Welcome to episode 257 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

We’re still debating whether or not we should do the London marathon - yawn. We talk about regrets from our 2025 marathon, and what we’d do differently. We also chat about sports watches – Holly is just tipping into the possibility of actually committing to one.

Our sandwich filling this issue is Laura Fountain, part of the WR family, friend of the pod, Run Tester, and run coach, and many more qualifications besides. We wanted to drag her on this issue cos Hol is very interested in Hyrox, and Laura not only knows what it is, she’s actually done one, and has all the info and lots of thoughts on who else should participate. She tells us it’s way more inclusive than it sounds, and that it’s brilliant for women, despite what you might see on social media. It still hasn’t quite pushed it into must-do for me, but Hol still remains Hy-curious.

Oh and spoiler: Holly’s Lemsip did NOT work, as you’ll discover in the next episode.

if you aren’t a patron yet do join us on Patreon for just £2 a month, through which you can join Discord, our forum just for you, our gorgeous Pod Squad, to meet up, chat about running, TV, books, menopause, and anything else you like. You also get to come along to our Live Pods! To get access to Discord, all you need to do is head to patreon.com/womensrunning and join us for just £2 a month.

Lovely extra bits 

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can save 50%
• Sign up to the Westonbirt Half (or other distances), and check out the other races from Relish Running while you’re there
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at [email protected] with any questions or running stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to episode 256 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

We’ve got a bit of a Glasto recap, and then we’re talking about surviving the heat – how running makes us feel in this weather, and how we need to listen to our heart rates.

We revisit our London Marathon chat – should we or shouldn’t we? Holly is still undecided, I’m beginning to be swayed… We’ve had lots of messages from you guys telling us what you think about us running it, but also about how you feel about media places at the London Marathon. All very interesting, and we don’t feel told off, which of course is the main thing.

if you aren’t a patron yet do join us on Patreon for just £2 a month, through which you can join Discord, our forum just for you, our gorgeous Pod Squad, to meet up, chat about running, TV, books, menopause, and anything else you like. You also get to come along to our Live Pods! To get access to Discord, all you need to do is head to patreon.com/womensrunning and join us for just £2 a month.

Lovely extra bits 

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can save 50%
• Sign up to the Westonbirt Half (or other distances), and check out the other races from Relish Running while you’re there
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at [email protected] with any questions or running stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to episode 255 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

TW: for a section of the podcast from about 50 minutes in, we talk about weightloss and eating disorders and weightloss jabs in light of some messages that we’ve received after our past few podcasts.

We start with the hot topics of this week: namely, what would persuade us to go to Glastonbury. And from one ticket ballot to another, we then talk about London Marathon ballot – over a million people applying for just 17,000 places. We talk about the people who succeed at ballot, and those who are given a place by other means – and we also talk about whether we should or shouldn’t sign up to it again.

We revisit our past podcasts about weightloss and eating disorders with a few emails from you lot that adds information and experience to some of the main things that we’ve spoken about. Do please keep on sending in your emails and messages, as we think this is a conversation that will run and run.

if you aren’t a patron yet do join us on Patreon for just £2 a month, through which you can join Discord, our forum just for you, our gorgeous Pod Squad, to meet up, chat about running, TV, books, menopause, and anything else you like. You also get to come along to our Live Pods! To get access to Discord, all you need to do is head to patreon.com/womensrunning and join us for just £2 a month.

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can save 50%
• Read the story in the Metro here (NB: all comments I read out have now been taken down)
• Sign up to the Westonbirt Half (or other distances), and check out the other races from Relish Running while you’re there
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at [email protected] with any questions or running stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to episode 254 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

We’re interrupting our recent very serious run of podcasts with nothing of any serious note whatsoever. We’ve been swanning around that London (almost) winning an award, and we have lots of stories, some of them toilet-based.

We talk about our running over the past few weeks, and the kit that has enhanced it – which leads us on to super shoes: do we deserve to wear them? Do they help slower runners? Does anyone care? Do you think they’re not for you? Tell us! Email us at [email protected] or over on Discord.

