body being in that more optimal state of being happy and not being filled with the hormones, stress hormones like cortisol and so on. So
00:40:03
Meryl
Yeah, I do try my hardest to to think about that. and But then it is also something that I just really want. Like I want to I've always like really wanted to have a great race in the world chance and so on. So this there is that element of a little bit of pressure that I probably don't, I'm a bit more relaxed about when it's, you know, another race that I've picked.
00:40:26
Meryl
But then I strongly believe that all of these races have then,
00:40:27
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:40:33
Meryl
I've learned something, you know, i've learned something from it hugely and then come back and had a great race than the next race I've done. So, you know, it's it's it's definitely been unfortunate if they if it's not been a really great race and the best, but the next race I've i've done is I've always learned from it and been really happy with then the outcome. So, yeah.
00:40:59
UKRunChat
Yeah, I think that's the thing about ultras as well. Like there's so much that can go wrong on the day, isn't there?
00:41:04
Meryl
Yeah.
00:41:05
UKRunChat
That, you know, we can't expect every race to be perfect, can we? I mean, you said you said you have had kind of one really good experience in the vest though.
00:41:10
Meryl
Yeah.
00:41:14
Meryl
Yeah.
00:41:14
UKRunChat
Tell us tell us about that one and what went right.
00:41:18
Meryl
So that was in Thailand, actually. and And it was in Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai region.
00:41:29
Meryl
um And yeah, i just, I guess... Just nothing really went massively wrong. oh apart Apart from i didn't I didn't remember to, plus the crew forgot to give me my poles for the last section.
00:41:45
Meryl
um And then I basically had to try and hike up this incredibly steep hill with a couple of bamboo sticks, which wasn't quite as helpful as my poles.
00:41:57
Meryl
um But yeah, apart from apart from that, it was a good race and I was quite pleased with my position at the end. I obviously still would want to be higher, but and you know it was I was in the world, which i was was you know a big improvement from 2019 one.
00:42:18
Meryl
So yeah, it was um that was really pleasing.
00:42:19
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:42:23
Meryl
But position, you can't... you can't I still don't think any, you can't focus on the position because it's, it's like, these are like the best people in the world there. Like even at the Europeans last year, a couple of years ago now, 2024, the,
00:42:44
Meryl
um the competition was just so, it was so competitive that even, i think I was 40 something, but it was like, stopped.
00:42:55
Meryl
like in that field it's still like that's pretty good like these are literally it was the best because it was it was around sixty k it was the best short distance trail runners and the best longer distance trail runners all put together it was so competitive it was so much more competitive than normal because it was that slightly longer distance I think um like none of our team finished that much higher you know it was It was, we were all kind of right there.
00:43:19
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:43:26
Meryl
We all would hope to be more in the 20s or something, but it's just, it wasn't realistic. So you can't focus on position. It's that good time in Thailand, I wouldn't have cared what position I'd, at the end, I kind of felt like I'd won because I'd, was still alive first and foremost, because it was so hot, that's so humid.
00:43:45
Meryl
and Finished strong, no major disasters, you know, with nutrition and so on. Like I'd obviously got that right. and And I'd really enjoyed it. and enjoyed the course and everything. So, um yeah, it was that was a good one.
00:44:01
UKRunChat
yeah that's that sounds Yeah, that sounds really good. What what do you think wearing the vest has given you that you perhaps wouldn't have experienced otherwise? Would you have gone and done all these kind of international races anyway, do you think?
00:44:19
Meryl
um I probably would have because um because I really, like, that's the big bit of it. My trail running love for it about travel as well and exploring new places.
00:44:34
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:44:34
Meryl
And um so I think I would have, but i've I've met, you know, some amazing people and the team. and and And what I was so lucky to experience, I think, in the first one how the first world champs in 2019 was how normal all of these ultra trail runners were that I had probably thought were like, these people weren't normal. They were like superhuman kind of, you know, like there's no way they like have jobs and families and whatever, you know, and it was like, but they were just so normal and so down to earth and so humble despite being, you know, exceptionally talented at what they did. And it and it just,
00:45:22
Meryl
gave me role models to kind of aspire to rather than get a bit carried away with myself um and yeah like you know to put into context some people that were there that year it was like jasmine paris john albin um and like ricky lightfoot you know big big characters and names in the ultra running world and yeah just kind of just just seeing how normal these people are and but just very inspiring.
