Wes Cordingley
5K 17:36
from 19:33 · in 4 months
Work, family, then a 9pm run. Debut marathon 2:46:51, ten months in.
10 spots each month intake opens indayshrsminsec
Doing the training and it's not landing on race day?
We go through your training every week, adjust what needs moving, and tell you exactly why.
Apply for coaching
Coached by Sami Merhi and Seth O'Donnell. No lock-in. Cancel anytime.
Which one are you?
You train hard but you're not improving
I train hard, do the strength work, pay for physio when things flare up, and spend hours reading about training trying to find what I'm missing. When I started, my times kept falling. Now they don't. Sessions feel hard but the numbers barely move. The guys I race with are pulling away and the ones behind me are catching up. My answer has always been to push harder, until another niggle shows up and I'm starting again. I know I haven't hit my ceiling. I just can't see what's standing in the way.
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I've been putting everything into this. I train hard, I do the strength work, I pay for physio when things flare up, and I spend more time than I should reading about training and watching videos trying to find the thing I'm missing. When I started running my times just kept falling. Now they don't. My sessions feel hard but the numbers barely move, and when a workout comes in slower than last time I spend the rest of the day second-guessing whether I'm doing too much, not enough, or just doing it wrong. The guys I race with are pulling away and the ones behind me are catching up. My answer has always been to push harder, until every few months another niggle shows up and I'm starting again. I've told myself feeling flat and sore is just part of running. I'm not so sure anymore. I know I haven't hit my ceiling. I just can't figure out what's standing between where I am and where I should be.
You keep breaking down before races
There's always a niggle and I run through it. If I feel good, I run more: a longer warm-up, a run home after the session, a harder long run because the others are doing it. The sessions are always fast. Then one run is the last straw, I can barely walk for a few days and I'm out for a month or more. I get treated, but nobody tells me it's the training. Every time I feel like I've built something, I have to start again.
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There's always something. A burning ache I press on and hope is nothing. I get treated and I spend a lot of money on consults, but nobody ever tells me it's the training, so I keep doing what I'm doing. If I feel good, I run more. A tempo day turns into a whole morning: jog to the park, do the session, run home, and 16K becomes 21. My easy runs aren't easy, there's no bounce in my legs, and the sessions are always fast. I'm sore through them and I just run through it. Then one run is the last straw, usually a long run that's longer or hillier than it needed to be because the other boys were doing it. A few days later I can barely walk and I'm out for a month or more. I've been told the pain might never fully go away. And every time, just when I feel like I've built all this work up, I know I'll have to start again.
You can't fit training around your week
Running was always my thing, then work took over. Now I'm watching colleagues cross half marathon finish lines and I want to race again, properly. But my week is already full. I've started structured plans before, then a big work week or a trip lands and the whole thing falls apart. What I need is a plan that fits my week, and someone I can message when life gets in the way instead of quietly falling off the program.
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Running was always my thing, then work took over and I let it go. Now I'm watching colleagues cross half marathon finish lines and I'm ready to get back into it properly. Not just jogging to stay healthy, actually racing and getting faster. The problem is my week is already full, and I'm not going to waste the little time I have guessing whether my training is doing anything. I want a real plan, but I know how this goes: I start something structured, a big work week lands, travel comes up, and the whole thing falls apart. So I keep waiting for the right moment, and it never arrives, and nothing changes. What I need is someone who builds the plan around my week instead of expecting my week to bend around the plan. Someone who tells me if I'm doing too much or can handle more, and who I can message when something comes up instead of quietly falling off the program.
Either way, the effort's already there. What's missing is someone looking at the whole picture.
How we coach
World-class training for everyday runners. Your plan, your data and two coaches who know you, so every week builds on the last.
We don't send you a month calendar and hope for the best
Work, travel, a niggle, a big week. When something comes up, we move things around for you.
There's a reason we keep repeating the same sessions
Same 5 x 6 min, same 10 x 3 min, so we can see if your heart rate's settling from rep to rep and when you're ready for more.
Don't turn that freshness into fatigue
Fitness goes quicker than it's built. When you're feeling great we'll hold you back, so it goes into the sessions that count.
The easy part is getting the sessions done. The hard part is actually recovery.
We're going to question you on everything you do
We go through your Final Surge every week and comment on your sessions. Fortnightly 15 minute calls, WhatsApp in between.
PBs from runners like you
More results on our Instagram
Owen Dumsday
1500m 3:51.08
from 4:03 · in 10 months
Our fastest result. 3:51 for 1500m in Belgium, 12 seconds faster in ten months.
Shane Loorham
5K 16:23
from 17:10 · in 6 months
Joined at 42. Busy job, two young kids. Faster at every distance in one year.
Josh Hudson
10K 31:13
from 33:40 · in 6 months
Shift worker. Albury. No perfect schedule.
Ben Newmarch
5K 18:00
from 20:19 · in 9 months
Runs his own business. Coached from interstate.
Tia Zhang
Marathon 3:13:05
from 3:22:32 · in 7 months
Came back from a stress fracture wanting to run safer and faster.
20 minutes, and an honest read on where you're at.
