AidStation Podcast 010 - F%$ked Heel, F&*ked Knee, F@#ked Off!

In this episode of the paid-subscriber-only DCR AidStation Podcast, the gloves come off, well sort of. 

We ask, is it okay to be okay with being injured and is it okay to rationalise your anger by comparing it to others? What’s up with our sport anyway?

And what are the biggest challenges facing trail and ultra-running as we move into an ever more uncertain world? 

Inia Raumati Kia Mau Kia Ora 

Enjoy!

Music by Andrew McDowall, Digicake

Paid subscribers can read the rest of the newsletter, including Eugene writing about the best and worst animal encounters, a Greatest Trail Ever that is close to home, and the good sauce in The Stoke. If you haven’t already signed up for a monthly or annual subscription, we’d love to see you in the AidStation crew!

2024 Ultra Trail Australia by UTMB Special + Live Show.  Dirt Church Radio 278. 

Kia ora e te whānau! This episode of the pod finds Matt returning to The Blue Mountains for the UTA running festival. With 7000 athletes over 4 days this is a one-of-a-kind spectacle in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Down to one wing, the ever dependable Ali Pottinger of SQUADRUN fame jumped into the fray, along with Ben Berriman and Dave Stewart to recap each day’s event. Ali and Matt also handled the elite Q&A, with Lucy Bartholomew, Charlie Hamilton, and Michael Dimunates. Matt and Ali discussed the Women in Trail Panel and the topic of equality and equity in the elite field. Best Enjoyed Running.

Enjoy!

Music by Andrew McDowall, Digicake

AidStation Podcast 009: Things that make you go oh, oh …

In this episode of our paid-subscriber-only podcast, our beloved fancy bois talk to a real Southern (Northern?) man in Rocky himself, of Further Faster fame, about five things that he takes in his pack whenever he’s out for a big day in the big hills and mountains.

What are the things that could prove useful if an accident or medical event unfolded?

Eugene and Matt then run through their ultimate near-miss stories of near (or actual) trail running disaster.

Best Enjoyed Running. 

Further Faster New Zealand

Enjoy!

Music by Andrew McDowall, Digicake

Kia ora e te whānau! This week, Eugene and Matt have got the band back together! We have the distinct pleasure of being joined by the brains behind SQUADRUN, Ali Pottinger and Kerry Suter to preview the 2024 edition of  Ultra Trail Australia. Ali and Kerry are two people who know this race intimately, they share their favourite parts of the course and memories with us before giving us an incredible run down of the elite list across the 100km and 50 km distances for what is sure to be some very tasty racing. Best Enjoyed Running.

AidStation 008 - The Inaugural 2024 Further Faster Live Show Special and the Skedaddle Weekend. 

Kia ora e te whānau! This week on our paid-subscriber-only episode of the AidStation we’ve got something different for you.

Eugene and Matt take a trip to Ōtautahi/Christchurch for our first ever live show at Further Faster. We were joined by the epic Jess Campbell and Michael Mitchell as we ran through some stories from the past six years.

We rounded the evening off by challenging the audience to a rousing round of Rock, Paper, Scissors for a Crater Rim entry and finally found the answer to the oft-asked question, “What is worse, being bitten by a shark or doing The Revenant?”.

Then, our heroes travelled to Island Hills in North Canterbury for the Skedaddle Trail Race, which is bound to become a litmus test in terms of toughness over the marathon distance, and Matt certainly found that out in spades.

Her International NGO (courtesy of Jess Campbell)

Further Faster New Zealand

Enjoy!

Music by Andrew McDowall, Digicake

Jeff and Jenny Vierling: Tailwind Tales — Taste-Testing and Airport Antics

Kia ora e te whānau! This episode, we catch up with Jenny and Jeff Vierling, the founders of Tailwind. They were in Aotearoa for the Faultline Ultra on the weekend, and right about now they’ll be riding the Old Ghost Road. They live in the mountain town of Durango, Colorado, where they have made a deliberate decision to grow and keep their business, and we talk about life in a small town and why it’s important to them to be part of the community. We talk about the origins of Tailwind, which is a bit of a famous story about Jeff having a bad time at the Leadville Trail 100 MTB race. We also talk about the science of race nutrition, the best and worst flavours, and that time Jeff almost had the whole of Chicago Airport shut down because of the bunch of white powder he was carrying. They were delightful and sweet – not too sweet, just right, like a chocolate-flavoured Tailwind Recovery.

