Kate chats to Ian Beattie and Adrian Stott, two pillars of the UK running community. Ian is Chairman of UK Athletics and Adrian selector and Team Manager for the Scottish and GB teams. They discuss Adrian taking over Race Directorship of the West Highland Way, which they say is the 2nd oldest ultra after Western States. Going since 1985, this iconic Scottish race has maintained its popularity and family community for 40 years and they talk about the changes they've witnessed in the industry over the years as well as the thorny issue of gender equality on the start line. 

Entries open for the West Highland Way on 1st November: https://westhighlandwayrace.org/

You can watch Chris Sutherland's beautiful film "The Long Trail North" here: https://youtu.be/R15erI6CZpE?si=QegRgAj8UIytQfML

Alex recently completed an epic challenge - running every mountain (he summited 446 although the official figure seems to be fluid!) in England and Wales and cycling in between them in one continuous, self-propelled journey. His goal was to raise awareness and funds for his charity, Mind Over Mountains. We chatted about this huge challenge, how he prepared for it and dealt with the highs and lows through it, as well as how his charity helps people in need.

Robin and Kate chat to Chris, who won the Montane Summer Spine Challenger South. They chat about Chris's training, in particular the modest miles he puts in to achieve such a performance. They chat about the race, his companionable racing with Mark Potts and his future plans; thus far he has won both 100 mile races he has run and he is hoping to run 13 Valleys in September. 

Photo credit: Will Roberts/The Spine

We chat to Susie Chan; a true community champion of the ultra running world, and much loved Peloton instructor, who has completed some of the world's toughest running challenges. We talk about some of the races she's completed; The Coastal Challenge and the Jungle Ultra by Beyond the Ultimate, Marathon des Sables which she has attended 4 times, and the upcoming Badwater 135. Grab a cuppa and listen to this humble woman talk about some of the amazing things she's done.

Kate and Robin talk to Anna after her spectacular win at the Summer Spine last week and her triumphant return to competitive running after being injured with a fractured foot for so long. We discuss the race but also how she structured her return, using the Wattbike and a bit about her past in other competitive sports and what's next on Anna's agenda.

Photo credit: Will Roberts

We asked Zukie on to talk about his race at UTS last month, but golly we went through everything he's done - which is a lot! This inspiring and cheerful man happily responded to our multitude of questions and annoyingly after we stopped recording we found out even more!! Which means we'll have to get him on again :)

Photo credit: Ben Johnson

Robin talks to Holly Stables following her run at The Speed Project in the US. They discuss the run between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, coaching; both as a coach and how she is coached; recovery, Salomon shoes, Marathon Talk and Strava.

Robin and Kate chat to Camille and they covered a lot of topics! This podcast is a bumper issue as we range from talking about neurodiversity, Spartathlon, world records, whistleblowing, positivity, training, video bloopers and much more. Camille is a pleasure to chat to and we wish her the best in her attempt to reach 1,000km in Japan in a couple of weeks.

We chat to Ted Jackson, who organises many races for Runbuk, including the Antarctic Ultra. We chat to Ted about the incredible races he's involved in, what it's like to run in such extreme temperatures and what gear is needed.

We talk to Tom Joly about his thoughts on sponsorship and going professional in ultra running, as well as his racing and training. We discuss over training, coaching and what it's like being a professional runner. Check out the thought-provoking article he wrote on this subject.

https://www.athelysium.com/post/going-pro-in-trail-running-what-are-you-worth