George Couttie shares insights on training with Cole Hocker

The European U20 cross country silver medallist is making huge progress training alongside Olympic 1500m champion

George Couttie claimed his first European medal in style at the European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, sprinting to men’s U20 silver in a dramatic finish against Dutch star Niels Laros in December.

A key factor in his success? Training under the guidance of Ben Thomas, the same coach behind 1500m Olympic champion Cole Hocker. 

From Harrogate, Couttie joined Virginia Tech University last summer after spending a year in Charleston and, since then, he has taken huge strides forward, adding that cross country silver to a standout year that also saw him finish 14th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships and reach the 3000m final at the World U20 Championships in Lima.

Now, as he enters his first track season with Virginia Tech, Couttie is aiming for national titles and to continue making his mark on the international stage.

How did you first get into athletics?

I used to run in school and do cross country. I got pretty good at it and I started parkruns. I did the first ever parkrun in my local area when I was nine years old and that’s how it all started.

I didn’t start track until a lot later on. That was because, when I left school I couldn’t do cross country throughout the summer so I picked it up, tried it out and really enjoyed it.

Why did you decide to move to Virginia Tech?

I spent a year in Charleston in West Virginia and then transferred to Virginia Tech. The main reason was because of Ben Thomas, who coaches Cole Hawker and Cooper Teare. The school has unbelievable facilities and I love the way Ben coaches. Some people say it’s a bit different and weird but it really works for me.

You don’t get the typical training sessions. It’s never: “Go do some 400ms on the track”, it’s always something different. We go from the cross country course to the track and to the hills all in one workout. It’s never typical, it’s always weird and there is always a twist.

It’s all different things that I have never done before and I really like the idea of all the cross training we do, as well. I have been pretty low mileage my whole life, I’ve never hit 100km a week until this year.

What is your relationship like with Ben?

He’s an interesting coach. He will never sugarcoat anything to give you crazy amounts of praise. When you get a well done, you know you’ve done a…