The team behind Hodgkinson's golden rise and the hunt for a world record
Inside the brutal training sessions of M11 Track Club in Manchester that molded Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Keely Hodgkinson has claimed 6 global medals as a professional athlete.
- M11 Track Club in Manchester features a nearly 30-strong international group.
- Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows lead and coach the elite training squad.
- The team is targeting summer major events with intense 800m training blocks.
An east Manchester downpour captured the stark reality of elite athletics as Olympic champion and world silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson lay flat out on the track, recovering from a brutal training session alongside her peers.
Coach Trevor Painter, anticipating a prolonged recovery period, placed an opened umbrella next to his star athlete to shield her from the relentless rain before seeking shelter himself. Two team-mates stepped in to help peel her off the ground, while Georgia Hunter Bell used her remaining energy to step away and vomit.
Observing the scene, Painter joked with mild disappointment that relatively few team-mates had suffered the exact same fate while the cameras were rolling. This is the standard operational environment at M11 Track Club, where fun takes precedence until the stopwatch starts ticking.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Named after its Manchester postcode, the international training group of nearly 30 athletes continues to make history under the meticulous guidance of Painter and his partner Jenny Meadows, a world medallist who intimately understands the physical anguish she now oversees. Hodgkinson credits this vital support system for her monumental career milestones.
Camaraderie among the global roster is immediately visible as athletes gather in a compact room for activation work and light physiotherapy. Newest recruit Gaia Sabbatini, who relocated from Rome, received a warm welcome with balloons and birthday wishes, though a palpable sense of apprehension lingered regarding the grueling workout ahead.
M11 Track Club represents a modern blueprint for athletic excellence by blending a tight-knit, family-like culture with severe physiological conditioning. The ability to maintain psychological buoyancy amidst intense lactic acid training helps elite runners sustain peak performance, as demonstrated by Hodgkinson's recent British record run in Stockholm prior to event-specific blocks.
A lactic acid-inducing 400m interval session in early June marked the official commencement of specific 800m training for the summer targets. Despite challenging weather conditions, Hodgkinson outperformed expectations by breaking her personal best split times, eclipsing metrics recorded ahead of her stellar indoor season where she secured world gold and the indoor world record.
The foundations of M11 were laid long before Hodgkinson's father suggested its globally recognized moniker. Painter, boasting a rugby league background and a 47-second 400m personal best, has mentored Hodgkinson since she was 17, following his successful coaching tenure with Meadows.
"There will be people bent over being sick and going to a very dark place during training, but the friendships and the fun that we have make it that little bit easier."
Trevor Painter
Meadows' vision for a Manchester-based training hub took just two years to achieve global recognition, accelerated by Hodgkinson's rise to Olympic gold and Paris 2024 medals secured by training partners Hunter Bell and Lewis Davey.
Source: BBC Sport
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