I really don’t know where to start with this weeks guest, Inspiring in so many ways, co founder of one of the uks largest running groups ‘Vegan Runners’, she graces a 2:38 marathon pb holds four Guinness World Records, which includes winning the North Pole Marathon, finishing 8th in the Amsterdam marathon, and a top 20 finish in London.

You have to know Fiona to know how remarkable she is, no coaches, no time off, she looks after over 600 animals at her sanctuary and only eats one vegan meal a day after she has tended to all her animals and to top it all off she lost her knee cap in her teens where she was told she will never walk again let alone become an elite runner on the world stage.

She truly is a remarkable genuine person who runs purely for the love of the animals, if you have not yet seen her film ‘Running for Good’ then I’d highly recommend it currently showing on Amazon prime, which is a documentary based film following Fiona through her exploits during the Marathon de Sables.

Unassuming, the girl next door, genuine, heart warming and forever giving, she is such a super star I didn’t even edit this podcast, she has more energy than a bolt of lightning.

I’d just like to give a shout out to the sponsors of this episode Spring Energy gels, it’s a natural product and just what I’ve been looking for to help me navigate away from the GI issues and energy crashes that I’ve been having during my events whilst taking other gels and sports nutrition, it’s made from real food, it has no maltodrextrin added, no sugar added, no preservatives, artificial colours or concentrates, its made with 100% natural foods such as rice, beetroot, banana, coconut water, peanut butter, only high quality ingredients, driven by science, equipped with a vast athletic experience and inspired by passion for a healthy life style, all listeners can benefit from 15% off their Vegan range by using the code InspireSpring during the month of May 2020, they have a great 8 pack Vegan sampler pack so why not give them a try.

Link to Podbean https://theinspirationalrunner.podbean.com/

We have one of, if not the UKs most notorious race director on the show this week Mark Cockbain who has created events such as the 200 mile Tunnel Ultra which we have featured twice on the podcast, the infamous Hill Ultra which is technically a 160 mile not stop of significant hill repeats, the 260 mile Warrior Way just to name a few, I’ve attached his events page in the show notes so if you’re looking for a real challenge click in, but don’t say you haven’t been warned.

Mark Cockbain Events click here at your own peril  http://www.cockbainevents.com/

Mark himself is a sub three hour marathoner but he has been drawn to events around the globe that have challenged his limits and beyond such as a double Badwater which was a 300 mile race in Death Valley Arizona, he completed the famous Spartathlon five years in a row and has finished crazy races like the Yukon Arctic Ultra, he has an extensive CV having completed 106 ultras and 198 marathons and it’s that experience he tries to bring to his events.

I found this to be a brilliant episode that presents a road map on how to mentally manage and navigate through those more challenging times on course, I hope you enjoyed,I hope you find something that you can use yourself, I know I’ll be listening to this again as part of my prerace prep in my next big event.

RACE COUNTER  

ULTRAS  106       MARATHONS 198 (PB 2:53)

THE HIGH 2010 (WINNER and only finisher)

JOHN O GROATS TO LANDS END (JOGLE) 2010 (15 days and 3 hours and 40mins)

SPARTATHLON 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005   (PB: 34:23)

BADWATER DOUBLE (DEATH VALLEY 300) 2007

BADWATER 2005, 2003, 2009   (PB: 46:12)

GRAND UNION CANAL RACE 2009, 2007, 2006, 2002   (PB: 34:44)

TRANS 333 2006 (second place overall)

YUKON ARCTIC ULTRA (320) 2006 (sixth place overall)

JORDAN DESERT CUP 2001

MARATHON DE SABLES 2000

COMRADES 2004

WEST HIGHLAND WAY 2005, 2006

VERDON TRAIL 2002

LONDON TO BRIGHTON 2001, 2002, 2003

MARATHON OF BRITAIN 2004

LIBYAN CHALLENGE 2008

BASEL 24 HOUR 2008

ULTRABALATON 135 2008

HULL 24 HOUR TRACK 2008

DAVOS 78K 2008

ULTRA TRAIL MONT-BLANC 2008

CAESARS CAMP 100 2008

ATACAMA CROSSING 2009 (seventh place overall)

THAMES RING 250 2009 (fifth place)

FINLAND INDOOR 24HR TRACK 2010, 2011 (PB: 201km)

GLASGOW TO EDINBURGH 2010

THE ONER 2010

CRAWLEY 12HR 2010, 2011 (PB 75.83 miles)

TRANSYLVANIAN 50K

Another superb episode for those that follow the Backyard Ultra, Anna was the last female athlete to DNF in the Quaratine backyard stealing the hearts of many as she ran loops around a frozen lake in Sweden north of the Arctic circle.

She’s amazingly only been ultra running since 2017 but managed 4th place in UTMB’s TDS last year and competed in Big Dogs Backyard Ultra last Oct which she seen as a path way in to the Barkley Marathon which was unfortunately delayed this year.

Anna really hit the lime light during the Quarantine Backyard but I decided to go a little deeper in this episode as we’re witnessing the birth of an ultra runner.

**So you heard it here first folks Swedish Backyard Ultra Extreme, I think it would be epic under the northern lights, hope you enjoyed Anna’s story there are other podcasts and interviews out there which break down the Quaratine backyard so I did my best to navigate around the event and focus more on the runner

We have a special guest on the show this week to celebrate the podcasts second birthday, someone one was has influenced a generation of runners to challenge their own personal limits and beyond.

