Kia Ora Whānau.This week on the podcast Eugene and Matt pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off after the love-in/mud pit /festival that was the 2021 Riverhead Backyard Relaps Ultramarathon and Relay. This episode has the record for most people interviewed in one show, with Shaun Collins, Brooke Thomas, Adam Keen, Mike White, Andrew McDowell, and Chris Bisley. We also have additional bonus audio with Olympic marathon runner Deena Kastor discussing her transition to marathon running (courtesy of Anna Hughes and Books That Work). Also ice cream, house music, and did we mention results? Yep, we got results. Enjoy.

Kia Ora Whānau.This week on the podcast Eugene and Matt jump in for a sweet little chat with running legend Dawn Tuffery. We talk about her stellar 2021 of racing, including 3rd place at the Tarawera 100 miles, the IAU 6 hour solidarity run, and 3rd at the Coastal Ultra just last weekend.  We romp through the bumper crop of results from the weekend’s racing,go through the details of our upcoming live show, knock out a scenic Greatest Run Ever, receive more evidence that the pukeko is indeed a shifty murder chicken, and Matt continues the great hot cross insurrection of ‘21 . Enjoy.

Kia Ora Whānau. This week on the podcast we have our first Father-Son double header! Eugene speaks to Ben and Yonni Kepes. Ben and Yonni are an ultra trail running father and son from Canterbury. They are both volunteer firefighters, both involved in the family business which Ben co-founded, Cactus Outdoors, and both involved with the organisation Speed Freaks. Ben has also been recognised for his leadership by the Sir Peter Blake Trust, he’s a technology expert, a business advisor and entrepreneur. Yonni celebrated his 21st by running the Northburn 50 km recently, and then crewed home his dad and others. He was the youngest person known to have run a 100 km and a 100 mile race. This is an inspiring and emotional chat about family, commitment, and love of our sport. We also have a Goggins-inspired Greatest Run Ever, we run down the ways Matt hates Hot Cross Buns (lame, gross) Matt offends Scotland (we take it week about) and Eugene preps to pace the Rotorua Marathon. Enjoy

Kia Ora Whānau.This week on the podcast, Eugene and Matt have an engaging conversation with New Plymouth’s Matt Girvan. Matt lives in Edinburgh these days and managed to time the back half of his OE with spending nearly a year indoors. Frustrated by this and wanting to experience the wild spaces of Scotland, Matt put in place an FKT attempt on the Scottish National Trail - 864km and 20,000 metres of vertical gain. We talk to Matt about the challenges and joys, the literal (and figurative) ups and downs of such an attempt. We talk through the challenge of documenting the attempt in a short film.  We discuss what really matters during these things and how his FKT finish at the Cape Wrath Lighthouse qualifies doubly as the most New Zealand AND most Scottish finish ever. It also appears that all of Aotearoa was racing on the weekend so we run that down (ha!), and give a shout out to those out there doing things to promote mental wellbeing. There may or may not be Dad Jokes. Why the long face? Enjoy. 

Kia Ora Whānau.Jamie Hawker ran his first 100km at 18 years of age. He waited 40 years to do his second. This week, Eugene and Matt have their hearts lifted and their minds blown with this amazing conversation with Jamie Hawker. Jamie is a local legend. He’s turned to engagement in the community to supplement his running buzz. From his involvement in the Port Hills Athletic Club in Christchurch, to guiding low vision and blind runners with the Achilles Foundation and coaching the Speed Freaks running group via Odyssey House, Jamie exemplifies the line “proud of a life where to give means more than to take”. Did we mention that he is the Crater Rim Ultra race director, which is Aotearoa/New Zealand Trail Running Championships and one of the toughest 50 kms in the country? His son, Scotty, we understand is also quite good at running. We also speak with Andrew McDowall and have the question answered “what in the world can rub the polish off this man?”. *Spoiler Alert* It is a second place finish at the mighty Northburn 100 mile. Enjoy.

Kia Ora Whanau. One of the most enjoyable things about spending such a long time on the mic with Squadrun founders Kerry Suter and Ali Pottinger at Tarawera ultramarathon was the off-mic talk about training, race craft, and physiology. They were dropping science like Galileo dropped the orange (Yauch Diamond & Horowitz 1989). We thought it would be an excellent idea to get the pair back onDirt Church Radio for a deep dive into some coaching knowledge. What follows is a wonderfully informative discussion around training plans, specificity, Why your watch sucks, strength training, are junk miles real, and what separates a “good” runner from a “great” runner. We also have a Greatest Run Ever with family honour and money on the line, Stuff you Should Know when we cover some of the amazing racing that are happening in Aotearoa and Australia and why it’s unlikely that Matt and Eugene will ever score a Six Foot Track plate. Enjoy.

