Martin Lawrence started running during his lunch time at work.

He grew to love the sport so much that when he was made redundant, he was determined to carry on.

He originally took part in running sessions at Milton Keynes' David Lloyd gym, but after it decided to end them he took the mantle on himself.

Soon afterwards Redway Runners was born, and ten years later the club is one - if not the - biggest in the country boasting more than 3,500 members.

This is his story...

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It's been a long hard year for those of us who like to get out and do some races.

Coronavirus locked us down in our homes, limited us to one run a day and stopped us getting together to run for fun, PBs and those much valued medals.

Now, finally, some races are starting again and today I travelled to Milton Keynes to speak to some of those people taking part in Redway Runners' first ever Daytona 5,000 event.

The whole race was incredible well organised, social distancing was paramount and everyone had a great time out on the track in the sun.

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Jeff Kase was a star runner growing up in Michigan, but when he went to university partying and alcohol took over his life.

For decades, Jeff was caught up in the pain of alcoholism, experiencing personal tragedy along the way.

I spoke to Jeff about how he finally managed to kick the habit and how how he embraced a new addiction - running - not only all the way to complete 100 mile races and the American National Senior Games, but also to the point where he could barely move due to over training...

Kath Kirkland wrote her debut novel 'Mum Runners' after her own journey saw her start running to lose her baby weight and take on the iconic London Marathon.

It was such a success she has a sequel on the way.

We chatted about running in the rain, how snooker sometimes beats marathons and the freedom you get on a good run...

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You might know him better as Bob Hope, but Emmerdale star Tony Audenshaw is something of a running fanatic in his spare time.

When he's not serving fictional pints, Tony can often be found pounding the pavements or talking about his favourite sport on the Marathon Talk podcast.

He's recorded some pretty quick times as well and is prone to the occasional fancy dress costume, which regular listeners will know is a big plus for us on the Running Tales Podcast.

I spoke to Tony about how his Emmerdale co-stars also love running, taking part in marathons beginning in 'B' and how wearing a fake bum brought him loads of attention...

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Bryan Lewin is one of my favourite runners - but he's so much more than that.

Every parkrun has that special volunteer who turns out in wind, rain and shine and Bryan is Northampton's.

He even has his own special corner at the Racecourse where he cheers on every runner, walker and wheelchair user.

I spoke to him about how he came to take up temporary residence at Bryan's Corner, running marathons and his love of fancy dress...

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Josh Lay is an athlete with a bright future ahead of him.

The Loughborough University scholar and 1,500m runner has one eye on the Tokyo Olympics - and he's a Northampton lad so we had plenty to talk about.

Josh's local 'claim to fame' may not be one he hopes to be remembered for - he sent two-time Olympian Andrew Baddeley the wrong way round the Northampton parkrun course (Baddeley still set a course record!) - but he's got every chance of creating some great memories in the future.

I spoke to him about knocking off precious seconds to meet the Olympic qualification time, enjoying the odd beer and his training regime.

Have a listen - and remember the name.

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Mags Doyle didn't take up running until she was in her 50s, but there's no stopping her now.

Her love of the sport started after she did a number of long distance walking events, got bored one day and just started running.

Mags tells me she switches between running and walking while taking part in races, but that hasn't stopped her completing around 80 to 90 events including more than 20 marathons.

I spoke to her about coming to running late, her love of parkrun and how speed isn't everything...

 

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You might remember that back in episode 15 of the Running Tales Podcast we spoke to Brendan Rendall.

Brendan put his hedonistic lifestyle behind him to complete a series of spectacular challenges, including running across Africa - if you haven't listened yet, it's well worth checking out.

His latest challenge saw him attempting to raise money for Chester Zoo, which has been struggling financially due to the coronavirus lockdown restrictions.

For the last two month, Brendan has been doing little else than running - completing a half-marathon every day in June, a marathon every day in July and on Monday (August 3) running an ultra from Media City in Salford to the zoo.

I met him at the zoo as he completed his run and asked him how it all went...

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Katie Brown's mission is to share how to live your best possible life.

The Northamptonshire blogger does that through her inspiring and informative Cake vs Scales blog and her shiny, new podcast, 'Am I Supposed To Say This?'

Part of Katie's journey has been to develop a love of running, and in between chatting about everything from cake to mental health we also discussed half marathons, podcasts and parkrun...

 

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