Becs Gentry has made a life out of running.

Hoka's newest Global Brand Ambassador has worked as a coach for some of the biggest names in the sport in cities like London and New York.

Along the way, she has excelled at a range of distances, including trialling for Great Britain's Olympic team.

However, her journey was sparked not by a desire to be an elite athlete and coach, but a need to escape from the pressure of work that will relate to everyday runners across the world.

A keen runner at school, Becs drifted away from running during her time at university but returned to the sport with a bang in 2011.

Initially, it was that need to find a release from the stress of work that prompted her to take running up again. It quickly, though, turned into a new career as Becs became a running coach, firstly for Nike Run+ in London and then for Peloton in New York.

Her own running also went from strength to strength, as she began taking on marathon and ultra marathon events. In 2019, she finished as the first non-elite woman in the New York City Marathon.

And by 2021, Becs had been invited to the British Olympic Marathon Trials, where she finished fourth in a time of two hours, 32 minutes and one second.

Her role at Peloton and road running success has seen Becs gain a loyal following of runners who look to her for inspiration, including more than 200,000 on Instagram.

Running Tales spoke to Becs about how she loves helping others achieve running success, the step up to the British Olympic trials, and her number one tip for all runners...

'Part of a team that moves together':

Hoka welcomed Becs Gentry as its newest Global Brand Ambassador by celebrating her running achievements, including her 2024 completion of seven marathons in as many days.

The running shoe and apparel giant said: "Becs has earned deep credibility within the global running community as a dedicated road runner and accomplished marathoner, with a loyal following of runners who look to her for guidance and inspiration."

The partnership will allow Becs to share her passion for running and inspiring others to move, as well as to engage with Hoka's community across the world.

Hoka added: "An accomplished marathoner, beloved Peloton instructor and mom to daughter Tallulah. motion is at the centre of all things Becs.

"Now, as our latest Global Brand Ambassador, she's part of a team that moves together."

• NOTE: In the interest of full transparency, please be aware that Hoka arranged this interview with Becs Gentry. Our thanks to them for backing our work. Running Tales received no payment of any kind for this interview, and we were given full autonomy on the questions we asked. Thanks again to Becs and Hoka for being part of the Running Tales project.

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Path Projects offer some of the best running gear in the business. I love this kit and it looks really cool even on a 48-year-old, decidedly average runner like me!

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Terrell Johnson is Substack 'Running Royalty'.

With more than 39,000 subscribers, his The Half Marathoner newsletter is hugely popular, combining personal stories with those of runners from around the world, training plans, lists of often exotic-sounding races, and intimate community conversations about everything running related.

His own running story started when he was in his mid-20s. At that time, he took on a variety of distances including several marathons. But it was when, in his early 30s, he discovered a love for half-marathons that Terrell really became immersed in the sport.

It may seem strange in today's climate, where races scream at you from every corner of the internet, but in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Terrell struggled to find many half-marathons to run. There was certainly no comprehensive guides telling people how to find them.

If you can't find it, make it - and that's exactly what Terrell did, building his own website. The Half Marathon Guide would become the world’s leading resource for runners looking to run the 13.1-mile distance.

The Half-Marathoner followed a few years later and has created a strong community, with Terrell exploring how running can help people find meaning and spur them on to achieve things they barely thought possible.

Running Tales spoke to Terrell about his love of the half-marathon, what makes running so special, and the exciting races he would love to take on...

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Path Projects offer some of the best running gear in the business. I love this kit and it looks really cool even on a 48-year-old, decidedly average runner like me!

Visit⁠⁠ Path Projects via this link⁠⁠ and back Running Tales in the process (affiliate link).

Terrell Johnson on Substack:

Read The Half Marathoner

Struggling with his mental health and looking to lose weight, Ross Thompson made the decision to start running around a year ago.

At first it was a struggle, and Ross was left wondering if running was for him. But he slowly grew to like it, and his efforts were supercharged when he took the decision to create his alter ego: The Orange Running Guy.

Suddenly, his running was more than just a battle with himself. Ross was growing a network of running friends across social media, inspiring him just as he provided them with inspiration.

Now, he has gone from 5k parkruns to planning his first 10k race at the Wolverhampton 10k - which finishes in the stadium of his beloved and orange-wearing Wolverhampton Wanderers. He is even hoping to complete 50k at Endure 24 later this year.

Running Tales spoke to Ross about how running has changed his life, gathering community and aiming to inspire others, and how his daughter created The Orange Running Guy...

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Path Projects:

Path Projects offer some of the best running gear in the business. I love this kit and it looks really cool even on a 48-year-old, decidedly average runner like me!

