In this Episode of Conversations About Running we chat with elite running coach James Thie. James is a lecturer and the Director of Athletics at Cardiff Met University, where he coaches a team of runners including 2018 Commonwealth Games athletes Tom Marshall and Ieuan Thomas and the 3rd fastest British half marathon runner of all time, Jake Smith. In this episode we chat about some of the challenges (and some unexpected positives) that James has experienced as a coach during the pandemic, Jake Smith's training and racing over the past few years, including the build up to his 'off the cuff' marathon Olympic qualifying time that led to him being dubbed the 'marathon maverick', as well as James' former career as a professional runner, including a few maverick moments of his own that have gone down in history!