Success is not measured only by titles won or records set. Someone finishing their first marathon in five hours may be as great a success story as another runner who qualifies for the Olympic team. This is particularly important if you are working with a coach in which the only contact is going to be by mail, by phone, or by fax. There's nothing wrong with getting your coaching help as part of a group, catching pieces of advice here and there on the run. But if your only personal contact with the coach is going to be talking to him through the window of a car before he drives off to his regular job at a hospital, you should know that fact in advance.
Elite athletes absorb a lot of coaching time and energy.
A coach trying to train someone to win the gold medal may find it difficult to accommodate the needs of someone whose goals are not Olympian. A few coaches successfully balance fast and slow clients, males and females, youths and masters. Others state specifically what runners they prefer to coach. John Babington, who coaches Lynn Jennings, works only with female distance runners at the elite level. He states that up front.