Visit⁠ Path Projects via this link⁠ and back Running Tales in the process (affiliate link).

Follow The Orange Running Guy:

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Strava

Like so many other people, Sam Kirchin started running during the Covid pandemic.

The rugby lover said he had been putting on weight even before lockdown started, so turned to running.

He initially hated it, but continued to increase his distance and even started to take part in races.

One person who was always spurring him on was his wife, Lyndsey, who took the decision to enter Sam into the London Marathon - an event he has now completed three times.

The couple even completed the London Landmarks Half-Marathon together, despite Lyndsey not having been a runner.

But, tragically, in January 2024, Sam was hit with an incomprehensible blow when Lyndsey sadly passed away following complications with an existing liver condition.

Unsurprisingly, Sam - who has five children with Lyndsey - went through some dark times, but when he needed them most his running friends - including people he barely knew - were there for him.

First among those who helped were members of Fordy Runs, the club he had already been a member of, while he was also embraced at the parkrun community.

Sam told Running Tales he didn't know where he would be without their support. In our conversation, he revealed how he loves helping others achieve their goals as a parkrun pacer, how he found help from people and places he didn't expect to, and his 5k goal for 2026...

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Path Projects:

Path Projects offer some of the best running gear in the business. I love this kit and it looks really cool even on a 48-year-old, decidedly average runner like me!

Visit Path Projects via this link and back Running Tales in the process (affiliate link).

Fordy Runs:

Find out more about Fordy Runs: https://www.fordyruns.com

Listen to Sam's episode son Fordy Runs Running Club TV.

While most people were heralding the start of the new year with something fizzy or sleeping as fireworks went off outside, Jack Syder-Mills was welcoming 2026 in an entirely different way.

The Norwich-based runner was heading out to the trails surrounding his home to tackle six half-marathons on New Year's Day.

Jack was taking on the extreme challenge to raise money for the Brain Tumour Research charity. It came after his sister, Ella, was diagnosed with a brain tumour when she was just 22 - incredibly something the then-neuroscience student had self-diagnosed.

While the run would prove tough at times, it was far from the first time Jack has taken on long-distance events. Despite having only started running a few years ago, he has already completed several 50k and 50 mile races and has his sights set on the 100km distance.

Running Tales spoke to Jack about his almost spiritual love of trail running, how he plans to raise more money for Brain Tumour Research by running from Norwich to London, and why he swapped fireworks for fundraising on New Year's Day...

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You can still sponsor Jack and help raise vital funds for Brain Tumour Research via this link.

Steve Cushing describes himself as a 75-year-old, retired GP and back of the pack runner with two artificial hips and a pacemaker.

But that only tells half of his story.

He's previously run extreme events including The Ice Marathon, becoming only the ninth person to complete a marathon in the Antarctic, and - at the other end of the heat spectrum - the infamous Marathon des Sables.

Having recently overcome a spate of injuries, Steve is now training to take on the high altitude, multi-day Mustang Trail Race in Nepal.

Running Tales spoke to Steve about why he continues to take on extreme challenges, the incredible charities he is running the Mustang Trail Race for, and how a horse riding accident that nearly killed him was the spark for him to run ultra marathons.

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Sponsor Steve Cushing to run the Mustang Trail Race and find out more about the event:

https://linktr.ee/stevecushMustang

Steve is running the Mustang Trail Race for two fantastic charities:

• ​PARTNERS IN EDUCATION SWAZILAND (PIES)
• ​EVERYBODY COUNTS (Northampton)

This is a repeat of an episode which ran in December 2024; more details below.

As a sickly and frail child, Natalie Crawford avoided exercise at all costs. Poor attendance at school and a constant cough that wore her out led Natalie to be diagnosed with asthma.

She spent time in and out of hospital with chest infections, would cough huge amounts of mucus up, and suffered from frequent bouts of pneumonia.

For years, Natalie just thought that was the way her life was and that there was no particular rhyme or reasons to her bouts of illness.

It was only at the age of 28 that she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF), a chronic condition that causes malnutrition, breathing problems, frequent respiratory infections, and lung disease.

Worse, at the time of her diagnosis, it came with a frightening life-expectancy of 37. And now Natalie was not just fighting for her own health. Her diagnosis had followed swiftly on from that of her son, who was diagnosed with CF while in the womb.

A determined Natalie decided she had to act. Running was to become her weapon of choice.

At first, she joined the gym, walking on the treadmill, and despite the agony in her lungs and constantly being sick afterwards, her fitness started to improve. With the help of her running coach, Aaron, she started to make real progress, learning how to eat, rest and recover like an athlete.

