Elise is an ultra runner, bestselling author, and experienced speaker known for her understated, humorous approach to inspiring audiences. She discusses growth mindset, resilience, and high performance through stories from her endurance adventures and leadership training. Best known for being the first woman to run self-supported around the coast of Britain, Elise completed 5,000 miles in ten months, demonstrating her determination despite initial inexperience. Her book, Coasting, published in 2021, highlights that success comes from daring to try. She is also a long-term ambassador for The North Face UK.
To share the journey of her impressive feat, Elise became the author of her best-selling memoir Coasting. A highly revered book, Elise was awarded recognition as one of the Best Sports Books of 2021 by The Times, and was also long-listed for Sports Book of the Year 2021 by William Hill. The book was commended by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who stated that the book was ‘a true Great British adventure, with humour and heart’. Elise’s highly relatable account of her adventure aims to show that you don’t have to be the best or most talented person to succeed – you simply have to be the one who dares to have a go and doesn’t give up. This is the same message Elise shares in her talks, where she’ll use tales from her adventure to inspire your audience to face their own challenges.
Engaging audiences with her trademark humour and honesty, Elise is the perfect speaker if you’re looking for inspiration to dream big and persevere through challenging times. She is a highly versatile speaker ideal for corporate conferences, public speaking engagements and educational establishments. Themes she can speak on include: overcoming self-doubt and imposter syndrome, the power of community and social media, the redemptive properties of outdoor adventure to improve mental health and wellbeing, choosing adventure everyday and carving out a non-traditional career path.
Whether you’re looking to inspire the next generation of endurance runners or empower your audience to achieve any seemingly impossible goal, don’t hesitate in hiring Elise Downing today.
In February 2023 we sat down virtually with Elise Downing and discussed how she became the first woman to run a lap of Great Britain and the biggest hurdle she faced on her journey. Watch our Exclusive Interview with Elise Downing.
Social Media
Books
Coasting: Running Around the Coast of Great Britain - Life, Love and (Very) Loose Plans
How to hire Elise Downing
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Elise Downing for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do not accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
Elise Downing's official speaking topics are listed below:
Growth Mindset & Dreaming Big:
Whether it’s running an ultramarathon or striving towards an ambitious business goal, the first step is daring to believe that it might be possible. There are thousands of better runners than Elise out there - the only reason she managed to be the first woman to run around the coast of Britain is because she dreamed big enough to begin.
Using real-life examples, Elise will share practical tips for developing a growth mindset and believing in your own potential. After all, in the words of Capital Sensible, “if you don’t have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?”
Resilience & Perseverance in Challenging Situations:
There’s one key ingredient present in every successful completion of a goal: not giving up before the finish line. This is even more pertinent when working towards long-term targets.
With examples ranging from sticking with it through extreme running challenges (from multi-month adventures to gruelling mountain races) to sitting still long enough to write the 80,000 words required for a bestselling book, Elise’s stories will inspire the audience to persevere through their on challenges (even when they really want quit) and illustrate the rewards that can be reaped when you do.
Embracing Self-Doubt for High Performance:
We often talk about ‘conquering’ our fears and overcoming our doubts. But if we’re always waiting to be a better version of ourselves (more confident, fewer nerves, less afraid) before starting something, most of the time it will never end up happening.
By sharing her own experiences with humour and vulnerability, Elise will demonstrate how we can do amazing things despite our doubts, even using them to enhance performance.
Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events:
"Elise is a charismatic, engaging and witty speaker. At the National Running Show 2018, Elise was one of our most popular speakers and a real draw for visitors. She is a joy to work with." - Mike, CEO, National Running Show (NEC)
"Elise was the highlight of the event. Engaging, inspiring, authentic and hilarious." - Raoul, Director, Flume Training
"Elise came to The Ministry of Clean to share her incredible story with the team. Elise was very relatable, and extremely engaging and told her story in a very humorous way. We loved it! The office has since set up a weekly run club having felt so motivated by Elise to get out and run." - Sophie, EA, People Against Dirty (Ecover + Method)
"It was a great honour having Elise speak at Oratory Preparatory School. Her achievements are immense and [she's] a funny and engaging speaker too. We loved having her." - Rob, Headteacher, Oratory Preparatory School
"Having Elise in our whole school assembly was inspirational! She answered questions brilliantly and her enthusiasm and desire to do something to really push herself was a pleasure to see and hear. The staff and pupils were in awe and talked about Elise long after the assembly. Incredible." - James, Headteacher, Hamworthy Park Junior School
"Elise Downing is a comedy genius and has a heart of gold! Her self-deprecating humour makes her talk one of my favourites ever." - Danny, Founder, Project Awesome + One Run Global
"We were delighted that Elise agreed to be involved in the Run Rabbit Trail Festival where she spoke about her running adventures. She really threw herself into the spirit of things and was engaging and funny. We can’t recommend her highly enough." - Brian, Founder, Race Harborough and Thump Events
- 2024 - Designing walking trails at Wicksteed Park, enhancing wildlife spaces
- 2023 - Continued to inspire others through speaking engagements and adventures
- 2021 - Published her memoir 'Coasting,' detailing her journey running the British coast
- 2016 - First woman and youngest to run 5,000 miles around the coast of Britain in 301 days
- 2016 - Set record for longest self-supported run in the UK
- 2015 - Initiated her major running adventure with a New Year's resolution
