Nikki Page founded Love London Running Tours to offer sightseers the chance to see the capital city in a unique and fun way.

The fledging business catered for all abilities and gave people opportunities to see London and get fit at the same time.

Fitness instructor Nikki even took in running city tours in places all over the world, including Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur.

Sadly, Love London Running Tours had to be put on hold due to the outbreak of Covid - and then, far more happily, when she became pregnant.

Running Tales spoke to Nikki about postnatal running, marathon training - and how catching Covid herself has put back her London Marathon plans - as well as the future of her running tours...

 

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If you like this episode please consider donating to help us keep going: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/stepforward

The music in this podcast is:

"Fearless First" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

When Ross Jeavons ran the London Marathon in three hours seven minutes last year, his over-riding feeling was disappointment.

Despite not discovering running until a few years ago, Ross had found an affinity with it - leading to him aiming to beat the three hour barrier.

But he hit the wall in the last few miles and was left crestfallen despite achieving a personal best.

Fast forward almost a year and Ross has completely different reasons for running the 2022 version of the marathon.

It was something, as a father of two children under two, he wasn't planning to take on - especially when his son, Corey, was born in February with Oesophageal Atresia and Tracheo-Oesophageal Fistula, a condition which means his food pipe was not connected to his stomach - and he was and is unable to swallow.

Running drifted from Ross' mind and he hadn't laced up his trainers for six months when he suddenly spotted a chance to take on London again in aid of the charity TOFS.

It was challenge - and a chance to raise vital funds - that he wasn't able to resist, even though a lack of training and time suggested things won't be easy...

 

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To sponsor Ross to run the London Marathon in aid of TOFS visit https://www.peoplesfundraising.com/fundraising/rossfortofs

If you like this episode please consider donating to help us keep going: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/stepforward

The music in this podcast is:

"Fearless First" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This week Running Tales was live at the Bedford Festival of Running to speak to Dannii Levi.

You may remember Dannii's story from Running Tales Series One, Episode 47 where Michelle spoke to her about dealing with Raynaud's disease, a condition which results in reduced blood flow to people's fingers and toes - and can make running impossible.

On Sunday, though, we spoke to Dannii after she completed the Bedford Half Marathon about her experience as a deaf runner.

After contracting Covid, Dannii's hearing became impaired, prompting her to run the race in aid of hearing dogs for deaf people.

 

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To sponsor Dannii for running Bedford Half Marathon in aid of hearing dogs for deaf people visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/dannii-levi

If you like this episode please consider donating to help us keep going: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/stepforward

The music in this podcast is:

"Fearless First" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

One of the most popular parts of many runners' weeks is parkrun.

The 5km event takes place up and down the country - and these days across the world - every weekend.

At it's most basic level every local parkrun is based on the efforts of a core team of volunteers, who work as event and race directors to make sure thousands of people up and down the country are able to get their running fix at 9am every Saturday.

But how do those teams work, what happens between 10.30am on Saturday when a parkrun finishes and 8.55am the following week when the next one is about to begin, and how can people become part of the magic that makes a parkun tick?

Running Tales spoke to Alastair Rapley, the event director at the ever popular Northampton parkrun, and started off by asking him what an event director is...

 

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If you like this episode please consider donating to help us keep going: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/stepforward

The music in this podcast is:

"Fearless First" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Erik Heine's story is intrinsically linked to that of his son, Stephen.

Born in 2006, Stephen was diagnosed with a rare disorder that affects all areas of his development when he was just 18 months old.

He always loved watching Erik, a keen runner who has competed in the Boston Marathon, in races, but wasn't able to take part himself until in 2014 he was given the opportunity to participate in a program with a local running club and was pushed in a wheelchair for a 10k.

Despite the sleet and freezing temperatures that day, Stephen let his parents know that he wanted to keep racing, and they were able to get him his own running chair six months later.

In 2018, Erik was inspired to start Team Hoyt Oklahoma, part of the Team Hoyt organisation that works to promote inclusion of disabled athletes in running and other endurance events.

Erik and Stephen's story is truly inspirational. I spoke to him about his own love of running - and he taught me about the increasingly ubiquitous Running Punks - and, of course, about Team Hoyt...