Best of all, she found the exercise loosened the mucus in her lungs, helping her to breathe more easily. With a new diet that saw her take in 5,000 calories a day to help stabilise her weight, she felt healthier than ever before and her infections became fewer and further apart.

A first 5k followed and then a series of half-marathons. The girl who had spent 28 years not exercising was setting new boundaries.

Medical advice around CF said she should be resting, hiding away from the chance of catching bugs, but Natalie was convinced there was another way.

Then, one day, she decided to take on the toughest challenge of her life - running the Birmingham Marathon. Doctors told her not to run a race they said would be "impossible" for her, but Natalie's mantra was to never take no for an answer.

She duly completed the race, becoming one of the first women in the world with cystic fibrosis to run a marathon and inspiring multitudes of others with CF to take up running.

Natalie has gone on to complete more marathons since then, constantly taking on medical orthodoxy and pushing herself to new limits. Throughout her journey, running has become something that will always define her, not cystic fibrosis.

* This podcast first ran in December 2024, when Running Tales was part of the Everyday Athlete Podcast Network. Most of the episodes recorded there were done so live and we do not have access to the original audio, but this episode with Natalie was pre-recorded. We wanted to take this opportunity to share it again and add it to our feed. Of course, all of other episodes on the EAPN still sit on that platform and we'd always recommend people checking them out along with the other pods that sit there.

Stephanie Reents' new novel, 'We Loved To Run', tells the captivating story of a female US college cross-country team, delving into what makes them tick and the external challenges that threaten to pull them apart.

It's a fantastic read that explores everything from why women run and the pressures it brings, to the relationships teammates build and the coaches whose sometimes dubious methods involve weighing them and punishing under-performing runners by making them lead the toughest sessions.

Further, it dives into college life, addressing issues such as sexual consent, disordered eating, and alcoholism. It's a riveting, and ultimately, uplifting read that propels you into a world of sacrifice, pain, confused identity, and female friendships.

Stephanie was a collegiate runner herself, who went on to run the New York Marathon in a little over three hours. 'We Loved To Run' is her latest publication following 'The Kissing List' - a collection of stories that was a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice - and 'I Meant to Kill Ye', a bibliomemoir chronicling her journey into the strange void at the heart of Cormac McCarthy's 'Blood Meridian'.

Running Tales spoke to Stephanie about the power and pain of running, why she wrote 'We Loved To Run', and setting new targets as she comes to terms with not being able to run as quickly as she used to.

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Buy 'We Loved To Run' on Amazon

Nikki Lilley was a talented runner in her youth, but the pressures of competition sapped some of her love for the sport and it fell by the wayside.

Life and raising a family - with five children - meant she was kept pretty busy over the next few years, but she eventually found her way back to running (and swimming and cycling) in the form of the triathlon.

Age group success followed, but Nikki suffered a serious setback when she was diagnosed with colon cancer. Surgery and chemotherapy, along with a temporary stoma, followed but she was determined to continue exercising.

That included parkrun and becoming a part of 5k Your Way, the empowering community which encourages those with cancer to run, walk or volunteer at their local parkrun once a month.

Nikki eventually had her stoma reversed and is now back to chasing her goals, completing her first marathon less than a year later - and in a smidge over three-and-a-half hours!

Running Tales spoke to Nikki about the support 5k Your Way provides to those with cancer, her own running journey, and the power of community...

Visit Running Tales on:

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Further reading:

How the 5k Your Way revolution is 'kindly, quietly, powerfully' getting cancer patients moving

In some ways, Tony Letts is your average club runner. He trains round his local parks, enjoys parkrun and is a member of his town club, Northampton Road Runners.

Like so many other people, Tony starting running later in life, looking to improve his fitness. Along the way, he found a love of trail running and a desire to run increasingly long distances.

And it's taken him on a journey which is far from average or ordinary. Earlier this year, Tony completed his long-held aim to run the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB), one of the world's toughest races.

UTMB covers 170km (106 miles) around Mont Blanc, starting in Chamonix, France, and traveling through France, Italy, and Switzerland. It has been immortalised by the performances of the likes of Kilian Jornet, Courtney Dauwalter, Jim Walmsley, and Katie Schide.

But UTMB is not the only ultra marathon Tony has conquered, with the Ultra-Trail Snowdonia just one of the other famous races he's completed.

Running Tales spoke to Tony about how he trained and raced UTMB, what made him first start running, and why he loves the sport...

Visit Running Tales on:

Substack: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://runningtales.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/runningtalespod⁠⁠⁠⁠

Further reading:

How Northampton Road Runners is hoping to supercharge its over-50s