Winner of the Badwater 135 mile race through death valley, holder of the Great Western State 10 times finisher buckle, he’s ran 350 miles nonstop where he invented the new sport of sleep running, completed the 3000mile run across America, ran 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days finishing with Newyork Marathon with an amazing time of 3hr 30 seconds, the list goes on and on running countless marathons and ultramarathons.

He hadn’t ran in years then on his 30th birthday whilst out drinking with his mates he took a head stagger, ran out of the bar, and ran 30 miles into the night, the very next day he resigned from his high level corporate job and pursued a career in running.

He’s been on numerous chat shows which included The Late Show with David Letterman, one of my old favourites The Howard Stern Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien etc..

He has also appeared on the cover of Runners' World, Outside, and Wired magazines, and has been featured in TIME, Newsweek, People, GQ, The New York Times, USA TODAY, The Washington Post, Men's Journal, Forbes, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, and the London Telegraph, among others. Karnazes won Competitor magazine's "Endurance Athlete of the Year" award three times, and also earned ESPN's ESPY award.

He has released top selling books with my favourite being Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner

50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days

Run: 26.2 Stories of Blisters and Bliss, Rodale

The Road to Sparta: Reliving the Ancient Battle and Epic Run that Inspired the World's Greatest Footrace

Other honors include:

Competitor magazine Endurance Athlete of the Year Award winner, 2008, 2006, 2005

ESPN ESPY Award winner, "Best Outdoor Athlete", 2007

Men's Journal, Adventure Hall of Fame, 2007

Outside magazine, Ultimate Top 10 Outdoor Athletes, 2004

There are Irish adventurer racers and then there's Gavan Hennigan, he had to deal with a lot of struggles in his teenage years and suffered badly at the hands of an alcohol and drug addiction, he went into rehab at the age of 21 and hasn't looked back.

Not only has he stayed clean and sober since then but he has gone on to take on some of the biggest and most challenging races on the planet, his latest being in March of this year which was the 350 mile Iditarod trail invitational foot race which cuts through Alaska in the harshest of conditions, not only did he finish it after having some pretty cool hallucinations but he won the race out right.

He has a long list of adventure races on his CV such as crossing the 700 km frozen Lake Baikal in Siberia, The Likeys 6633 Ultra which is a 566km non-stop, self-sufficient foot race, and the 500km Yukon to name a few.

His biggest adventure to date was to row solo across Atlantic Ocean as part of the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge. The 5, 000 km crossing took Gavan 49 days to complete and he finished on February 1st 2017 landing in Antigua after spending the entire time alone in his 20ft boat 'Doireann'. He left La Gomera in the Canaries on December 14th 2016. Not only did he win the Solo category of the race, breaking the race record for the concept class, but he beat all the other 3-man and pair boats, finishing in 3rd overall behind the 4-man boats recording one of the fastest times for a solo crossing.

I've decided to record a two part series, in part 1 we unpack his recent win in the (Ididarod) Iditarod trail invitational foot race, in part 2 we look back to the adversity that Gavan had to over come, the turning point and the journey that brought him to where he is today.

An inspiring story that we can all learn from, no matter how tough it gets in life there is always a path to greatness.

We have another amazing female athlete who has once again been showing the men how it’s done, overall winner of the World Major Marathon Challenge which consists of 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days, not only did she beat all of the men but she managed to achieve her main  goal of breaking the women's world record with an average of 3hr 25 min per marathon in extreme diverse conditions.

She also holds the FKT for the Kilimanjaro summit ascent, winner of numerous stage races through the Jungle, Desert and extreme Altitudes, she graces an 18hr 45 min Bob Graham Round which is pretty awesome from a runner from flat Denmark who’s highest ascent is a mere 180m.

We have a superb episode for you this week with Northern Ireland’s fastest marathoner of all time Kevin Seaward, who a couple of weeks ago ran the second fastest marathon time for an Irish man with an outstanding time of 2hrs 10min 9 seconds just beating Paul Pollocks valiant effort back in December of 2 hr 10 min 25 seconds.

It really is an exciting time for Irish marathoners, we are seeing a lot start to come together on the build up for Tokyo but with another 6 months to go anything could happen.

I’m out of action after spraining the ankle over the weekend on a flat piece of road, so it looks like I’ll be out for the next 6 months meaning Lavaredo is out for this season, the Coronavirus is cancelling racing all over the place so hopefully it will settle soon so that people can cash in on their hard training.

We have an one of the world best Ultra Runners on the pod this week, I know I shouldn’t have favourites but there is no hiding that Courtney is one of my ultra running hero’s so it was amazing to been provided with the opportunity to chat.

For those that don’t know Courtney won UTMB last year so we unpack that experience, she also holds the Last one Standing record for women and second overall to Johan Steene running an amazing 279 miles, she was first women home in the Great Western state with a finishing time of 17hr 27min which is mind blowing, she won the run rabbit run 100mile race in 2016 with second place 75 minutes behind and she retained her title in 2017 even though she battled with temporary blindness in the final 12 mile on a very technical course.

Courtney has redefined the pain cave, she is an ambassador to Salomon and is famous for those shorts, at the age of 35 she is very young in the world of ultra running so we have a lot more to see from Badass. 

Every once in a while a game changer, a maverick arrives to entertain us in the sporting arena and in life too. She is it! She is the most down to earth, ordinary person. Yet there is nothing ordinary about her. She demolishes everything in front of her and yet almost embarrassed about her achievements. A class act and role model for all aspiring athletes out there. @Greg Dillion