David Arnott started coaching at Corstorphine in 2011 and has focused on middle distance and cross country/roads with our Junior Endurance Squad (for age 14 upwards) since 2017. He was voted Scottish Athletics Club Coach of the Year in 2019. David loves to run with the athletes whenever he is fit enough to do so and to get the squad out training on trails and hills whenever he can. He has been involved in athletics for over 40 years and is a former East of Scotland 1500m Champion, Scottish under 20 1500m Champion, East of Scotland U20 cross country champion and represented Scotland at U20 level at the World Cross Country Championships in Warsaw (1987). David still competes in masters events and his favourite running hat is significantly older than any of the athletes in the squad!
He was brought up in Dunfermline where he was a member of Pitreavie AAC and this is where his love of athletics started. He was Club Captain when the club won the Scottish Mens League for the first time. He moved to University in Edinburgh where he was chairman of the University athletics club, a member of the Hares and Hounds and has been in Edinburgh ever since. David works in Edinburgh as a Solicitor and his 3 children Caitlin, Jamie and Mhairi are all members of Corstorphine. Athletics takes up most of his spare time but he likes to play and watch most sports.
Janet Grigor coached school athletics (mainly cross-country) in Inverness from 1992 and then became a qualified Assistant Coach (L1) for Inverness Harriers in 2002 and an Athletics Coach (L2) in 2003. She had a wee break and returned to coaching for Corstorphine in 2022. Janet coaches the adults C25K and Craic Squads and helps with RJT/ Development Squad, Juniors if they are short handed. Janet enjoys coaching all events, but her favourite is probably long jump. She loves seeing new athletes joining in, making friends, trying their best, learning new skills and taking part in competitions.
She has been an athlete from age 14 when she ran a school XC event. XC is still her favourite, especially running through forests and on beaches. She also enjoys trail running and short road races. Janet’s highlights were winning her age category in the Tour of Fife in 2019 and being part of the team that won the F50 gold medal in the Scottish Road Relays in 2019. Janet also used to compete in middle distance on the track – she admits to being never very fast, but often got vital points for the team by taking part. She has slowed down quite a lot since then, but still enjoys running, especially with friends in the club.
Her long involvement in the sport is quite remarkable as she was diagnosed with T1 diabetes aged 8. She is keen to show that although it can be difficult at times, it doesn’t (usually!) stop her from taking part or enjoying sport.
Janet was born in Berkshire but moved to Glentrool aged 3, attended various local schools before studying at Edinburgh University. She has worked as a Gaelic-medium primary teacher in various places and now does wee bits of freelance Gaelic writing, teaching and translating. She is married to Moray, who helps as an official for the club, and is mum to Raonaid-Eoghan who lives and works in Glasgow. Janet and Moray have a greyhound, Sonas, who enjoys long walks and short very fast sprints! She enjoys Trad music, especially Scottish and Irish, trips out on the bike, walks with Moray and Sonas in beautiful places, dancing, playing fiddle and guitar and learning languages.
Mike Rose is another of our Assistant Coaches with our Juniors, he is happy to coach wherever needed, but he does prefer sprints. When asked how long he has coached, he was amazed to find it was since 2018 – time has flown by. Five or six years ago he found it not really worth his while to dive home after dropping his son off at the track, only to turn around a few minutes later to pick him up. So, he brought a chair and read a book during the session. George Key, said, “That’s how I started. You’ll be out here coaching soon.” he thought, no chance But George was right, Mike answered one of the calls for parent helpers and has never looked back. When he first volunteered to help, he let it be known that he knew nothing about athletics and was horrible with names. He added, “not once have I felt out of depth when helping. I was always provided with a plan for the session, and early days I was always paired with someone more experienced”
Mike was not an athlete in his younger days, but he has really started to enjoy running in recent years. He says his head enjoys it more than the rest of his body! He proudly claims his greatest achievement was just lacing up his shoes and taking that first step. Born and raised in Virginia, USA Mike graduated from Clemson University and received his MBA from Loyola College in Maryland. He is the Head of Financial Planning and Analysis at a FinTech company
Lewis Innes is our Junior & Senior Sprints coach and has coached since 2002. He was a thrower as a youngster and recently got back into it. He loves regular attendance and hard work. Lewis has a quotes book and also a list of the best excuses for missing training. At the top of that list there are a few, but his favourite has to be that one of his athletes texted to say they weren’t able to attend training as there was a deer in their garden keeping them hostage in their own house. That’s way better than the dog that ate my homework!
