Crew Cast, a Running Podcast

Wendall grew up between California and Washington State, ran cross-country in high school, and signed up for a North Face 50-miler at 16 after an ad crossed his laptop and his mum said fine. He cramped at halfway, a stranger handed him a salt tab, and a year later he was third in North America in the vertical kilometre. Then came a two-year church mission in Berlin with no real training, and a decade in Germany since.

When Germany had no team at the youth skyrunning championships, he asked the International Skyrunning Federation if he could start one. They thought he was joking. He did it anyway, and now he picks the youth, senior and masters teams, argues with the national athletics and alpine associations about who owns the sport, and tries not to give himself a spot someone faster should have. He explains trail vs mountain vs skyrunning, tells the story of an athlete who lost his flight and his luggage and won in borrowed kit, and makes the case that big-race sponsorship and technical mountains don’t mix, because the mountain doesn’t care who you are.

The second half goes wider. He learned Arabic on his mission, went back to university for it, and wrote his thesis on two Palestinian distance runners and how Arabic, English and Hebrew media cover them differently. He’s Protect Our Winters’ first summer athlete and argues for imperfect activism over all-or-nothing. Plus gear that lasts a decade vs gear that lasts two years, running 14:41 for 5k in Vienna in shoes he should have retired, chasing a road 50k with no sponsor, and why a Tour du Mont Blanc with a pizza every 5k beats a 200-miler.

Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:58 Meet Wendall: California, Washington, Berlin
3:02 High school cross-country, and skipping the NCAA
5:32 A 50-miler at 16, and a stranger’s salt tab
8:28 Trail vs mountain vs skyrunning
11:00 Training volume, and why a VK hurts differently
12:47 Why Germany, and two years without training
16:44 Founding the German Skyrunning Federation
20:10 Turf war with the DLV and DAV
22:56 Picking the national team, and the Lucas Ehrle story
25:45 UTMB, sponsors, and “the mountain doesn’t care who you are”
30:14 Salty Trail Running
31:56 Kienbergtrail, a bobsled track, and Ötzi
37:22 Learning Arabic, and a thesis on Palestinian distance runners
43:11 Translating interviews and the Arabic dialect continuum
46:36 Protect Our Winters and imperfect activism
51:20 Gear, consumerism and re-soling shoes
55:04 No vest, no belt: the whole race kit in his tights
59:32 14:41 in Vienna
63:27 No sponsor, and chasing the German 50k record
66:46 Nutrition, unmeasured
71:13 Longer ultras, FKTs and a pizza every 5k
74:27 Where to find Wendall

Find Wendall: @warndel on Instagram and Strava · Skyrunning Germany: @skyrunning_germany · Protect Our Winters Germany: @protectourwintersgermany

Hosted by Stoddy (@elastictime) · Crew Cast (@crewcast030)

Tithey and Yannic started Cool Runnings three years ago, named after the film, built for friends and friends of friends rather than anyone who shows up. Both came to running from football (Tithey after a Berlin half in 2019 that turned into a rivalry, Yannic after a school half marathon he hated and swore off), and both worked in sports marketing at Puma, which shapes how they think about brands, storytelling and what they will and won’t put their name on.

They get into the harder questions too: how hard you can push people in an amateur community before they stop coming, why Yannic refuses to call himself a coach, the lockdown 5k Tithey ran against a younger friend who was sure he’d win, and the Speed Project morning their teammate Claudia was bitten by a dog mid-stage, went to hospital, and ran again the next day. Plus 99 Laps, the last-runner-standing race where Tithey went 83 rounds on a plan of “don’t go out before the limping guy,” and the sprint that cost another runner the race.

Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:48 Cold open: do you have the voice for a podcast?
4:12 The 60k side quest three weeks before Berlin
7:59 Meet Tithey
9:59 Meet Yannic, and why it’s called Cool Runnings
12:43 First running memories: a graded half marathon, running as punishment
18:21 The lockdown 5k duel
21:28 How hard can you push an amateur community?
26:44 Infinite Trails: cramps, the wait, the 14-hour cutoff
32:44 “Shut your mouth”: being paced by an optimist
34:11 What Cool Runnings actually is, and the entry barrier
37:29 “I’m not a coach”
38:17 The Speed Project: Claudia and the dog
41:58 Toronto knows her scar
43:50 Working with brands without pitching
49:35 99 Laps: 1.2k every 15 minutes, last one standing
53:33 Limping guy, and the sprint that wasn’t needed
57:39 Rapid fire
60:09 Where to find them

Find Cool Runnings: @coolrunningsclub on Instagram

Hosted by Stoddy (@elastictime) · Crew Cast (@crewcast030)

Enrique on building a run club from three people, raising a kid in the social media era, and why weekly kilometres beat every training hack

This episode follows Enrique and Stoddy through a wide-ranging conversation about running, community, and what it takes to keep showing up — with a strong focus on club building, training volume, and the cost of doing it all in public.

Enrique moved from Chile to Potsdam for a one-year MBA and never left. He started running at 30 after years of openly not understanding why anyone would, founded Potsdam Runners in 2016, watched COVID kill it, and rebuilt it in 2022 from two or three people — coming home to tell his wife the news that six had shown up. Today it’s 200+ in the WhatsApp group, three pace groups designed so nobody finishes alone, and coffee after every Saturday run.

He’s also, at 46, running his marathon PBs — the second one 22 minutes faster than the first. His explanation is refreshingly unglamorous: it’s weekly kilometres, it’s zone 2, it isn’t sexy, and it isn’t the Norwegian method. “That’s the most important KPI that you have to look.”

They get into the harder stuff too: why the club is free forever and every sponsor pays in product rather than money, why he’d rather convene his rival clubs than compete with them, what Strava’s vanity metrics do to beginners who quit inside 18 months, and what his 11-year-old thinks he does all day (answer: he’s a YouTuber). Plus the two races that went south — including the Santiago half where he untied his hydration belt, strapped it around his failing leg, and limped the last four kilometres.

Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:45 Cold open
1:18 Meet Enrique + Potsdam Runners
3:01 Starting to run at 30, in Chile
4:25 Potsdam, an MBA, and 42K without a red light
5:52 Learning German with a bag of Post-its
7:25 Meeting his wife in Buenos Aires
9:06 The hard years and the Munich detour
10:38 Rebuilding the club: “six people today”
11:40 The Berlin and Potsdam run club scene
13:46 The rival clubs of Potsdam
15:19 Tuesdays, Saturdays and medal Mondays
17:19 Three pace groups, one finish line
18:44 His own running, and a stress fracture
19:41 A marathon PB 22 minutes faster at 45
21:45 How many kilometres: the only KPI
23:57 Zone 2 isn’t sexy, Strava is vanity
27:30 His 11-year-old: “my dad’s a YouTuber”
33:06 F1, tobacco and AI without seatbelts
37:04 Why the club is free, forever
38:19 Rival clubs and the September plan
41:50 Besties, couples and volunteering
45:16 Rapid fire

Find Potsdam Runners: @potsdam.runners on Instagram — WhatsApp group linked in the bio, plus the Potsdam Runners club on Strava.
Tuesdays 19:00 from the Brandenburger Tor in Potsdam, Saturdays 09:30 from Potsdam Hauptbahnhof. Free, always.

Hosted by Stoddy (@elastictime) · Crew Cast (@crewcast030)

Josh on running, training load, and why the marathon rewards honesty

This episode follows Josh, Avery, and Stoddy through a wide-ranging conversation about endurance sport, with a strong focus on running, triathlon, fueling, and how training actually translates into race-day performance. It matters because the discussion gets into the practical stuff most runners wrestle with: what makes you faster, why injuries happen, when cross-training helps, and how to think about pacing with less guesswork.