Kia Ora Whanau. Charles Williams (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāpuhi) is a walking anti-stereotype machine. This conversation is incredible, covering his journey from a young man making street art “in the shadows” (as he describes it) to a 20-year partnership with his wife, Janine, making the most incredible urban art possible. Charles is a bird nerd, you’ll see why when you take so much as one look at the amazing Tui that adorn walls around the country. Charles is an ultramarathon runner, linking the planning, dedication, and patience of long distance running directly into the application of his art. Charles recently finished the 102km Tarawera Ultramarathon, and discusses this, how he attended to changing his physical wellbeing, and the utter madness of running the New York Marathon. Inspiring, perspicacious, humble, and deeply funny, Charles Williams rules. 

Also, Matt and Eugene (or Eugene and Matt) catch up with Mal Law about The Wild, we’ve run down what’s going on with racing (or lack thereof) and we have a returning Greatest Run Ever. Enjoy.

Kia Ora Whanau. Lockdown Larries ride again!!! Back once again, just where you left us. Dismayed as we were that our holidays were interpreted by the squawking of our cell phones instructing us to take our toys and go home, and that we needed to re-jiggle things to fit this week’s lockdownapalooza we remain unbowed and ever-optimistic (sort of). This week, we discuss the raft of changes that the current restrictions are having on the event industry, people’s wellbeing, and planning for the future. We’ve got a Greatest Run Ever, and a special Stuff You Should Know where we run through the recent race results and also catch up with some very special guests. Fresh from a tiring weekend blowing people’s minds (and quads) is Jason Cameron, Race Director of legendary event The Goat. We talk to him about the event’s history, and challenges, and the triumph of completing an event mere hours before lockdown was announced. Dr Katie Wright, joins us on her birthday from the Cardrona pub after 4 days spent fast packing The Wild adventure run course. We chat to Katie about her recent Tarawera victory, the 48 hour track event she and Fiona Hayvice are planning, and just how come it appears that two weeks after winning Tarawera she can run downhill that fast. Enjoy.

Kia Ora Whanau. From atop a small wardrobe in Riverhead, and a campervan in Bannockburn, Matt and Eugene bring you Dirt Church Radio Episode 131. Matt Urbanski. That’s right folks, we are across the miles yet again this week, separated by the tyranny of holiday and NOT pandemic. Take that, COVID. We crack through the rundown of whatever else the rest of the country was doing whilst Auckland was in level 2, including the Shotover Moonlight Marathon and the mighty Old Ghost Ultramarathon. For our conversation this week, Eugene had the distinct pleasure to speak to the 2021 Tarawera 100 mile winner, Matt Urbanski. Indeed when Eugene spoke to Matt he and his whanau had meant to have left the country but the pandemic intervened again. You’ll hear it in the telling, but Matt is a running coach from the USA, who has completed numerous events, including 15 100 mile races. Matt and his wife Julie and their kids have been on the road for a few years, and they headed down to Aotearoa to do Tarawera last year. As we said on the show last week, he ended up DNF’ing and thought he’d never get down to do the race again. The whanau were due to fly out to Japan, but … the lockdown arrived and they ended up having their flights cancelled and getting stuck in Aotearoa, so they ended up staying...yadda yadda yadda Matt is crowned the 100 mile champ. Eugene and Matt had a great chat about his travelling lifestyle, how he introduced some new stuff to his training to target Tarawera, how he approached race day, his nutrition, his coaching business, Team RunRun, and what his whanau plans are for the future. Enjoy.

Kia Ora Whanau.We were somewhere around Ohinemutu on the edge of the lake  when the gels began to take hold. I remember saying something like ``I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should take a turn on the mic....'' And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge Pukeko, all swooping and screeching and diving around us. We felt like we were going about a hundred miles an hour with the top down to Tokorangi pa. And a voice was screaming: ``Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?''

Then it was quiet again. Eugene had taken his shirt off and was rubbing Spring Energy on his chest, to facilitate the tanning process. ``What the hell are you yelling about?'' he muttered, staring up at the sun with his eyes closed and covered with Julbo sunglasses. ``Never mind,'' I said. ``It's your turn on the mic.'' I hit the On button, handed it to him and wobbled off to find some shade by the Croucher Beer Tent.. No point mentioning those Pukeko, I thought. The poor bastard will see them soon enough…...Thus follows the breakdown of our incredibly epic, sleep deprived, emotionally exhausting, triumphant, and completely amazing experience of the 2021 Tarawera Ultramarathon encompassing the highs, lows, results, starts, finishes, everything. Buy the ticket, take the ride. Enjoy.