He was born, raised and studied in Edinburgh and currently works as an engineer with Edinburgh Council. He is married to Kimberly and likes to have a chicken pizza when watching Iron Man or listening to Ria Mae. Lewis also coaches Rollerderby, which Kimberley also plays and is a streamer on Twitch. He volunteers as an official in Scottish Motorsport and loves photography. So there is a lot on his plate every week!
Amanda Maclean commenced her coaching career with CAAC in September 2022 and coaches athletes aged eight to fourteen. She is also our team manager for the CSSAL.
Amanda started volunteering for the club because her son was training there and she wanted to give something back to the club. Shortly after this time her daughter also joined the club and Amanda completed the Assistant Coach (Level 1) coaching qualification. She has mow completed her Athletics Coach (Level 2) Amanda loves to see the kids progressing through the squads and helping prepare them for the move to our sprint or endurance squads.
Although she has no athletics background, she studied Physical Activity & Health at Napier and is a Personal Trainer at Edinburgh College where she also teaches. She loves teaching the athletes about the importance of S&C and the fundamental movements. Born and raised in Edinburgh where she still stays with her husband Chris and kids Stewart and Abigail who are club members.
Stewart Maclean started helping in 2022 and will be looking to do his Assistant Coach Course when he is old enough. He coaches the RJT and Dev squads where he coaches the early sessions, before he does his own training session with Lewis in the sprints group. Stewart also helps at our Royal High School project on Fridays.
Stewart specialises in the 100m and is frequently lowering his PB – with the aim to go sub 12s soon. He is finding that by coaching he is better able to understand what his coaches are trying to deliver during his own training sessions.
He was showing a group of athletes how to do a sprint start, but as the floor was slippery he nearly fell flat on his face! He got up and quickly said “Right, now I’ve shown you what NOT to do, I will demo the proper technique”
Stewart was born in Edinburgh and currently attends Forrester HS. His mum, Amanda, coaches with us, and his sister is also a club member. Away from the track his favourite pastime is eating!
Chris Peggie started coaching in 2012 and coaches the Development and Junior Athletes. He covers sprints, endurance, jumps (long & high) and throws (javelin & shot putt). He was a late starting athlete, initially dragged into playing football by his brothers in his late 20s. A colleague then noted he must be fit and suggested he should join the work 10km charity effort. Chris soon realised he wasn’t fit and found a Couch to 5km plan. He eventually dragged himself round the Edinburgh Bupa 10km in 52 minutes. The following weekend he did the Penicuik 10km and took a minute off his PB and was hooked.
Chris joined CAAC a year after and thanks to his coach he took 10 minutes off his 10km PB in his first year. He was delighted with two Good for Age places in the London Marathon by meeting the qualifying standard of a sub-3:10 time and a second place in the Stornoway 10km (yes there were more than 2 athletes in the race).
Chris says it’s always brilliant to see the Juniors delight when they get to throw a javelin, shot putt or take a leap into the long jump pit for the first time! Chris gets a lot of fun explaining why he has Pacemaker on his club kit – despite not being very fast. He was born in Edinburgh and went to Aberdeen Uni, he has now returned to his hometown where lives with his two cats and works in the governance team with Edinburgh Council. He has a broad range of favourite films, food and music and away from athletics he enjoys gaming and following Hearts.
Kara McKenzie-Tait started coaching in 2004 when she was 16 through Kilmarnock Harriers and East Ayrshire Council. She is now an Athletics Coach with our Women’s Squad where she is heavily involved with the resurgence in form of our female athletes. She currently covers track, road and cross country, but she has coached all ages when she was a student.
