Still Getting Better: Andy Catchlove's Run2PB Athlete Interview on His Gold Coast PB
Andy Catchlove recently came back on the Better With Running podcast, and plenty has happened since his last appearance. Since signing up to Run2PB in 2022 as a self-taught runner with a 2:59 marathon to his name, the 43-year-old Melbourne businessman has worked his way down to a 2:41 PB at this year's Gold Coast Marathon under coach Sammy McLean — and he's still chasing the one number that's eluded him.
Fitting Running Into a Full Life
Calling in from home in Melbourne, Andy paints a picture familiar to a lot of Run2PB athletes: two young boys, an advertising and media services business he's run for seven or eight years, and a wife who's also a runner, coached by Madeline Heine from the Run2PB stable. Running gets slotted in wherever it fits.
"It keeps me on the straight and narrow. It's a busy schedule, but wouldn't have it any other way. No busier than anybody else."
From Football and Cricket to a Sub-40 Goal
Andy's running story starts and stops a few times. Decent at cross-country in high school and a sprinter on the athletics team, he spent his twenties and thirties playing football and cricket before, in his own words, the good life caught up with him — a few too many beers and a few too many late nights. A chance dinner with an old school contact who was deep in the XCR scene nudged him back into running around 2016, with some loose, informal coaching to get him going.
For a few years the only goal was a sub-40-minute 10K. He got there, kept building, and eventually ran 2:59 at his debut Melbourne Marathon — at which point he realised he had no real idea what he was doing.
"I just had no idea about training, nutrition, none of it. And he said, yeah, I think we can extract a little bit more out of that."
That call to Sammy McLean was four or five years ago. The 20-minute 5K runner on the original sign-up form is now a 16:35 man. The sub-40 10K chaser now runs a full marathon at faster than that pace.
Gold Coast: The Proudest Run, and the 2:40 Wall
Ask Andy for his proudest achievement and the answer is this year's Gold Coast. The marathon is his favourite event even though, by the conversion tables, it isn't his best — a 1:16 half should translate to something under 2:40, a barrier he's yet to break.
"I'd say it's my proudest, because I trained hard, didn't miss a session and I gave it everything. This 2:40 barrier that's in my head, I've just never been able to break through."
He's realistic about where he sits at 43, but far from done with it.
"The best is probably behind me, but I'm still holding out hope that there's a sub-2:40 in there somewhere. One day."
What Changed in the Build
The Gold Coast block was the biggest of Andy's life, and the first place he and Sammy really turned the volume dial. Where he'd previously hovered around 80–90K weeks, this time they pushed to 95–105K, went from six days a week to seven, and even experimented with doubles — an experiment Andy is happy to report is over.
"Going for a run at night after you've already done one in the morning — you can get in the bin."
Pressed by Chris on exactly how much he hates a double, Andy was offered a choice: a 30-minute evening run, or detaching and cleaning out the S-bend in the kitchen sink. He didn't hesitate.
"I'd do the sink before the doubles. I'd rather just about do anything than the doubles."
The structural change that mattered most was rebalancing the week. Tuesdays became manageable, snappy fartlek-style sessions rather than big efforts, Wednesdays got longer but easier, and the load shifted to a big Friday and a big Sunday. Previous builds, he and Sammy agreed, had probably been overcooked.
"I seem to be able to handle up to a certain amount of volume, but either too much intensity or too much volume and I get too tired. We struck a really good balance."
Four or five years in, Andy points to one number as the truest measure of Sammy's work: zero injuries.
"That's an absolute credit to him, because a guy at my age can get injured pretty easily. He's managed the load perfectly."
Racing to Feel, Not to the Watch
The other big shift was mental. Andy arrived at Gold Coast intent on executing a good race rather than chasing a number, trusting that the time would follow. He went through halfway around 1:20-high, knew he'd need a negative split with the notorious Gold Coast headwind waiting, and by 35–37K the 2:40 was gone — but the PB wasn't.
"Knowing you've got an A, B and C goal within a race and just not throwing in the towel is one thing I've learned. You've always got to have something else."
He's candid about how hard it is to stop thinking in numbers when the whole sport speaks that language — this is a 2:10 guy, this is a sub-3 guy. But experience has taught him what marathon pace actually feels like, and Sammy's advice sits in the back of his mind: leave room for a bit of wow, don't be constricted by what the training says.
"I've never finished a marathon thinking I've left time out there. Always a broken man at the end."
Melbourne, Track and What's Next
The run-in to Melbourne has been deliberately shorter and lighter — back to six days, around 75–85K instead of 95–105, still two sessions and a Sunday long run, with the Burnley XCR 15K and the Surf Coast Century sprinkled in for stimulus. The trail experience, he says, gave him fresh respect for anyone who races single track and sand for a living.
"Sammy said the fitness is already there, we've just got to keep it topped up and get to the start line fresh."
He's also enjoyed dipping into track racing, running 16:49 at Tiger 5 in March after that 16:35 at Box Hill Burn — partly for the variety, partly because you can back up from a 5K in a way you simply can't from a marathon.
Beyond that, the message from his coach has been simple, and worth hearing for any athlete who thinks the improvements have run out.
"I keep going, well, how are we going to get better? And he goes, well, mate, you are getting better. That's the whole thing — you're still getting better."
Listen to Andy featured on the latest episode of Better with Running Podcast.
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