Speaking

Whether you’re looking for an entertaining after dinner speaker or somebody to inspire the audience at your next company event or school assembly, I hope that I can help. Known for the understated, humorous and down to earth way in which I tell my story, I’ll bring to life ideas around growth mindset, resilience and high performance using stories from my endurance sport adventures, also drawing in expertise gained from delivering leadership training to businesses all over the world. Your team will walk away both entertained and motivated, armed with practical techniques to achieve more themselves.

Past clients have included KPMG, Modern Synthesis, Pfizer, HelloFresh, Kendal Mountain Festival and the National Running Show alongside countless more adventures festivals, schools and businesses. My audiences range from intimate workshop attendees to large auditoriums filled with more than 1,000 people. I will tailor my talk to your organisation’s specific needs and am always open to discussing how we can work together.

For speaking enquiries please email hello@elisedowning.com. I would love to hear from you!

Sample topics

Growth mindset and 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 me out there - the only reason I managed to be the first woman to run around the coast of Britain is because I dreamed big enough to make it to the start line.

Using real-life examples, I 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 and 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, my stories will inspire your 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 my own experiences with humour and vulnerability, I will demonstrate how we can do amazing things despite our doubts, even using them to enhance performance.

A little more about me

I am an ultra runner, bestselling author and experienced keynote speaker. The feat I am best known for is being the first woman to run self-supported around the coast of Britain. I ran over 5,000 miles over the course of ten months, covering up to 40 miles per day and carrying my kit on my back. It’s almost impossible to overstate just how unqualified I was for this adventure but by dreaming big, starting slowly and accepting the support of the hundreds of strangers I met along the way, I was successful against the odds. Since then, I have clocked up thousands more miles on foot in challenging environments. It’s these experiences I’ll use to illustrate the key concepts in my talks.

My best-selling book, Coasting, was published in 2021 and named by The Times as one of The Best Sports Books of the year. My highly relatable account of my adventure aims to show that you don’t have to be the most talented person to succeed – you just have to be the one who dares to have a go. I am a long-term ambassador of The North Face UK with an engaged online following