Speaking of which, if you aren’t a patron yet do join us on Patreon for just £2 a month, through which you can join Discord, our forum just for you, our gorgeous Pod Squad, to meet up, chat about running, TV, books, menopause, and anything else you like. You also get to come along to our Live Pods! To get access to Discord, all you need to do is head to patreon.com/womensrunning and join us for just £2 a month.

Lovely extra bits 

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can pick up 6 issues for £6
• Read the story in the Metro here (NB: all comments I read out have now been taken down)
• Sign up to the Westonbirt Half (or other distances), and check out the other races from Relish Running while you’re there
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at [email protected] with any questions or running stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to episode 253 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

TW: weightloss, eating disorders, Red-S, weight gain.

As promised, we’ve got the lovely Dr Juliet McGrattan with us today to chat through some of the topics we touched on last week, and we’ve included a few messages from the Pod Squad here, as we heard from a lot of you as a result.

We talk about weight gain and loss, and how we view our bodies as a result. We also talk about fuelling for big endurance events like marathons, and adjusting our food intake. We talk about RED-s, and find out what it means, and the warning signs we need to look out for. We also talk about eating disorders, and the signs to look out for there – in ourselves and those around us. We raise the topic of weightloss jabs, too. And we also talk about safe weightloss for people who want to do that, and Juliet’s extremely simple tips for long-term good health. If you have any concerns or questions about you or someone you know in terms of disordered eating or eating disorders, then please go to beateatingdisorders.org.uk which has lots of advice and information, as well as a helpline you can call.

Do please get in touch with your thoughts on anything we’ve raised in this episode. Email as ever is [email protected] or if you’re a patron just message us on Discord.

Speaking of which, if you aren’t a patron yet do join us on Patreon for just £2 a month, through which you can join Discord, our forum just for you, our gorgeous Pod Squad, to meet up, chat about running, TV, books, menopause, and anything else you like. You also get to come along to our Live Pods! To get access to Discord, all you need to do is head to patreon.com/womensrunning and join us for just £2 a month.

• Go to BEAT for support with eating disorders or disordered eating, as well as a helpline

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can pick up 6 issues for £6
• Read the story in the Metro here (NB: all comments I read out have now been taken down)
• Sign up to the Westonbirt Half (or other distances), and check out the other races from Relish Running while you’re there
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at [email protected] with any questions or running stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to episode 252 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

We have a LOT to talk about in this episode, so hold on to your hats. First off, a couple of trigger warnings: in this episode we talk about weight and weightloss, there’s some chat about mental health and anxiety, and we also talk about women’s safety while running, as well as online trolling.

Hol’s been going through it a bit, so we talk about that a little bit. And then we want to talk about weightloss, because lots of our Inner Circle have prompted us to. If you also want to kick off some conversation starters, you can join our lovely Inner Circle through Patreon – details in a bit. We kick things off by talking about how we personally feel about our own weight, and how that intersects with our running lives.

After a small reality TV interlude, we talk about this story that ran in the Metro last week, about men spitting at women runners. We’d been involved in the story and contributed some stats. So a very grim story to report on, but it doesn’t end there, because then we get into the comments under the story itself. It’s all a bit shocking – do please get in touch with your thoughts on this or anything else we talk about in this episode. Email as ever is [email protected] or if you’re a patron just message us on Discord.

Speaking of which, if you aren’t a patron yet do join us on Patreon for just £2 a month, through which you can join Discord, our forum just for you, our gorgeous Pod Squad, to meet up, chat about running, TV, books, menopause, and anything else you like. You also get to come along to our Live Pods! To get access to Discord, all you need to do is head to patreon.com/womensrunning and join us for just £2 a month. It’s worth every penny.

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can pick up 6 issues for £6
• Read the story in the Metro here (NB: all comments I read out have now been taken down)
• Sign up to the Westonbirt Half (or other distances), and check out the other races from Relish Running while you’re there
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at [email protected] with any questions or running stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to episode 251 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

I have actually been to a physio. Four weeks on from the London Marathon, and at least two more injuries down. I have finally asked for help and received it. The source of all my pain is NOT what I expected, which is a good reminder as to why we must all seek professional help when we need it, rather than crying into our cornflakes or seeking out the help of Dr Google, who is – let’s face it – a bit shit.

