The Endurance Asia Podcast

We caught up with Tomokazu Ihara after the Rinjani 100 miler to find out, is it really the toughest ultra marathon course in the world??

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We caught up with some trail running legends prior to them taking on the Rinjani 100 miler, arguably the toughest 100 mile Race in the world. to breakdown how they have prepared and what they expect from Rinjani.

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Chris Timms returns to the Endurance Asia Podcast fresh from Marathon des Sables, the legendary multi-stage race across the Sahara.

This episode breaks down the reality of MDS — from the race format and self-supported setup to the physical and mental demands of racing across multiple days in extreme conditions.

Chris shares how he trained in Singapore, how he approached pacing and fueling, what surprised him most, and what he would change if he did it again. The conversation also dives into the emotional side of endurance — including racing with grief, being disconnected from family, and what the desert teaches you.

Beyond performance, this is a story about community, resilience, and why stage racing is a completely different challenge.

Timestamps
01:15 Intro and Chris returns from the desert
02:35 Why Marathon des Sables had always been on the list
06:43 MDS explained: stages, format, and self-supported racing
11:20 The field, the stories, and DNF reality
13:10 Training for MDS in Singapore
17:45 Gear choices: shoes, pack, and foot care
23:20 Nutrition strategy and calorie planning
26:07 Sleep, recovery, and life in camp
31:22 Pacing the race and lessons learned
36:57 Race result and finishing top 30
38:35 Camp life and learning from elite runners
41:54 Finish line energy and community
43:49 Bag weight, comforts, and mistakes
45:30 Racing with grief and mental strength
47:18 Time away from family and isolation
49:34 Why stage racing is uniquely hard
51:46 What’s next after MDS

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https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-endurance-asia-podcast/id1459460675
https://open.spotify.com/show/23YnHpmjPgyGiHLfgkiOAk
https://soundcloud.com/enduranceasia
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUHv2YWma06vKwlzs53WZ5g/videos
https://www.instagram.com/enduranceasia
https://www.facebook.com/enduranceasiapod
https://twitter.com/enduranceasia_
https://www.linkedin.com/company/endurance-asia/
https://www.instagram.com/sgfalconsrc/

A special Endurance Asia Podcast collab with Singapore Falcons RC on how to PB a marathon—from building a club-wide marathon block to nailing the taper, pacing, fueling, and race-day mindset. Falcons committee members Chris and Andy are share what worked in a high-PB-rate Seoul/Tokyo season, plus rapid-fire wisdom from guest contributors Alice, Andreas, Darren, Harry, Ben and D’Arcy — covering everything from “don’t cook the first 5K” to “get to 30–32K, then race.”

• Why marathon training makes you a better runner (even for trail/ultra)

• How Singapore Falcons structure a 4-month marathon block with flexibility

• The “core sessions” approach (and why Tuesday sessions matter so much)

• Pacing strategy: first 5K calm → settle → commit from 30–32K

• Fueling strategy: individual needs, carb timing, and avoiding GI surprises

• Mindset: gratitude, calm under stress, and reframing late-race suffering

• Race execution: groups/packs, course knowledge, water stations, problem-solving

• A simple recap list of the biggest “do’s” (and “don’ts”) in the final week

• The hay is in the barn: don’t chase fitness in the last week—protect freshness.

• Don’t win the first 5K and lose the last 10K.

• Fuel early and consistently—don’t wait until you feel it.

• Know the course and remove preventable stress (travel/steps/logistics).

• Use the pack when it matters, but don’t get dragged into the wrong pace early.

Note: these are based on the transcript order—adjust times to match your final edit/audio.

• 00:00 Intro: Endurance Asia x Singapore Falcons — PB’ing the marathon

• 02:00 Andy & Chris backgrounds + why marathons are “honest”

• 05:10 Falcons marathon block: how to coach many abilities at once

• 10:00 Community + pack mentality: why clubs beat generic training plans

• 14:30 Andy’s Tokyo execution: patience, pacing by feel, and staying calm

• 20:30 Fueling + carb strategy (pre-race + in-race)

• 26:30 Guest tip 1: Alice Brabham — mindset, course knowledge, “run the mile you’re in”

• 35:30 Guest tip 2: Andreas Wengner — expect the unexpected + don’t rush the first 5K

