Better By Next Week

See you later... But not goodbye.

Keep getting Better by Next Week.

Thank you for all the support.

Jack, better known as The Crazy Running Man, has taken on running challenges that most people would struggle to believe are possible.

After completing 50 kilometres every day for 50 days, Jack decided to attempt something almost unimaginable: 100 kilometres every day for 100 days.

The plan was simple. The reality was anything but.

Within the first week, Jack suffered heat stroke, required a medical drip and had blood pressure readings through the roof. But instead of allowing the original plan falling apart to end the challenge completely, he found a way to get back up, keep moving and produce an incredible final 50 days.

Jack also shares how he went from arriving completely underprepared for his first Backyard Ultra and stopping after 33 hours, to returning only six months later and completing 74 hours at Sydney Backyard Ultra.

They also discuss:

⬛ The uncle who stepped in as a father figure and supported every challenge.

⬛ Jack’s private battles with his mental health.

How running became an outlet and gave Jack a stronger sense of purpose.

⬛ Rebuilding his confidence, health and identity one step at a time.

⬛ Going from 33 to 74 hours at a Backyard Ultra in only six months.

⬛ Why community, crew and family support have been central to everything Jack has achieved.

⬛ Jack’s mission to help others challenge themselves through something difficult but achievable.

83 days of running one kilometre further every day. Three weeks later, 550KM at Sydney Backyard Ultra. Then Unbreakable - Australia’s answer to the Barkley Marathons.

And somehow, these were only the tests.

At the beginning of the year, Tim and Ollie created the Human Guinea Pig experiment: push Dad’s body and mind through an entire year of extreme endurance events, study what happens, and bring every lesson back to the podcast.

In this episode, they unpack what the experiment has taught them so far and why the biggest lessons have not only come from the races, but from the recovery, mental crashes and uncertainty between them.

Tim reveals how his body adapted to running further every day, why he believes the 83-day challenge made him stronger for Sydney Backyard Ultra, what went wrong with his nutrition at Unbreakable, and how he dealt with feeling flat and empty after some of the best performances of his life.

They also discuss:

⬛ Training the body to recover day after day.

⬛ The five biggest lessons from Hardcore Harry’s.

⬛ Why Tim believes 100 hours at Sydney was possible.

⬛ Sleep and recovery during multi-day events.

⬛ Getting lost at Unbreakable without a map.

⬛ Nutrition mistakes, hunger and hallucinations.

⬛ Post-race blues and the emotional crash after success.This is not the end-of-year review.

This is the warning of what’s still to come.

This is our 52nd episode - the one-year anniversary of Better By Next Week!

Tim and Ollie sit down for a raw, reflective conversation about how far they’ve come, the real impact the podcast has had, and everything that goes on behind the scenes.From nervous first episodes to building a community that’s actually changing lives, this episode is filled with honest stories about growth, arguments, creative struggles, learning to finish things to 100%, and why they keep showing up every single Monday.

Tim & Ollie discuss:

◼ How a listener’s message reminded them why the “hard work” is worth it.

◼ The evolution from awkward early episodes to finding their authentic voice.

◼ Behind-the-scenes chaos: tech issues, last-minute edits, arguments, and creative growth.

◼ The father-son dynamic - balancing business partners, dad/son, and mates.

◼ What they’d do differently, what they’d never change, and their most memorable moments.

◼ The pressure of growth, staying authentic, and the responsibility that comes with an audience.

◼ Why the hardest parts of the journey are often the most valuable.

◼ Their Better By Next Week challenges looking back on the past year.

Whether you’ve been with us since episode 1 or you’re just discovering the show, this is the perfect episode to understand what Better By Next Week is really about - getting better at running, at life, and together.

Tim and Ollie sit down to reflect on the incredible guests who’ve joined them in the greenhouse over the past year.

From performance psychologist Daniel Dymond blowing their minds on mindset and emotions, to Alex Cleary’s journey of transformation, Ben Burgess’s laid-back trail philosophy, Brady’s conviction, and many more - they unpack the most profound takeaways that have reshaped their training, mindset, and lives.

In this reflective episode they discuss:

◼️ Why listening to understand (not just respond) is one of the greatest skills they’ve developed.

◼️ The power of having a dream or purpose and how every guest embodied it.

◼️ Building a “scaffold” around yourself for protection and growth

◼️ How your relationship with emotions matters more than the emotions themselves.

◼️ Embracing discomfort, staying present, and keeping big goals alive.

◼️ The unexpected personal growth that came from sitting across from inspiring people.

This isn’t just a recap - it’s an honest look at how surrounding yourself with the right voices can accelerate your own journey, whether you’re running ultras, chasing dreams, or simply trying to become a better version of yourself.

At just 17 years old, Ollie lined up at the Wild Boar 50K and didn’t just win - he broke the course record.

In this honest, no-filter post-race debrief, Ollie and his dad break down everything that went into the performance: the training, the highs, the lows, and the lessons learned just weeks out from his next 100K.