Key topics

• In this episode: Josh tells the story of how he moved from childhood triathlon and a range of sports into serious marathon running
• The direct feedback loop of running: Josh explains why he loves running because training and performance have such a clear cause-and-effect relationship
• Why overuse injuries happen: the conversation centers on training load, gradual progression, and how injury risk rises when the body gets more load than it is ready for
• Why not all volume is equal: Josh distinguishes between distance, intensity, and training response, and explains why elite athletes often get more from the same workload
• Tapering and race-day psychology: the group discusses how runners can be physically fit but still underperform because of pacing errors, motivation dips, or poor taper management
• Berlin’s impact on training: Josh says Berlin changed his running by giving him more access to track work and more social running, which improved his shorter-distance speed
• Cross-training gets debated: Josh argues that if your only goal is faster running, more running usually beats cycling, swimming, or lifting, though he acknowledges cross-training can help in specific cases and for specific athletes
• Fueling becomes a mini conversion story: Josh says he used to race without fuel but now takes fueling seriously, including making his own gels and experimenting with practical options
• Race stories go off the rails: Josh shares marathon blowups, including vomiting on Berlin Marathon day and at the finish of a fast race where he paced a friend
• Kaizen in one sentence: the app connects to training data, predicts race performance, and adapts training plans dynamically based on load and recent work

Lauren & Dennis: Type A vs Type B, 70K Nights & Becoming Each Other's Family

Lauren came from North Carolina for one study-abroad semester and stayed ten years. Dennis came from the Netherlands by way of a corporate science job he burned out of. Neither of them has family in Berlin, and that turns out to be the whole episode:

Lauren, Dennis and Stoddy sit on a rooftop after work to talk about movement — and mostly end up talking about everything around it. They get into whether Harriers is actually a run club or just a friend group, the European image of Americans, "calendar hedonism" and why Berlin makes everyone flaky, and the Type A / Type B question that neither of them answers the way you'd expect.

They dig into the harder stuff too: burning out of a job you were good at, what fasted running actually costs women, Dennis realising mid-trail that the sound he heard three times wasn't a branch, and Lauren deciding at 145K that the ambulance would take longer to reach her than the finish line would.

Chapters

• 0:00 — Intro: why we're talking about movement, not running
• 0:48 — Lauren: North Carolina to Berlin
• 9:09 — Why Lauren came back to Germany
• 12:06 — Dennis: how he ended up in Berlin
• 14:39 — Work hard, play hard — and burning out
• 20:41 — Calendar hedonism and Berlin flakiness
• 22:30 — Run club or friend group?
• 28:42 — Type A vs Type B runners
• 29:46 — Lauren's running history
• 40:36 — Running 30K after a 10K race
• 44:00 — "This is a privilege"
• 49:07 — Running back from Poland overnight
• 50:33 — Dennis's injury on the trail
• 1:00:46 — Lauren's worst race
• 1:01:54 — The most Berlin thing
• 1:06:42 — Rapid fire

Ben grew up in a tropical compound in Nigeria, moved to the U.S. at 10, and after a decade he landed in Berlin with no plan beyond a friend's couch and a love for the city.

Today he runs Run and Rave, a 7am running community that's become far more than a run club.

In this episode, Ben and Stoddy get into his origin story, why he traded Berlin's party scene for early-morning runs along the canals, and the philosophy that drives everything he builds: if it's not a full "yes," don't do it — and always ask whether it's going to be fun before you ask whether it makes sense. They dig into the hard stuff too: how to hold a community together, navigating conflict with nonviolent communication, and why people get almost addicted to running long distances.

Find Ben: @beninlivingcolor and Run and Rave (@run_and_rave)

Hosted by Stoddy (@elastictime) · Crew Cast (@crewcast030)

The Späti Half blends Berlin's Spätkauf culture with a half marathon, turning city corners into party stops. No medals, no pressure, just community, creativity, and beer along the way.

In this episode, Kristina shares how three friends turned a wine-fueled idea into a beloved event that draws first-timers and seasoned runners alike. We get into the surprising logistics of routing a race through a quirky city, how they fold local businesses in as partners, and why they keep the whole thing deliberately relaxed.

You'll hear:
– How a casual meetup became an organized community event
– Insider tips for city logistics and managing stop points
– The secret to making running genuinely inclusive
– Stories from first-timers who finished a half marathon, beer in hand

In a world obsessed with marathon distances and ultra challenges, this episode is a reminder that the real point of movement is enjoyment, connection, and local culture. Whether you're a runner craving less pressure, an organizer dreaming up your own event, or just curious how Berlin's love for Späti culture can spark something, there's plenty here to steal.

