We speak to an endurance athlete who has made big changes as she looks to make the most of her potential
Balancing a full-time job with the hard work and aspirations of a full-time athlete was taking its toll on Sarah Astin. Although she had won the 2023 English National cross country title and run a series of personal bests throughout the year, she wasn’t convinced she was maximising her potential.
Something had to change, and with the backing of Hoka and support from the charity Isle of Man Sport Aid, she made the tough decision to leave a job she loved to work part-time.
Initiating a positive chain reaction of events which has most recently seen her link up with coach Andy Hobdell and join Hoka’s UK-based professional running team, Makou Endurance, Astin’s decision to commit to running has been a good one, but it hasn’t been straightforward.
“Signing with Hoka [in December 2023] gave me a new lease of life,” she says. “There had been times where I’d thought about quitting – it got to the point where I was thinking: ‘I’m either done here or I need to make a change and have another go’ – but it was a dream come true to finally sign with a brand and I just felt like I owed it to myself and to them to keep going.”
Following a spring training camp in Flagstaff, Arizona this year, Astin anticipated a strong summer, but instead of running well on her return she felt flat and demoralised. She failed to finish at the UK Athletics Championships
in June and opted to end her season after the FAST 5000 in Paris. With her aim in the French capital simply to finish, she knew it was time for a re-think.
“It’s hard to pinpoint what happened [in Flagstaff], but I think I maybe did too many miles out there or too many doubles or not enough rest days,” she says. “It was quite high (7000ft) for my first serious training camp and I think I learned a lot. I ended up in a bit of a bad place running-wise and I didn’t really know what to do. Although Andy wasn’t my coach at that point, we had a good, positive conversation after the race in Paris and he could tell I wasn’t happy.
Sarah Astin (Charlie McCarthy)
“I had my end-of-season break really early and it got me thinking about what I needed to do next. Andy coaches Chris [Chris Rainsford, Hoka’s senior athlete manager] so I had a good chat with him and asked him what Andy was like as a coach and a bit more about his training. It wasn’t an easy decision to make, I…
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