• 40:00 Guest tip 3: Darren Southcott — taper, carbs, pacing discipline, don’t chase groups

• 45:00 Guest tip 4: Coach Harry — 30K discipline, simple fueling, caffeine timing

• 49:30 Guest tip 5: Ben Khoo — common pre-race mistakes to avoid

• 55:00 Guest tip 6: Darcy — “sit on the couch for 30K,” run by feel, enjoy the day

• 60:00 Wrap: the shared themes + final mindset for race day

• 01:10:00 Recap from Chris on top 15 tips

• Singapore Falcons RC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sgfalconsrc/

• Alice Brabham: https://www.instagram.com/fit_as_training/

• Andreas Vagner: https://www.instagram.com/icyandi

• Buffalo Running Co (Coach Harry / BuffCo): https://www.instagram.com/buffco.hk/

• Website: https://www.enduranceasia.com/

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• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/enduranceasiapod

• X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/enduranceasia_

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/endurance-asia/

Dening Lo is the best Singaporean ultra runner. She has won 8 out of the past 10 races she has competed in. She has just finished 3 at the Asia Trail Master Finals, series that culminates in a final of the best runners in Asia and she took a podium in a hard fought battle with runners from across the region.

We cover:

- Her back ground and how you got into ultra running. 

- What is it that makes her a great ultra runner?

- Inspiring women. Mum with 3 kids, how do she juggle training and family

- In the past 2 years, she's won 8 of your last 10 races. Incredible record. What have been some of her highlights

- How has being part of a running club has impacted her performances

- Low lights. What have been some of the hardest or most challenging and why

- Why she loves racing in Indonesia.

- ATM finals: 

- Expectation going in

- How the race went

- Feeling to win

- What’s next?

Follow Dening on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/godeninglo/?hl=en

• Website: https://www.enduranceasia.com/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUHv2YWma06vKwlzs53WZ5g

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enduranceasia

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/enduranceasiapod

• X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/enduranceasia_

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/endurance-asia/

Following a 7.5 year journey of failures, injuries and upsets, podcast host Scott Pugh goes from interviewer to interviewee to share his story in finishing the Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge with co host and ultra runner Chris Timms. HK4TUC is one of the most brutal endurance tests on the planet – 298km across four iconic trails, with 14,500m+ of elevation, a 60-hour cut off, no poles, no music, no GPS watch no support on the trails. Scott shares the the full journey from DNFs to what he changed to how he evolved as a runner and human to finally get the job done in 58 hours 43 mins.

We cover:

• How he’s feeling immediately after the event 02:45

• The backstory that got him to the 2025 edition of Four Trails 07:35

• What he changed coming into the 2026 edition 21:18

• Preparation for the 2026 edition and pregame nerves 28:10

• Game time! How did it play at the event 32:27   

• Motivational voice notes from crew 50:30

• Reaching the point of 200 DNF on HK Trail 01:01:23

• Clip of meeting Tomo on HK trail 01:03:23

• Clip of running to Ferry Piers 01:08:06

• Clip of starting Lantau Trail 01:11:15

• Crew messages before taking on Lantau Peak and Sunset Peak 01:23:50

• The Finish 01:27:15

• What it felt like to touch kiss the green post box 01:29:15 

• How the Four Trails has changed him 01:31:00 

• Whats next 01:35:30 

To relive the Dot Watching click here.

Scott’s splits were as follows:

Maclehose Trail - 13hrs 55m

Transition - 1hr 30m

Wilson Trail - 15hr 23m

Transition - 35m

Hk Trail - 9hrs

Transition - 2hrs 30m

Lantau trail - 15hrs 35m

You can listen to the audio podacst on Apple and Spotify.

Follow Endurance Asia on Instagram and Facebook.

We are joined by the amazing Tommy Lewis @tommyrunpt off the back of running the @vietnamtrailmarathon in Moc Chau. Tommy is a personal trainer and coach that has been producing amazing running based content for the past few years. He has a deep level of experience coaching ultra athletes with a focus on strength and conditioning as a core part of an overall training plan, something runners are typically very bad at doing.

We cover:

• Background how Tommy and Scott know each other

• How he has turned his passion into his career

• His impressions of Vietnam so far

• Importance of strength and conditioning for runners

• Tommy’s beliefs around nutrition and veganism for athletes. How to maintain macros inc protein

• Supplementation, Creatine “every man and his grandma should be taking it”

• Injury prevention through S&C

• Racing - how often and how to prioritise

Check out Tommy on Instagram and his podcast and coaching That’s Runnable and on all podcast channels.