In this episode they cover:

◼️ Why Ollie chose Wild Boar 50K as a training race and how he approached it.

◼️ Training through cross-country season, building downhill legs, and experimenting with high mileage.

◼️ Gut training progress - moving from 60g to 100g+ carbs per hour on the run

◼️ Race day mindset: running every hill, the bottle incident at 12km, and every single mental low.

◼️ Why he was chasing sub-4 hours and how that goal affected his race experience.

◼️ The biggest mistakes, kit wins, and what he’ll change next time.

◼️ What it’s like going into the unknown as a young athlete with no one to compare yourself to.

Raw, relatable, and packed with practical advice for ultra runners of any age. Whether you’re preparing for your first 50K or chasing big goals, this episode is full of real talk on training, mindset, pacing, and dealing with expectations.

Performance Psychologist DANIEL DYMOND reveals how elite athletes master their minds, overcome choking under pressure, and turn discomfort into unstoppable performance.

Daniel Dymond is a leading performance psychologist and Head of Psychology at the Victorian Institute of Sport. With over 16 years of experience, he supports Olympians, Paralympians, Golf Australia athletes, AFL umpires, and high performers across sport, business, and medicine.

He also runs a private practice helping athletes and professionals build mental resilience.

In this deep-dive episode, he explains:

◼️ What high-performance sports psychologists actually do and why mindset beats state of mind every time.

◼️ How to build a better relationship with anxiety, self-doubt, and pain instead of trying to eliminate them.

◼️ Why choking under pressure is a behavior, not an emotion — and how to stop regressing to safety.

◼️ The power of competence over fleeting confidence, and how to stay connected to what matters when it hurts most.

◼️ Practical strategies for ultra runners and endurance athletes: handling nursery-rhyme thoughts in multi-day events, letting go of control, and training the mind to keep going when the body says stop.

◼️ Why self-belief comes from blood, sweat, and competence - not feelings.

A race designed to break people.Inspired by the legendary Barkley Marathons, Unbreakable is one of the most demanding endurance events in Australia - a race where navigation, sleep deprivation, relentless terrain, and the constant possibility of failure combine to create an experience unlike almost anything else in running.

In this episode, they unpack their journey through Unbreakable, becoming one of the few runners to reach the finish line and experiencing firsthand what happens when an event strips away every comfort and forces someone to confront themselves.

Beyond the result, they explore the mental battles, mistakes, breakthroughs, and lessons that emerged throughout the race, and why events like Unbreakable reveal far more than physical fitness ever can.

They discuss:

◼️ What makes Unbreakable one of the toughest races in Australia.

◼️ How the race draws inspiration from the Barkley Marathons.

◼️ The mental challenges of navigating deep fatigue and uncertainty.

◼️ The moments where the race nearly fell apart.

◼️ Why success in these events is about far more than fitness.

◼️ What they learned about resilience, mindset, and suffering.

◼️ The reality of chasing goals where failure is often the expected outcome.

This isn't a story about winning a race.

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What happens when pain, sacrifice, and suffering become so common that they stop feeling extraordinary?

In this episode, Tim and Ollie explore the idea of RUNFLATION - the phenomenon where the running community continually raises the standard of what's considered impressive, causing achievements that would once seem extraordinary to feel completely normal.

From 4am wake-ups and marathon training blocks to ultramarathons, injury management, and years of relentless consistency, we discuss how endurance athletes gradually normalise experiences that most people would consider incredibly difficult.

But as the bar keeps rising, an important question emerges:

Have runners become so mentally tough that they've lost the ability to recognise their own toughness?

We unpack how pain tolerance, resilience, discipline, and discomfort become part of everyday life for endurance athletes - and why constantly comparing ourselves to bigger goals, faster athletes, and longer races can make us forget just how far we've come.

They discuss:

◼️ How athletes normalise pain, discomfort, and suffering.

◼️ Why a 10km run can start to feel "easy".

◼️ The hidden downside of constantly raising the bar.

◼️ When mental toughness becomes so normal you stop noticing it.

◼️ The difference between resilience and obsession.

◼️ Why runners struggle to appreciate their own achievements.

◼️ How outside perspectives reveal what's actually extraordinary.

Running is often seen as a pursuit of progress - of discipline, growth, and becoming more.

But what happens when the cost of chasing that progress starts to quietly outweigh what it gives back?

In this episode, we step into the less visible side of running - the part that rarely gets talked about. The early mornings that turn into lifestyle shifts, the relationships that are stretched thin, and the constant negotiation between ambition and everything else life demands.

This isn’t a conversation about training perfection. It’s about the trade-offs that sit underneath it.

We break down the reality behind what it means to commit deeply to something physical and relentless, and the subtle point where dedication can start to blur into something harder to define.

And at the centre of it all is a question most runners avoid asking:

How much is this actually costing you?

We also reflect on:◼️ The emotional weight behind chasing performance◼️ Where discipline ends and obsession begins◼️ What running gives and what it quietly takes away◼️ The mental cost of always wanting to improve◼️ Whether the sacrifice is ever truly worth it