Apply for coachingHere's what changes when you train with us
- Before: Second-guessing every sessionAfter: Knowing what each session is for
- Before: Pushing hard, never recoveringAfter: Controlled work that stacks week after week
- Before: A plan that falls apart when work gets busyAfter: A plan that bends around your week
- Before: Starting again every few monthsAfter: Consistent blocks you can build on
- Before: Racing on hopeAfter: Racing to a plan you know you can hold
Meet the coaches
We built Pace Theory together in Melbourne and we coach together, online, wherever you live. Your training gets adjusted every week. We know your race calendar, your injuries, your work schedule, and what your last session actually felt like.
Sami Merhi
Co-founder and head coach
- Level 3 performance coach
- Cert III Fitness
- Coached at Peninsula Grammar
Up at 4am before barista shifts, sure sub-16 was close. Stuck for years. Rebuilt from osteitis pubis and ran 15:51.
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Sami was up at 4am. Working full time as a barista, on Sundays he'd get a 24K long run done before a 40-minute drive and an 8.5-hour shift on his feet. He ran 17 minutes for 5K, got to 16:40 within a few months, and figured sub-16 was close. It took years.
Commitment was never the problem. He thought the answer was more: extra kilometres on top of his plan, racing his training sessions, building to 130 to 140K a week. For almost two years he ran through a burning pain in his pelvis, then joined a hilly 30K group run because the other guys were doing it. A week later he was diagnosed with osteitis pubis. A physio told him the pain might be there for life.
It wasn't. He learned to control his threshold instead of racing it, placed his strength work so it didn't compete with his running, and for the first time he could stack weeks without a setback. He rebuilt to around 100K a week and ran 15:51 for 5K.
He knows what it takes to fit serious training around a full life. That's what he builds for his athletes.
Seth O'Donnell
Co-founder and head coach
- Australian 5000m & 10,000m Champion
- Melbourne Half Marathon Champion
- World Championships
- Commonwealth Games
- Physiotherapist
Came to running from footy at 19. Has since raced the World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
Read more about SethShow less
At 19, Seth took up running properly. His first 1500m was 3:57, leading from the gun. He's since won national cross country and track titles and the Melbourne Half Marathon, and raced the 5000m at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo and the 2026 Commonwealth Games. His PBs are 13:12 for 5000m and 1:01:20 for the half.
He came to running from footy. At 16 he won an under-19s flag with the Dingley Dingoes, and in his final year of school he won a state athletics title on footy fitness alone. His grandfather was the club physio at Hawthorn, where he always wanted to play.
What he brings to athletes is the ability to read when to push and when to pull back. He came to running late, built fast, and knows which variables actually move performance. His athletes don't just get fitter. They understand why.
He's also a qualified physiotherapist, which shapes how Pace Theory approaches load, niggles and return to running.
Is this you
We only take on runners we know we can help.
We keep the roster small so every athlete gets proper attention.
This is for you if:
- You put the work in, but your times have stalled.
- You have a goal you care about, from 1500 m to the marathon.
- Your time is limited and every session has to count.
- You're ready to be held back when you need it, not just pushed.
- You want a coach who knows you, not a plan in your inbox.
We're probably not the right fit if:
- You're after a free plan or a few session tips.
- You'd rather follow a generic monthly program on your own.
- You'd rather smash every session than build week to week.
Athletes around the world
Coaching runners across countries
What happens after you apply
Fill in the form
Three minutes. Where you're at, what you're chasing and what's getting in the way.
We read it
Sami and Seth go through it before the call, so we don't start from scratch.
20-minute call
We work out together whether we're the right fit for your goal.
Your plan is built
If we're a match, we build it around your week, your history and your goal.
Fair questions
Is there a contract?
No. No lock-in, cancel any time by email or WhatsApp with no notice period. You keep access until the end of the period you've paid for. We'll walk you through how it works and pricing on your call.
Who coaches me?
Sami or Seth, the two co-founders and head coaches. You have one coach who knows you and your training, and they write your plan and run your check-ins.
What's included?
Your plan built week to week in Final Surge and synced to your watch, a check-in call every fortnight, feedback on your key sessions, and WhatsApp support in between. Strength and fuelling guidance is built into your plan.
Is it right for my level?
If you train seriously and want it to show in your times, yes. We coach anything from 1500 m to the marathon, starting from where you are now, not a template.
How fast do I hear back?
Within 24 hours. Message us on WhatsApp whenever something comes up, and we'll get back to you within a day.
How is this different from a training app?
With an app you have to decide yourself how hard you push, or whether you should do the session today. A lot of runners end up asking ChatGPT if they should do threshold when they're a bit tired. We look at your data every week, and when your heart rate's drifting or your easy runs are creeping faster, we change the plan. Sometimes that means telling you to do less.
I'm really busy. Will this work for me?
That's exactly who we build for. Your plan fits around work, family and travel, and when your week changes, so does the training.
I've got a niggle at the moment. Can I still apply?
Yes. Tell us about it in your application and we'll talk it through on the call. Seth is a physio, and a lot of the runners we coach came to us after getting stuck in an injury cycle.
How many athletes do you coach?
We keep our numbers deliberately small. When we're full, we're full.
Let's find what's holding your running back.
20 minutes, and an honest read on where you're at.
Our promise
If we don't think we can help you, we'll tell you on the call.
This month is full
Join the waitlist
10 spots each month. By joining you agree we can email you about the next intake. Opt out anytime.
We'll match you with your coach based on your goals, race distance and training history.
No pressure, no obligation to join