I'm delighted to welcome double Olympian and two-time 4th place World Championship finisher Callum Hawkins both to the podcast and into our long-standing scheme to invest in underfunded British elite marathon runners.

This episode could easily be the 5th episode of our 2022 mini series which explored how hard being a marathoner is through the eyes and experiences of elite athletes as Callum (as has his brother Derek) has had a rough ride during and since the pandemic. We explore what has happened and where Callum is on his own personal comeback trail.

I hope you enjoy it, and if you do, please feel free to share it.

Thanks a lot

Steve

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And we have reached the end, the last part of our 5 part mini series into Women in Sport. As evidenced by the Lionesses march to the World Cup final, it feels like we are at a moment in time in which the way women's sport is watched and played is changing rapidly, this series has explored what is happening right now in women's sport, and what more needs to be done to bridge the equality gap, looking at it mainly through the eyes and experiences of women in running.

This final episode is a very rich conversation with the incredible Katrin Flikschuh about her experiences of running as a means to beat an eating disorder and improve her mental health in the 1980s to competing at a high level in cross-country and marathons in the present day. It is a great conversation in it's own right, but it also a great way to complete this series (for now) as it summarises many of the themes and further questions we have covered in the previous 4 episodes.

I hope you enjoy this one and the whole series as much as I have, I suspect there will be much more on this subject to come in the future, thanks so much for listening.

And if there is one episode to share, this is it....

Steve

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After a short interlude, part 4 of our 5 part mini series into Women in Sport is here. As it feels like we are at a moment in time in which the way women's sport is watched and played is changing rapidly, this series seeks to explore what is happening right now in women's sport, and what more needs to be done to bridge the equality gap, looking at it mainly through the eyes of women in running.

This episode is a conversation with Tish Jones which starts with a simplistically scientific summary of how women and men are different biologically before moving on to Tish's experiences of the impact of an imbalance between the energy she was expending and the amount of fuel she was consuming, which builds on the previous episode with Natasha Cockram in which we spoke about the pressure her NCAA team were under around diet and weight. As ever, a number of interesting themes emerge, but I won't spoil them now.....

I hope you enjoy it

Steve

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Hi - We move on to part 3 of our 5 part mini series into Women in Sport as it feels like we are at a moment in time in which the way women's sport is watched and played is changing rapidly. This series seeks to explore what is happening right now in women's sport, and what more needs to be done to bridge the equality gap, looking at it mainly through the eyes of women in running.

This episode is a conversation with Natasha Cockram as part of our scheme to invest in British elite marathon runers in which we talked about her experiences of male dominated college life in the US and what impact that had on her running. We also talk about the nature of feminity in sport and pose some questions about the role of social media today. There is loads of interesting, yet maddening stuff in this one including a reference to this blog post which gives you a sense of what to expect....https://www.irun.ca/index.php/an-open-letter-to-queens-university-from-a-woman-whos-suffered-first-hand-abuse/

I hope you also find it interesting.

Steve

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Hi - This is the second part of a 5 part mini series into Women in Sport, looking at it mainly through the eyes of women in running, but also beyind that into sport in general as it feels like we are at a moment in time in which the way women's sport is watched and played is changing rapidly. This series seeks to explore what is happening right now in women's sport, and what more needs to be done to bridge the equality gap.

This episode is a conversation with Charlotte Purdue as part of our scheme to invest in British elite marathon runers in which we explored how she discovered her talent for running in the first place, how she maintained her interest through her teenage years and how equally she thinks she is treated now, before moving on to draw out some themes that we will continue to explore in upcoming episodes.

Hope you enjoy it!

Steve

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Hi - This is the first part of a 5 part mini series into Women in Sport, looking at it mainly through the eyes of women in running, but also beyond that into sport in general as it feels like we are at a moment in time in which the way women's sport is watched and played is changing rapidly. This series seeks to explore what is happening right now in women's sport, and what more needs to be done to bridge the equality gap.

This introductory recovery ramble episode draws upon some data, some of my own observations from my involvement in sport, and some observations of published women about their first hand experiences to analyse the status quo, create some hypotheses and explore the opportunity.

The rest of the series then focuses entirely on the first hand experiences of women.

Hope you enjoy it!

Steve

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The London Marathon is magic, but this time it was also tragic, and this episode is a recovery ramble or perhaps better put a recovery reflection on the race. I talk about the elites, with some extraordinary running at the front of the race, I talk about my own race and my own experience of this year's race and I talk about and reflect upon the terribly sad passing of Victoria Park Harriers and Tower Hamlets AC member and friend to many, Stephen Shanks.

The episode is therefore something of a roller-coaster, a little like the marathon itself and a little like the week after the marathon often is but there are no apologies for that.

There are though thanks for the ongoing support and thanks for listening, it means a lot.

Steve

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On the eve of the Boston Marathon 2023, we are turning back the clock, and repeating an episode from after last year's Boston Marathon, a race which seemed to capture the imagination more than the past. We explore a little why that might have been, and then listen to the fantastic experiences of Boston from some people that ran it - from Charlotte Purdue and her amazing 9th place finish, to Nat Rowland and the best day of his life, Annie Trihan and her evenly split Victory Lap, Tracey Taylor and her never to be repeated experience and finally James Brewster, who's story of mental health recovery is well worth waiting for.

If you are running Boston this weekend, or planning to at any stage in the future, then this is well worth a listen.. ...

Hope you enjoy it, thanks for listening

Steve

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It's time for a workout, and amid some stresses in relation to UK Athletics stance on the size of competition squads at the Budapest World Championships and the Paris Olympics, we revert back to the origins of this podcast with a mindful running session, with a twist.

In this one, the workout is around 30 minutes long and we work through a number of mindful cues as we pick up the pace through this progression run. A super workout that meets a number of needs - switching off from the world, working on technique AND working hard towards the end of the run.

I hope you enjoy it, but if you don't I hope it helps you to get to sleep.

Steve

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Hello, in this Recovery Ramble, recorded on Hampstead Heath, we explore some thoughts on how leadership is changing, and using recent examples of leadership provided by sport I talk about what I think makes empathetic leaders who/what they are.

Thanks for listening, if you enjoy it, please feel free to share it far and wide, if you don't please feel free to use it as a sleep aid.

Take Care

Steve

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