Follow along:
Crew Cast → https://www.instagram.com/crewcast030/
Späti Half → https://www.instagram.com/spaetihalf/

From Marathon to Triathlon: Geno's Race Day and Training Insights

Join us for a deep dive into the journey of transitioning from marathon running to triathlon with Geno, an athlete deeply embedded in New York's running scene. This episode covers race day stories, training philosophies, and practical tips for endurance athletes.In this episode:

• Geno's experience navigating unexpected race day cancellations and managing race anxiety
• The mental and physical adaptations required for switching from marathon to triathlon training
• How cross-training has improved Geno's running performance and race times
• Detailed race day anecdotes, including unique strategies such as running with ice and handling bike mechanicals
• Insights on balancing city life with endurance training, including city cycling safety and urban running tips
• The importance of beginner mindset and staying motivated as a seasoned athlete exploring new sports
• Tips for fueling, hydration, and injury prevention during long-distance races
• How community, social media, and peer interactions influence athletic growth and motivation

• (00:00) - Introduction to Geno and his transition from marathon to triathlon
• (03:17) - The chaos of race day weather and the impact of last-minute cancellations
• (08:07) - Race day stories: ice in the race, navigating transitions, and course challenges
• (17:24) - Geno’s strategic approach to pacing, energy management, and race analysis
• (25:36) - Lessons learned from race day mistakes, including slow transitions and hydration tips
• (33:47) - Fueling strategies: managing carbs, avoiding underfueling, and race nutrition hacks
• (44:00) - Safety tips for city biking, urban running, and handling falls and mechanicals
• (51:40) - Rapid fire Q&A on disciplines, race pain points, and advice for aspiring triathletes
• (55:18) - How community and social media foster endurance sports enthusiasm

• ⁠Endorphins Running Club⁠
• ⁠Valencia Marathon

Becca is a Berlin-based runner, ex-800m track kid, and one of the co-founders behind Common Pace, the run store and community hub she's building near Tempelhofer Feld. In this episode she traces the whole arc: from chasing Olympic dreams as a twelve-year-old, to over-optimizing every variable as an adult, to a stress fracture that forced her to stop building her entire life around running and start running on feel instead.

We get into:

• The injury that hit a week before her first marathon, and why it rewired how she trains
  
• Why she deleted Strava for good, and the year she wrote a poem for every single run
  
• Running on feel vs running by pace, and learning to leave the watch alone on easy days
  
• The fueling lessons every injured runner learns the hard way (no fasted runs, eat after the late session, stop overthinking it)
  
• Why Tempelhofer Feld is Berlin's great equalizer, and how the winter crowd is nothing like the marathon-training crowd
  
• Common Pace: the community-first run store she's building, and why a running city like Berlin doesn't have one yet
  
• Her unfiltered takes on running culture, kudos, and why no one actually cares about your pace
  

Whether you're coming back from injury, deep in marathon block, or just tired of letting your watch run the show, this one's a reset. It's for anyone who's ever cared a little too much, and is learning to care about the right things instead.

Common Pace @commonpace.store on Insta and www.commonpace.de 

Becca on Insta @becca.staccata 

Most runners hit a wall, mentally and physically. What if the pain was the point?

Katarina is a Berlin-based artist, coach, and community builder who stopped chasing numbers and started treating running like a game. In this episode she breaks down the mindset shifts that took her from overtraining as a college athlete to running on feel, and why that switch made her training more sustainable, more joyful, and a lot harder to get injured doing.

We get into:

• Vibe-based training, and what it actually means to run on feel instead of metrics
• How to read your own body well enough to trust it
• Simple at-home work (lunges, stride drills) that cleans up your form
• How to spot overstriding using video of your own run
• Real stories from the Euro Trip relay: the near-misses, the mishaps, the unglamorous reality of ultra-distance teamwork
• Her unconventional race strategy and how she runs long with joy
• Why community, not stats, is what keeps her going

Whether you're chasing a faster 5K, training for your first marathon, or just tired of quantifying every mile, this one's a reset. It's for anyone who wants to run on their own terms and actually enjoy it.

Press play and run your own way.

Insta Links:

Katarina

Run Smart Not Hard

About the guest: Katarina is a Berlin-based artist, coach, and veteran of the Euro Trip relay. Over fifteen-plus years across college athletics, coaching, and ultra-distance running, she's built a reputation for intuitive training, community leadership, and redefining what it means to be a long-distance runner.