Run the PB your training deserves.

Stop second-guessing your training. Your coach builds the plan, watches how you respond, and adjusts it around your actual life.

No lock-in. Cancel anytime.

Sound familiar

Which one are you?

You're already training hard.

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're getting back to it properly.

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 is already there. What's missing is someone looking at the whole picture and pointing it in the right direction.

How we coach

Coaching that fits your week

World-class training for everyday runners. Your plan, your data and two coaches who know you, so every week builds on the last.

Your plan changes when your week does.

Your training is built around your work, family and travel.

Stop wondering what today's run is for

You'll know what each session is for and how it fits the block, so you stop second-guessing a slow rep and start trusting the process.

Stop trading one big week for three bad ones

We keep an eye on your training load so you're not guessing whether it's too much or not enough.

Questions answered within 24 hours

A check-in call every fortnight and WhatsApp in between, with replies within 24 hours. Strength and fuelling guidance comes built into your plan, not bolted on.

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The difference

What changes when you train with us

Real runners, real results

Real PBs from runners like you

Runners with jobs, families and limited training hours. Here's what changed when someone looked at the whole picture.

Owen Dumsday racing the Ballarat half marathon
Owen Dumsday

Owen Dumsday

Our fastest result. Seven months to a sub-1:09 half, on a windy day in Ballarat.

Half marathon

1:08:42

in 7 months

1:08:42

in 7 months

Before
1:11:09
After
1:08:42
Race
Ballarat
Date
April 2026
“Sometimes conditions don't go your way… and you still come away with a big PB.”
Owen
Shane Loorham racing on the track
Shane Loorham

Shane Loorham

Joined at 42. Busy job, two young kids. Faster at every distance in one year.

5K

16:30

in 6 months

16:30

in 6 months

Before
17:10
After
16:30
Race
Lakeside 5K
Date
May 2026
Josh Hudson with his medal after the Gold Coast half marathon
Josh Hudson

Josh Hudson

Shift worker. Albury. No perfect schedule.

10K

31:13

in 6 months

31:13

in 6 months

Before
33:40
After
31:13
Race
Pub to Pelican
Date
June 2026
Ben Newmarch
Ben Newmarch

Ben Newmarch

Runs his own business. Coached from interstate.

5K

18:00

in 9 months

18:00

in 9 months

Before
20:19
After
18:00
Race
RunPrix 5K
Date
September 2026
“It's like being able to run like I was when I was a kid.”
Ben
Tia Zhang racing the Gold Coast half marathon
Tia Zhang

Tia Zhang

Came back from a stress fracture wanting to run safer and faster.

Marathon

3:13:05

in 7 months

3:13:05

in 7 months

Before
3:22
After
3:13:05
Race
Melbourne
Date
2026
“I told Sami I wanted to run safer and faster. Seven months later I ran a 3:13 at Melbourne. Injury-free the whole way through.”
Tia

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Five of many. More results on our Instagram.

Is this you

We only take on runners we know we can help.

We keep the roster small so every athlete gets proper attention.

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.

Your coaches

Meet the coaches

We built Pace Theory together and we lead the coaching together. We're athletes ourselves, and we put the same energy into your running that we put into our own.

Sami Merhi

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.

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

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.

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.

Applying

What happens after you apply

01

Fill in the form

Three minutes. Where you're at, what you're chasing and what's getting in the way.

02

We read it

Sami and Seth go through it before we talk, so the call isn't spent starting from scratch.

03

20-minute call

We find out whether Pace Theory is right for where you want to go.

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Common questions

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're already training seriously and want to see it in your times, yes. We coach anything from 800 m to the marathon, and your plan is built around 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.

Let's find what's holding your running back.

20 minutes. We'll tell you what we think is holding your running back.

Our promise

If we don't think we can help you, we'll tell you on the call.

We'll match you with your coach based on your goals, race distance and training history.

No pressure, no obligation to join

Apply for coaching