Holly’s update is cause for celebration; she’s got herself a whacking great PB without even really trying, and we are both thrilled for her. This turns into a chat about pacing, and also goals for later on in the year.

Just a quick one – do join us on Patreon for just £2 a month, through which you can join Discord, our forum just for you, our gorgeous Pod Squad, to meet up, chat about running, TV, books, menopause, and anything else you like. To get access to Discord, all you need to do is head to patreon.com/womensrunning and join us for just £2 a month. It’s worth every penny.

If you want to run Trail Escape, there are three events to run this year: Bath to Bristol like me, Manchester on 21st June and Edinburgh on 6th September. You can run or hike 25K or marathon distances. It’s a brilliant race series, and I loved it last year!

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can pick up 6 issues for £6
• Sign up to the Westonbirt Half (or other distances), and check out the other races from Relish Running while you’re there
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at [email protected] with any questions or running stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to episode 250 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

Chaotic episode alert! We have literal minutes discussing what’s going on in Holly’s drains, and it’s not even a euphemism. However, hang on in there, because we start getting on to where we are, now that we’re almost four weeks out from the marathon. I’ve been attacking the gym, and Holly has been working hard on her recovery runs. She also reveals that she has a bit of a cunning plan involving Doug.

Just a quick one – do join us on Patreon for just £2 a month, because then you’ll be able to come along to our Live Pod on Zoom which is tonight (Thursday 22nd May) at 7pm, which is an exclusive perk for gorgeous patrons. If you’re listening to this later than Thursday and you’ve missed it, we’ll be holding another on in about a month’s time, promise.

Another perk is, of course Discord, our forum just for you, our gorgeous Pod Squad, to meet up, chat about running, TV, books, menopause, and anything else you like. To get access to Discord, all you need to do is head to patreon.com/womensrunning and join us for just £2 a month. It’s worth every penny.

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can pick up 6 issues for £6
• Sign up to the Westonbirt Half (or other distances), and check out the other races from Relish Running while you’re there
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at [email protected] with any questions or running stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to episode 249 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

It is now two weeks on from the London Marathon, which seems like years ago, and Holly and I have been recuperating in different ways. For this recording, we’re joined by lovely Jordan from Coopah for one last time to talk through our experiences, how we’re looking after ourselves, and what we’ve learned along the way. We come back afterwards to talk about what we want to do next.

Just a quick one – do join us on Patreon for just £2 a month, because then you’ll be able to come along to our Live Pod on Zoom next Thursday at 7pm, which is an exclusive perk for gorgeous patrons.

Another perk is, of course Discord, our forum just for you, our gorgeous Pod Squad, to meet up, chat about running, TV, books, menopause, and anything else you like. To get access to Discord, all you need to do is head to patreon.com/womensrunning and join us for just £2 a month. It’s worth every penny.

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can pick up 6 issues for £6
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at [email protected] with any questions or running stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to episode 248 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

It’s the week after the Big Day, and Holly already has some big plans – but should she go through with them? We discuss the pros and cons.I talk about the fallout from the calf injury, and the support I’ve received, and how I’m feeling a bit self-indulgent.

We’re joined part-way through by the gorgeous Sabrina Pace-Humphreys, friend of the pod and all round joyful runner, to talk about the shocking moment that lead her to found Black Trail Runners, but also the joyful celebration of running that is the second Black To The Trails, which is happening this very weekend. This is the World’s most ethically diverse trail running event and, in 2025, it’s set to be even bigger and better. Go along to support and enjoy the festival vibes.

As ever, come and join the gang on Discord for chats, support and new running friends. To find your way on to Discord, join us over on Patreon. You can now join our official Inner Circle for just £6 to shape what we talk about. Go to patreon.com/womensrunnning to find out more.

Lovely extra bits

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can pick up 6 issues for £6
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!

·      Follow Sabrina Pace-Humphreys @sabrunsmiles

·      Follow Black Trail Runners and hop along to Black To The Trails this weekend to show your support, and enjoy the vibes!

• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at [email protected] with any questions or running stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.