 

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You can learn much more about Team Hoyt Oklahoma, and donate to what is an incredible charity, at https://www.teamhoytok.com, while the Team Hoyt website - which tells the story of Dick and Rick Hoyt - can be found at https://www.teamhoyt.com

 

Team Hoyt Oklahoma is also on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teamhoytok

 

If you like this episode please consider donating to help us keep going: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/stepforward

The music in this podcast is:

"Fearless First" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sarah Longstaff has big plans - and most of them involve running.

Despite not having run more than six miles previously, she - egged on by her Instagram followers - decided to run 30 miles to celebrate reaching 30 years old.

The milestone had been causing Sarah some worry, but the challenge proved the perfect pick-me-up to get her over her fear of failure.

Only hip surgery - she ran the 30 miles despite the injury - is temporarily holding her back, with triathlons and ultras top of her 'to do list'.

Running Tales asked Sarah if her 29-year-old self would recognise the new life she says has made her happier than ever... 

 

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If you like this episode please consider donating to help us keep going: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/stepforward

The music in this podcast is:

"Fearless First" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

You can read Sarah's blog at https://sarahstriathlonjourney.wordpress.com/

Carl Wright is a 64-year-old ultra runner, lay pastor and environmentalist.

He only started running at 55 (and hated it!) after being told to lower his blood pressure by his doctor.

A 5km became a half-marathon and before he knew it, Carl was running ultras - although his first was something of an accident when his niece egged him into turning a 25km race into twice that distance.

Carl is also an ambassador for the Monarch Ultra, a race which aims to raise awareness of the plight of monarch butterflies.

Running Tales caught him a day after he had DNF'd for the very first time - but even that hadn't dampened his spirits...

 

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If you like this episode please consider donating to help us keep going: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/stepforward

The music in this podcast is:

"Fearless First" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

You can read Carl's blog at www.theoldfellowgoesrunning.com

There has been much talk this week in the parkrun community - and beyond - about the fantastic achievement of 92-year-old Arthur Walsham.

Despite his more senior years, Arthur completed his 300th parkrun at Longford Park in Stretford, near Manchester.

It reminded us of our Running Tales chat with Northampton parkrun legend Bob Emmerson last year.

In July 2021, Bob - then 88, now 89 - was stranded on 399 parkruns as the coronavirus pandemic took hold.

He's thankfully completed that milestone now and is well on the way to 450 parkruns.

Back then though the world was a more uncertain place.

Running Tales spoke to Bob about his weekly 5k, as well as an incredible running career which includes finishing the London Marathon in under three hours and running the London to Brighton Ultra Race.

We thought it was well worth another listen...

 

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If you like this episode please consider donating to help us keep going: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/stepforward

The music in this podcast is:

"Fearless First" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

You can read about Arthur Walsham's incredible achievement on the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-62335307

And this article tells how Bob Emmerson finally completed his 400th parkrun: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-57954713

When Michele Heller started running aged 38 her aim was to get fit and lose weight.

More than 10 years on, she has slightly loftier goals.

Having already completed 11 marathons across her home country - including Boston, Chicago and New York - the US resident is aiming to tick off all six marathon majors.

Michele is set to run London this year, with Tokyo and Berlin firmly on her bucket list.

But she's not aiming on stopping there. Her ultimate goal is to complete a marathon in all 50 states of America.

This is her Running Tale.

 

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If you like this episode please consider donating to help us keep going: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/stepforward

The music in this podcast is:

"Fearless First" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In recent weeks on the Running Tales podcast we've spoken to a number of ultra runners about their fantastic stories.

Today, we've decided to do something slightly different with the podcast, taking time to look back at our archives to pick out some pearls of wisdom from ultra runners we have previously spoken to.

This episode includes audio from Comrades marathoner Deon Elhers, Benjamin Davies - who has learned to love ultra racing after facing mental health issues, and Martin Lopez - who has gone from intensive care battling Covid to completing five ultras; as well as Menna Evans, Brendon Rendall and Emma Timmins, all three of whom have completed incredible challenges and ran across continents.

We looked at how they got into ultra running, and why it is so special to them.

 

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If you like this episode please consider donating to help us keep going: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/stepforward

The music in this podcast is:

"Fearless First" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/