Endurance coaching for complex goals — and the people who choose to meet them fully.
Elisabet Barnes is a two-time Marathon des Sables champion (2015 and 2017), five-time competitor, and has coached athletes preparing for MDS and multi-stage ultra-marathons since 2014.
Ultra-Running Coach Elisabet Barnes, PhD.
I work with runners, walkers, and endurance athletes preparing for demanding goals — from first-time ultras to complex multi-stage and expedition-style races.
My coaching is bespoke and evidence-informed. Grounded in lived experience.
It draws on endurance racing at the highest level, professional coaching practice, and a deep understanding of how people perform under uncertainty, fatigue, and pressure.
If you’re looking for coaching that is thoughtful, individual, and sustainable — rather than generic, performative, or formula-driven — you’re in the right place.
In Print
“So each day in Oman I’d start off running beside Elisabet, to slow myself down. I would last a few minutes, before I’d start falling behind, the sand sucking my legs down, siphoning off any pretence at running, while Elisabet powered away from me, relentless, her quick, shuffling step ploughing through the sand like some small traction engine. Each day she beat me by huge margins, sometimes hours. Our similar marathon-running abilities had no bearing in the desert.”
Adharanand Finn
The Rise of the Ultra Runners: A Journey to the Edge of Human Endurance
“If you want to move efficiently and effectively, you need to make use of this natural elasticity. There is no better example of this than the work that I have done with Elisabet Barnes. … Going into the Marathon des Sables in 2017, we worked specifically on Elisabet’s posture, ensuring that her perception of her movement was that of a graceful figurehead on the bow of a ship. … Elisabet implemented this brilliantly.”
Shane Benzie
The Lost Art of Running: A Journey to Rediscover the Forgotten Essence of Human Movement
Work With Me
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MDS & Multi-Stage Coaching
Preparation for events of this complexity requires more than a training plan. Equipment, nutrition, heat, self-sufficiency, pacing, and the psychology of sustained effort all interact — and the margin between a good experience and a damaging one is largely determined before the start line.
Coaching with me is bespoke, one-to-one, and built around the specific demands of your event and the realities of your life.
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MDS Clarity Session
Preparing independently — or not yet ready to commit to full coaching?
The Clarity Session is a focused 90-minute conversation for people who want expert input on their most pressing MDS questions. Equipment choices, heat acclimation, nutrition, pacing strategy — we work through your priorities with direct reference to your specific circumstances and goals.
You leave with clarity and direction, not a generic checklist.
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Ongoing Coaching
Not every goal is MDS. Not every client needs race-specific preparation.
If you are working toward a single-stage ultra, a trail event, or a more personal endurance challenge — or if you are at the beginning of something and want support in figuring out what that looks like — this is where we start.
Coaching is shaped around your goals, your experience, and the level of support that serves you best.
The Immersion
Private Endurance Experience
A private, high-touch endurance immersion for individuals who want to engage with challenge at a deeper level — physically, psychologically, and personally.
We prepare together over several months. The event is undertaken together.
This is not about completing a race. It is about increasing your capacity — for discomfort, uncertainty, and leadership when no one is watching.
Limited to one to two individuals per year. By application and invitation only.
About Elisabet
I’m best known for winning the 250km Marathon des Sables — The Legendary — twice. Since I began running ultras in 2011, I’ve raced in extreme environments around the world, including deserts, rainforests, mountains, and high altitude, learning firsthand what sustained endurance truly demands.
I’m particularly interested in how people prepare, adapt, and make sound decisions under fatigue, uncertainty, and pressure — and how thoughtful preparation, done well, builds confidence, resilience, and self-trust when it matters most.
“I would whole-heartedly recommend your coaching service to anyone. You saved me and gave me the confidence and the skills to go into the MDS and run it whilst enjoying it. I would never have finished where I did had I been on another plan. The attention to detail, the genuine passion for running and the desire to help others achieve their goals is what sets you apart from others.”
REBECCA
“It was brutal out there. It was about survival. It wasn't really about survival of the fittest, but survival of the most organised and most prepared. I observed so many people who were just not prepared. They had the wrong kit, their food wasn't working for them, and they were not able to manage themselves in the heat. Thanks to your guidance I felt like I got most things spot on.”
IAN
“I left it all on the trail. My entire body hurts. I have no regrets. Thank you for helping me reach the finish line of my first 50 mile race — every mile reflected your coaching and support.”
SOPHIE