Ellie Grubb has established herself as one of Norfolk’s premier female runners over the past two years. Mark Armstrong spoke to her about the amazing progress she has made as part of the Norwich Distance Squad, that run at the Great Eastern Half Marathon and her plans for the future.
Mark: You’ve always been a fast runner but it’s only in the last couple of years you’ve started to run competitively again. Why did you decide to return to racing?
Ellie: I’ve been running for about 20 years now, but I had a break from competitive racing to have children. I still ran, just not competitively. I always knew that I wanted to have two children and my second was through C-section so that took longer to recover from.
Mark: When did you decide to join the Norwich Distance Squad?
Ellie: I joined in 2023 after the Norfolk Cross Country Championships. So I had a full year of getting some training in with them with the idea that I would target some PBs that had stood for about 10 years in 2024.
I just asked (head coach) James (Senior) if he minded if I came along to a few of their training sessions. He was really welcoming and said what a great group of girls in particular there was to train alongside.
I knew that I would be at the back of the group but I’ve always been kind of used to that. In the past I’ve been chasing other guys and trying to keep up with them. I know that if you train with people that are faster than you then that will in turn make you get quicker. Having someone in front of you to chase down is really motivational.
Mark: How difficult is it to train like you do and be a mum to your two children?
Ellie: I’m quite a morning person – I’m not a 5am person, but I find the mornings are the time to get some of the runs in that don’t impact upon the family too much.
My husband and I will also fit our runs in around the kids’ activities as well. For example, they swim at the weekend and often I’ll run to swimming whilst he takes the kids and he will then run home. It’s just trying to make it work as much as we can.
It helps that he is a runner, and a really good one as well – he’s run a 2:44 marathon in the past. But he has eased off a bit now and isn’t quite as competitive as I am with it.
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I just love that in running is that you get out what you put it in. If you tick off the sessions and do the work then more often than not then you will get the progress you deserve. If you want something then you’ve got to put in the effort to go and get it. I think that’s a good example to set your children.
Mark: What does a normal training week look like for you?
Ellie: It’s normally set around three or four key sessions each week. Wednesdays are normally a double session day; we will do a tempo run in the morning and then an evening session with NDS in the evening. Saturday will normally be a tempo run and then Sunday is a long run.
All the miles around that are easy, which looks different for everyone obviously. For me that varies between 7.30-8.10-minute miles but it can vary. If my legs feel tired then I will really ease back. I like to keep the easy runs easy so I can get the most out of the hard days.
I also do a strength session at least once a week and I’ll try to do a second if I can find the time.
I like to stretch every night just in front of the television. I just really enjoy doing that and find it really helps with mobility and keeping the niggles away.
Mark: What do you rank as your best run so far since your return?
Ellie: “I think the Peterborough Half (Great Eastern Run) was when it all felt like it came together. You have good and bad races but before this one I knew I felt really good. I didn’t have a cold, which is always a worry when you have young children! I’d done a lot of really good training and I felt really ready.
I was aiming to 5:50-minute mile and the first 10 miles were all under that. That’s when it started to get really hard but I managed to dig in.
It’s actually given me an England vest, and that was on my bucket list before I was 40. I’ll be competing at the Swansea Half next June, which will be a target race.
Ideally I’d have liked to have been earlier in the year before the marathon there’s enough time to prepare for it. Hopefully I can sharpen up at a 10K race and then we’ll see what happens in Swansea.
Mark: What’s your next big goal?
Ellie: A lot of us are targeting the London Marathon next. James assures me that it’s not that much more training. I think it will just be a case of tagging more miles on to some of the sessions I’m doing already.
I’ve been training for the half marathon, which has meant doing around 40-50 miles already so I don’t envisage going massively beyond that. It will obviously be more but we will tag miles on to sessions and obviously increase the long run.
I’m just ‘Ellie that runs’ to my family and friends. My husband being a runner obviously helps but there’s always going to be moments when you feel a bit guilty leaving him whilst you go off for a few hours to do your 20-miler!
But my friends and family are really understanding around it. If I say that I’m not going to be drinking for a couple of months then there’s no pressure around social occasions or anything. They just understand that’s what I might do as a runner.
Mark: What’s the goal for London?
Ellie: I’d be lying if I said that I haven’t thought about beating my husband’s time (2:44)! He’s an engraver by trade and he has said if I beat his marathon time then he will happily make an engraving saying that ‘Ellie is the fastest Grubb in the family’.
But seriously I’d like to go under 2:45… you’ll have to ask me again in March when I’ve banked some more training. I might have changed my mind by then!
Mark: Can you see yourself doing an autumn marathon as well?
Ellie: It was lovely to see the Distance Squad have such a great time in Frankfurt and I have to admit it’s something on my radar later that year. I think the beers taste even better after a marathon abroad! I also quite like the idea of training for one through the summer… I won’t miss the cold, winter mornings!
Current PBs
5K: 16:55 – Wroxham 5K (2024)
5M: 28:25 – Yarmouth Promenade 5 Series (2024)
10K: 35:45 – East Coast 10K (2024)
10M: 59:35 – Freethorpe 10 (2014)
Half Marathon: 76:28 – Great Eastern Run Half Marathon (2024)
Ellie is on the lookout for sponsorship opportunities in 2025 – anyone interested is asked to contact her at elliefayematthews@yahoo.co.uk