00:45:54
Meryl
So whether it would have pushed me to be as, to get as far as I had, I think that's probably the main thing I've got out of it, is just being so inspired by these people and getting to meet them so early and in my days, if that makes sense.
00:45:55
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:46:08
UKRunChat
yeah Yeah, it does. Yeah. Yeah. And I think people probably look up to you in the same way, don't they? And think I'm inspired by you.
00:46:15
Meryl
Hmm.
00:46:16
UKRunChat
Because are you are you still kind of working or are you kind of doing running kind of professionally now?
Transition from Teaching to Coaching
00:46:23
Meryl
No, i'm I'm very much working. i So I basically set up a coaching business back in 2020. twenty twenty So I was full-time PE teaching until 2019 when I took that sabbatical.
00:46:37
Meryl
um And then when I was on that sabbatical, i started to tune set up my business for coaching, health coaching and running coaching. The health coaching bit, I mainly work with runners as well who are know that the nutrition side is,
00:46:52
Meryl
is something they know what they've got to improve, but making those lifestyle changes when they've got such busy lives and and so on. So it's, yeah, through the coaching, I've just got bit more flexibility with my training, but it's very much full time. I have had some part time PE teaching jobs along the way. um But in kind of August last year, I went full time with my coaching.
00:47:21
Meryl
um I was doing just one day PE teaching for quite a while, but stop that because I was just doing far too much. um So, yeah, no, I am not not like a full time professional with no job, but I'm lucky to have flexible job, which allows me to you know, if I do need to go to an altitude block, I could do or, i'm you know, just go and do some specific.
00:47:52
Meryl
heat hot weather climate training or something I could travel with my and take the the work with me yeah yeah
00:47:59
UKRunChat
Yeah, definitely helps, doesn't it, to have that flexibility. Yeah. So what have you got kind of set? Obviously, you've got a very big goal this year of, you
Future Goals and Returning to Competition
00:48:08
UKRunChat
know, new baby.
00:48:08
Meryl
yes
00:48:09
UKRunChat
But what have you got set as kind of running goals in the future then?
00:48:10
Meryl
yes
00:48:13
UKRunChat
in enter Is there any like particular places you'd like to race or um obviously you'd like to get that that GB vest back again? But is there any way you'd like to run race?
00:48:21
Meryl
Yeah.
00:48:23
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:48:29
Meryl
Oh, there's tons of races I'd like to do. There's just so many, there's so many um races now. There's so many more than there were when i first started.
00:48:40
Meryl
But yeah, like like I said, the big one is getting back to Cape Town, in 2027 but I could fall short of that like this is going to be a very uncertain this kind of the postpartum time i and yeah there's like just races like I've been trying to get into the Lakeland 50 for years and when the ballots as you do have to go through the ballot
00:49:09
UKRunChat
yeah cause i know but in They're trying to get kind of parity in male and female entrants now, aren't they? so
00:49:15
Meryl
yeah
00:49:16
UKRunChat
I know a lot of women who have in the last two years.
00:49:17
Meryl
Yeah, even, yeah, nope, still not got in I think I've tried at least three or four years.
00:49:19
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:49:26
Meryl
and So, and I'm not going up to the 100. I know I would get in, I think, if I went for the 100. i'm So I'd quite like to do that. There's some classic races like that um in the UK.
00:49:46
Meryl
and then just I don't know I just quite like to pick yes competitive races but just races that just appeal for like then going and having a bit of a holiday afterwards or oh yeah like I've I did like the look of like the there's one like in Italy now the UTMB Puglia one and Mallorca these kind of places just to like I've not been before and just going to travel with it and and get a competitive race at the same time.
00:50:18
UKRunChat
Yeah.
00:50:21
Meryl
so yeah. Yeah.
00:50:22
UKRunChat
Yeah. There's so much to choose from.