Greig Hamilton - Worsley Warrior and Barkley Marathons Finisher. Dirt Church Radio 274. 

Kia ora e te whānau! This week, Eugene and Matt have the distinct pleasure to speak with Greig Hamilton and let us tell you this has been a long time coming! In case you don’t know, Greig Hamilton became the first Kiwi finisher of the Barkley Marathons.

It was his third crack, having knocked off fun runs in 2019 and 2022. This year there were five finishers, including the first female finisher, Jasmine Paris. Barkley is a five-loop course in the Frozen Head National Park in Tennessee.

Greig is from Christchurch, he’s a two-time world champion in the Rogaine, and, by all accounts, one of the most self-effacing human beings around. However with the help of our sources we managed to crack the nut for a wonderful conversation – five years after we first asked him.

We talk about Greig’s beginnings in sport, how he was “abysmal” at running (then got better), adventure racing, the burden of an endeavour like Barkley on loved ones, the difference between suffering and enjoyment, and some details about the race itself.

This one was worth the wait. - Best Enjoyed Running.

Music by Andrew McDowall, Digicake

AidStation 007 - Obsession, Addiction, or Healthy Habit? 

This week on our paid subscriber-only episode of DCR AidStation we speak to Gavin Clifton about Fire and Rescue New South Wales’ Motor Neuron Disease Furber Steps Climb in the Blue Mountains (which we are going to in late August!). Matt gets over excited and then regrets it. And then we discuss what purpose the high of running serves in our life, and if this is helpful or something that gets in the way of us being present and engaged?

Dirt Church Radio Episode 272: Roger Robinson Returns

Kia ora e te whānau! This week on the podcast Eugene speaks to returning champion and one of the most impressive human beings we’ve had the pleasure of speaking with, the one and only Roger Robinson. 

Roger is an age group world champion runner, an emeritus professor at Victoria University where he was in the English Department, he is a world-leading writer on running, a delightful, engaging teller of stories and commentator, and shares his time between Wellington and New York, with his wife, the celebrated women’s running pioneer, Kathrine Switzer. 

He has a new book out titled “Running Throughout Time: The Greatest Running Stories Ever Told”. The book is full of fascinating research and discoveries, from chapters about Atlanta, the heroic woman runner of ancient Greece, to Allison Roe, the New Zealander who won the New York Marathon. 

In his research, Roger arguably discovered the true roots of trail running in a ditch, and most definitely busts some myths about some of our sport’s most famous stories. Roger was a guest on DCR episode 37 which you should have a listen to if you missed it, with Kathrine on DCR episode 45. 

Also on the show, we celebrate Riverhead Rampage’s 10th year, catch up with Dr Inia Raumati about his quest to run 8 ultras on 8 continents, and bring you a Kiwi for Greatest Run Ever – as in, an actual Kiwi.

Best Enjoyed Running.

Music by Andrew McDowall, Digicake

Listen on your favourite app, or via the player above.

We’ve put this DCR episode into the AidStation podcast feed for free because the original DCR podcast you know and love will always be free. Paid subscribers get the AidStation podcast too.

Paid subscribers can read the rest of the newsletter, including Matt passing on tips for race directors, a lung-busting Greatest Trail Ever, and some super-useful suggestions in The Stoke. If you haven’t already signed up for a monthly or annual subscription, we’d love to see you in the AidStation crew!

The Revolution Probably Won’t Be Televised 

Lessons from 10 years of DIY Race Directing Hallertau Riverhead Rampage 

— Matt

Being a race director is like being a parent. You will never be more tired, feel more broke, and run less. The pay-off of seeing people push themselves past what they think is possible is one of indescribable satisfaction and fulfilment. Putting on your own race is a cool thing to do, and is relatively simple (not easy). Here are a few lessons I’ve learnt over the last 10 years. 

AidStation 006 - Do You Need A Shovel Or A Ladder?

Everyone who has been running long enough will experience, at some point in their running life, a psychological and/or physiological collapse so shattering that it has its own lore and terminology.

We’re talking about the other side of the pain cave, a place so deep and dark it can only be described as The Hole. 

How does one get to this state, what happens when you are there? And most importantly, can you (or should you) dig yourself out? 

This week on our paid-subscriber-only AidStation podcast, Eugene and Matt discuss times when they’ve both been in the proverbial hole and whether the outcome was triumphant or ruinous, and what, if anything they took from those experiences — and how they shape their world-view today.