Kara is still an athlete and her achievements to date include 2019 and 2021 Scottish Aquathon champion, 2021 British Aquathon silver medallist, 2014 5000m Scottish champion and 1000m silver medallist. She does admit to hating the cold winter weather.
She was raised in Kilmaurs in Ayrshire, but now lives in Edinburgh where she works at Edinburgh College as a Student Safeguarding and Welfare Lead. She is married to Calum who is also a club member and they had a baby daughter in 2022. Her favourite food is Pasta and Garlic Bread, and she loves listening to crime podcasts and swimming
George Key has been coaching our Junior athletes since 2015. He still competes in throws in various leagues for the club but wouldn’t class himself as an athlete! George likes seeing the progression in kids from development squad level all the way up to competition level!!!
He was born and raised and still lives in Edinburgh where he works with the council roads department. George is married to Angie for nearly 14 years and has four kids Robyn & Lewis (sprint squad), Lucas (junior athlete) and Isla (excited to join CAAC when she can). They have two cats Pebbles (21)!!! and Poppy nearly 1. He likes the Shawshank Redemption, anything homemade and all music types. Away from the track he likes football & cycling.
David Henderson coaches the adult endurance group and started coaching in 2000. He is still an athlete, preferring road running, 10K’s, half marathons, marathons and has even dabbled in some track races for the club. David likes when athletes thank him for their achievements and dislikes wet evenings at training. He enjoys a bit of banter with his group, they give him a bit of stick regarding his pace these days but he soon tells them his PB times and that shuts them up.
David is Edinburgh born and bred, is married with three great adult kids and a dog called Troon. He works as a Team Manager in local government and enjoys James Bond or action films, steak pie and anything that sounds good. Away from the track he enjoys golf, gardening and DIY.
Mike Harrison is an Assistant Coach and has coached our Juniors since 2019. In his youth he was a sprinter, but now he runs longer distances – half and full marathons. Born in Bridge of Allan he ran for Central AC, please don’t hold that against me, he asks!. His best achievement was bronze in the Scottish U15 boys 4×100 relay champs. He ran the third leg which is where he hears they put the slowest in the team!!!
Mike studied at Edinburgh College of Art and is now a Landscape Architect and Urban Designer, with his own business in Edinburgh. He is married to Debbie, and they have three children. Lewis, Ella and Riley who all train and compete at the club. The Star Wars films are his favourite, they came out for the first time when he was a kid and he has enjoyed the evolution of the new films over the years. Classic films.
Outside of athletics he used to play rugby and follows Stirling County, the club he used to play for, Edinburgh and Scotland, watching them whenever he can. Mainly his business and family take up his time so with the athletics and running he has a full life.
Graeme Reid started coaching in 2020 and is a key part of the club’s para athlete group, where he is an Athletics Coach (L2) Graeme enjoys providing opportunities for athletes of all ages to come together as a group and improve their fitness. He particularly enjoys the camaraderie and positivity of the frame running group. It’s a real mix of individuals and characters who enjoy each other’s company and support each other at the sessions.
In particular he comments “There’s always a bit of chat at the sessions and one of the frame running group has a particularly infectious laugh. During one bit of banter she broke into fits of laughter and couldn’t stop. Needless to say, the rest of the group were doubled up laughing with her laughing. It took about 5 minutes to restore some order and get on with the session”
Graeme enjoyed running with the senior endurance group, although he has no notable achievements, in fact he admits to being a bang average runner at best! Born and raised in Barrhead on the South side of Glasgow he worked for 42 years as a commercial manager for a variety of construction companies but retired in February 2022.
Graeme is married to Julie, they have a daughter Alison, and a grandson Charlie. His favourite film is Young Frankenstein, loves a curry and was brought up on a diet of 70s/80s heavy metal music, so you’ll often see him sporting an AC/DC or Motorhead t-shirt. He is a volunteer trainer for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People charity andis currently training a cocker spaniel to be a hearing dog.