00:50:23
Meryl
Yeah.
00:50:24
UKRunChat
I think like ultra running's just exploded recently.
00:50:25
Meryl
Oh, and also Labarado.
00:50:28
UKRunChat
um Yeah.
00:50:29
Meryl
yeah oh yeah also lar laverradedo So I had a place at June. So I've ah to defer that and So that's that's also kind of next, I guess.
00:50:46
Meryl
and That's in June. Like it'll be our June I would do that. I've also still got a place and for CCC another year. I've done that race twice. And I have to say, like, I'm not and not someone that just does the same race over and over again.
00:51:03
Meryl
so and I do think if I ever did go long, though, I would want to try UTMB.
00:51:09
UKRunChat
yeah
00:51:09
Meryl
um yeah full loop but I'd also love to do like the West High Way you know in Scotland and do that as a first 100 miler I think um so
00:51:21
UKRunChat
yeah so what what would you say is your favorite ultra distance
00:51:33
Meryl
and <unk>s hard like I do quite like a fifty key and But I'm much better at 100k, like a hilly mountainous 100k.
00:51:46
Meryl
But I quite like, there's something nice about having the odds hundred odd 50k in the year where you're you're done by lunchtime and kind of, you know, you just, that's it.
00:51:47
UKRunChat
You
00:51:59
Meryl
It's not, you're not out there all day.
00:51:59
UKRunChat
obviously raise that distance, the harder do you the fifty k
00:52:03
Meryl
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:52:08
Meryl
So yeah, it's just something about that that's quite nice. And I have done a few and i know they're not definitely my proper strength, but I'll keep doing them because I enjoy them so much. and um And it keeps you working on your weaker areas.
00:52:23
Meryl
So.
00:52:24
UKRunChat
Yeah. Yeah. Oh, well, thank you. It's been really nice talking to you. Yeah.
00:52:29
Meryl
Yeah,
Advice for New Ultra Runners
00:52:30
UKRunChat
it's really It's really inspiring hear that you can kind of start running an ultra and then wear a GB vest.
00:52:31
Meryl
it's been great.
00:52:31
Meryl
Thank you.
00:52:35
UKRunChat
That's amazing. Like, what what would you say to someone who this year is kind of standing on the edge of their first ultra?
00:52:37
Meryl
yeah
00:52:43
UKRunChat
any Any tips for them?
00:52:50
Meryl
I think just, well, probably wish what I wish I did in my first couple was like just back to myself a little bit more. And I just believe, have that self-belief that like I can do this myself. and And like to, because rather than running it with somebody, because you are going to have very different strengths and weaknesses, you're going to have highs and lows at different times.
00:53:19
Meryl
and And you meet people on the way, right? Like you're always running and then there's like um but someone you can chat to for a bit. So you'll never really be completely on your own for a really long time.
00:53:31
Meryl
And to just run your own race, like i think that's the thing that I've always found like so helpful um and And I've performed much better when I'm just running my own race and I'm doing it, even though I'm like running for GB, I'm still doing it because this is what is fun for me and what I enjoy.
00:53:55
Meryl
um and focusing on that and focusing on enjoying it. um You know, if you're about do your first ultra, you have chosen to be there. You've paid to be there.
00:54:08
Meryl
am ands um yeah just just focus on enjoying the whole experience um we obviously do get quite you can get quite stressed out before but that is just natural it's the brain just trying to protect you and um and yeah just try not to not to listen to the worries and just just enjoy it
00:54:36
UKRunChat
Yeah, just enjoy it. Yeah, that's yeah that's great advice. ah Well, thank you, Meryl. It's been lovely chatting to you and all the very best with m what's going to be an exciting few years, isn't it?
00:54:49
Meryl
Yes, thank you very much.
00:54:52
UKRunChat
Yeah, well, hope that everybody listening really enjoyed that conversation as much as I did. If you've enjoyed this episode, please do share it with a running friend and don't forget to subscribe to the UK Run Chat podcast.
00:55:04
UKRunChat
You can find more episodes, articles and running stories over on our website as well. and Thank you as always for listening and we'll see you next time.