Growing up in Brighton then moving to other parts of Sussex as an adult has given Peter Standen experience of competing and coaching at several clubs across the county. His experiences along with a wealth of knowledge gathered over many years makes him a coach to be reckoned with. Kate Matthews caught up Peter to have a chat about his coaching and how it has been affected by Covid19.
Kate: Who are you?
Peter: I am Peter Standen, age 79, ex Bexhill, Brighton and Hove, Hastings and now Eastbourne Rovers.
Kate: Which athletes do you and have you coached?
Peter: I presently coach a group of mainly senior middle distance runners at Eastbourne Rovers.
Kate: How long have you been coaching and how did you get into it?
Peter: I started coaching about 35 years ago when a 12 years old Luke Veness asked me to coach him. He went on to win the English Schools XC and track 3000m. I then had Harvey Gorden and Joel Fraser both won medals at 880 yards at the English Schools. Also, I coached Cara Paine to 300m hurdles and Lee Emanual to 1 mile silvers medals.
Another athlete who asked me to coach her was Julie Mitchell who then went on to run for England at cross country and UK in a 6 leg marathon and 1500m indoors against Russia and Sweden.
Kate: Were you an athlete before a coach, and if so, what distances/disciplines?
Peter: I spent 60 years as an athlete running all distances from 100 yards to a marathon.
Best times are: 100m 11.3s, 200m 22.8s, 400m 51.0s, 800m 1:51.8, 1 mile 4:7.6, 3000m 8:40, 5000m 14:48, 10000m 31:11.4, 10 miles 51:15, and Marathon 2:38:28.
I managed to win 80 Sussex medals mostly as a member of teams.
Best races - winning English Schools Junior and Inter 880 yards in 1956 and 58. The Inter was in a new record and later that year I ran 1:55.9 880 yards for a British age record.
At the other end of my career I won the southern M60 xc title.
Kate: How often do you coach?
Peter: I coach 2 or 3 times a week which includes summer 2 track sessions and a grass session/ or race and winter 1 track and 1 hill session.
Kate: What are the highs and lows of being a coach?
Peter: The highs of being a coach is when everything comes together in a major race for one of my athletes. The lows are when injuries occur.
Kate: What is/are your proudest moment(s)?
Peter: My proudest moment as a coach was when Luke Veness, my first athlete, won the English Schools XC when his target was to finish in the top 10.
Kate: What have been the hardest moments?
Peter: There are no hardest moments that I can think of.
Kate: How do you motivate your athletes to keep going and focus etc?
Peter: I have always written a training plan for my athletes from day 1 which includes rest days and races, as well as daily training. Also, it makes it a lot easier to coach by email for athletes who are not at the track on a regular basis. I find this plan helps motivate them combined with regular track sessions.
Kate: What has coaching athletics brought to your life?
Peter: As a young athlete I made many mistakes some of which ended up as serious injuries and my aim now is to prevent this happening to the athletes I coach. Coaching combined with my 25 years as a marksman has kept me in the sport and in touch with the local athletes. It’s also become a large part of my life as well as a hobby.
Kate: Has coaching changed over the years?
Peter: When I first started running there were very few coaches at athletic clubs. Most of my information came from older athletes but now for example we have at least 5 people coaching middle distance at Eastbourne all with a wealth of information between them.
Kate: What are the main difficulties that face you and your athletes in normal times?
Peter: We don’t have difficulties - only solutions at Eastbourne.
Peter: During Covid19 it has been a problem sometimes to keep the motivation going without races to focus on. Others who are working 
from home or are involved in caring for patients look forward to a daily run. It keeps them sane I have been told.
Kate: Would you encourage others to become coaches and why?
Peter: Yes. It’s a great sport to be involved in and very satisfying when things go to plan.
Kate: How could the world of athletics be improved for both athletes and coaches?
Peter: I’d like coach meeting to be reintroduced in Sussex to exchange ideas etc.