It’s that time of year ago before the adventure season kicks off where we are joined by Chris Timms to recap the highlights of 2025. In this special awards episode, we discuss the stories that moved us and the people who mattered. Here are the categories and nominees:

Male Athlete of the Year

• Hisashi Kitamura, with his win at TMBT

• Lodowijk Vriens, wins in HK and Bali and top 10 in Cape Town

• John Stingray Onifa, with multiple wins across Asia

• Guangfu Meng, 2nd win at HK100 and win at Chiang Mai by UTMB

Female Athlete of the Year

• Sunmaya Budha, 2nd in WMTRC and an miraculous win in Cape Town

• Hau Ha, another amazing year with wins in Tsiagu and Chiang Mai by UTMB

• Fuzhao Xiang, 2nd place at Western States and wins across many shorter distances across Asia

• Veronika Leng, 2nd place at HK100 on her comeback and 5th at CCC

Race / Challenge of the Year

World Trail Majors

• Hong Kong 100

• Vietnam Mountain Marathon

Asia Trail Masters

• Penang Skyrace

• Izu Trail Journey Japan

UTMB

• TransLantau 

• Chiang Mai

Others

• Tsaigu Trail 

• Godzone

Endurance Feat of the Year

• Stone Tsang solo traverse across Taiwan

• Grant “Axe” Rawlinson and Luke Richmond Row across “The Ditch”

Fundraising of the Year

• Natalie Dau’s 2nd Project1000 across Philippines, fundraising for female charities across Asia

• Jo Lodder and John Fan, 3100km UNBOUND ultra run from Beijing to China raising money for disabled charities

Listen to the episode to find out who the winners are..

We loved watching these people reset the limits of what’s possible in 2025 and would love to hear from you about who we missed. Here’s to even more amazing achievements in 2026!

We joined the 2025 edition of TransLantau by UTMB, a stalwart race in the Hong Kong trail running calendar that was included in the UTMB series from 2023. Following a few logistically challenges in 2024 edition we were keen to experience the race and see what adjustments they had made and take on the 120k distance, one of the toughest ultra courses in Hong Kong.

We are joined by:

• Salomon Wettstein pre race to discuss his preparation and plans 2:15

• Steven Carr, social media manager for TransLantau by UTMB and Race Director of 9Dragons, host of the 10t edition of Asia Trail Master in February 2026 10:50

• Salomon Wettstein rejoins to discuss how his race went 18:30

• Host Scott Pugh comes back to talk about how his race went and his overall experience of TransLantau by UTMB 36:45

To listen to Salomon’s first time on Endurance Asia after Four Trails 2021 you can listen here..

This week we cover one of the longest standing races in Asia, TMBT and interview the eventual winner Hisashi Kitamura prior to the race as well as Race Director Claus Pedersen at the 50k finish line. Chris Timms and Scott Pugh catch up to discuss the results of the race and Scott’s experience as well as what Happened at UTMB:

Hisashi Kitamura - 01:55

• Where Hisashi is from and lack of athletics growing up

• His time in Malaysia getting into Ultra Running?

• His start with Asia Trail Master Races and 9 Dragons

• Being the first ATM Golden Grandmaster to get to 20 ultra >70k.

• Vice champion year in 2019. In that year the format was just most points from 4 races and happened to end with a final race of the season where you and John Ellis battled it out. He talks about that season and what happened in the final race?

• Training on treadmill. How he does 95% of his training on Treadmill

• How he has competed in TMBT 4 times coming 2nd every time what this race mean to him

• Last year you came 2nd to Jeff in the ATm final talk to me about that race..

• His plan for ATM final in Oct.

• Race strategy for tomorrow? Pacing, nutrition, how to beat Milton Amat and Daved Simpat

• His preparation day before

Claus Peteresen TMBT Race Director - 49:30

• History of Borneo Ultra and their races

• The community and villagers getting involved

• How the race 2025 race is progressing

• Future races and plan

Scott Pugh and Chris Timms - 1:00

• Hisashi’s training on the treadmill

• Recap if TMBT 100k

• Recap of TMBT 50k

• Recap of UTMB