Welcome to episode 266 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 are debriefing our half marathon at Westonbirt with Relish Running. I’d started my race weekend on the wrong foot, by going to a beer festival the night before, which might have had a slight impact on my performance.

We talk about that and all our little mishaps en route to the start line. But from that slightly ropey start, we’re then on to the race itself, how we had prepared for it (very differently) and how it felt along the way. Hol fesses up about her actual race goal.

Also – big question: do you stop your watch when you reach the end of the race, or when your watch tells you you’ve run the distance? Big old controversy ahead here!

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.

·     Get your tickets to the Get the Baton conference, so you can witness Holly chatting to the legendary Kathrine Switzer on 13th September

·     Check out the races on offer from Relish Running

·     I’m going to be running the Circuit of Bath for Julian House

·     I’m also going to be running the Trail Escape Bristol to Bath

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can save 50%
• 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 265 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 need to discuss a lot of things this episode cos we’ve not seen each other for a fortnight and we’ve missed each other! So, obviously, we begin with some silly stuff about Joe Wicks.

And then we’re on to holidays, festivals, awful toilets, dog-sitting, and the correct way to eat a Jaffa cake.

We eventually move on to the race that we’re doing this weekend – the Westonbirt Half with Relish Running. Neither of us feel fully prepared, but we are determined to have a good time. Race report 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.

And one last thing! Holly is interviewing the legendary Kathrine Switzer at the Take the Baton conference just outside of Oxford on 13th September. It’s an not to be missed event, and there are only a few tickets left. Grab yours from 261clubuk.co.uk or follow the link in the show notes.

• Check out Relish Running for more gorgeous races in the south west, with very well stocked aid stations.
• Get your tickets to the Get the Baton conference, so you can witness Holly chatting to the legendary Kathrine Switzer on 13th September
• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can save 50%
• 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 264 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 prepping for our September races with a healthy chunk of maranoia and shoe concerns.

We perk ourselves up with a chat with two-time Winter Olympian Aimee Fuller, our September cover star. Aimee started skiing at the age of 4, before moving into motocross and then Snowboarding. She says she’s not an adrenaline junkie, but we beg to differ! She talks about how she got into running by using it as a way to clear her head when she was travelling, and what happened when she decided to run her very first marathon.

We come back after our chat with Aimee to talk about two huge things: toenails and marathons. My toenail has decided to escape to the great sock draw in the sky, and I am slightly traumatised as a result. Hol tries to make me feel better about it but nothing’s working until I get distracted by trying to pin her down on which marathon she’s going to run next.

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, 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.

• Discover the New Balance FuelCell Rebel v5 at SportsShoes
• Get hold of Aimee’s cover issue of Women’s Running
• Pick up Aimee’s book here
• Get your tickets to the Get the Baton conference, so you can witness Holly chatting to the legendary Kathrine Switzer on 13th September
• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can save 50%
• 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 263 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 start off quite sedately talking about training stresses, and adjusting our running when it’s just not going well. But we quickly move into unchartered waters with a chat with Mari from Maaree bras. She talks to us about how to tell if our bra fits us, and why it’s so important for runners to be wearing the correct fitting bra. And then she shakes our worlds by measuring us for bras over video call (no boobs were flashed in the making of this podcast). We were so looking forward to this, and were rewarded with some very unexpected numbers.

We then come back afterwards to talk about a surprising and very exciting email I received before I went on holiday, and a parcel I received as a result. I don’t want to give too much away, but in the interests of hopefully dissuading our parents from listening, the initial email was from Lovehoney, the sexual wellness company, and it was something to do with hydration. And if that doesn’t pique your interest, nothing will.

Lovely extra bits 

• Get your rocks off (and stay hydrated) at the very lovely Lovehoney
• Get your boobs supported at the equally lovely Maaree
• Get your tickets to the Get the Baton conference, so you can witness Holly chatting to the legendary Kathrine Switzer on 13th September
• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can save 50%
• 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 262 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.

This starts off as one of those therapy episodes. We launch into a lack of jolliness and motivation in the middle of summer, while we’re trying to navigate weather that doesn’t feel too brilliant (don’t worry, we perk up fairly quickly!). We talk about how we’re adapting our training plans to fit us and the weather, rather than adhering to them religiously.

We also discuss the summer juggle, and how we’re managing the feeling of overwhelm. One way, of course, has been to celebrate the Euro’s, so we chat about women’s Football, and how brilliant these role models are for kids.

Speaking of which, we feel we need to continue our chats about PE lessons – there’s more from you lot, which is fascinating, and we have some ideas for new PE lessons in the future, and I think we’re on to something!

At the end, Holly talks about the very exciting thing she’s doing on 13th September, when she’ll be interviewing the legendary Kathrine Switzer at the Take the Baton conference. Make sure you pick up your tickets to go and watch! Google the Get The Baton conference if the link doesn’t work in the show notes!

Lovely extra bits 

·     Get your tickets to the Get the Baton conference, so you can witness Holly chatting to the legendary Kathrine Switzer on 13th September

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can save 50%

·      Find your perfect holiday wetsuit from Orca

• 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 261 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 start with some hot service station chat, and also some controversial service station chat. But then we quickly move on to the highlight of Holly’s holiday (that’s hard to say) in Berlin, which is something she would always do, but something I would never do. I’ll leave you to guess what it is.

We talk about my Cornish holiday and my new wetsuit. If you fancy finding wetsuits a joy rather than a trauma, then check out the range at Orca. Mine is a beautiful orange thing and I love it more than my children.

We do eventually get around to running – we’ve both been doing a bit of escapism on our holidays, which I thoroughly recommend. But even though I’ve been escaping, I’ve still got a lot to complain about. Don’t cancel us just because I’m horrible about pretty much everyone, I think it’s hormonal.

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%

·      Find your perfect holiday wetsuit from Orca

• 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 260 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.

In this episode we’re joined by Renee McGregor, who as well as many other amazing things, is our August cover star – make sure you pick up a copy of Women’s Running from all good shops now to read our interview with her. Renee is a world renowned sport nutritionist and eating disorder specialist, she’s an ultra runner and a trustee of Black Trail Runners. Author of Fuel for Thought.

We chat to her about some of the themes we were talking about a few weeks ago: about how runners can fuel themselves well, warning signs to look out for in terms of getting the balance between training and fuelling right, and the complexity of figuring this out when you’re going through perimenopause. We also touch on how things have changed for women; how society influences our view of ourselves and our shapes, and the impact of weightloss jabs. It’s one of those must-listen episodes.

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%
• Pick up Renee’s brilliant book Fuel for Thought from a popular selling site, or from the publisher directly, and find out more about her.
• 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 259 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.

Today we’re talking about how we’re managing our running in the recent heatwave at the beginning of July. And we have *some* resolution to the – I’m sure by now – extremely dull London Marathon chat.

We need to remind you at this point that if you’re up for running the Bath Half with us in March next year, do please sign up, because if you do, you can then come and join us at our live event the night before, which will be filled with fun and giggles and perhaps a few tips on how to survive the Half the following day. Make sure you pick up your tickets to come and see us (they’re only a tenner) from Eventbrite. Google Women’s Running Bath Half event if the link doesn’t work!

I also bring up a controversy – tell us what you think about marathons having time penalties if they’ve got lots of downhill! Then we get on to PE at school – what are your experiences, what do you think of the PE provision we have these days for kids?

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 258 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.

After a lot of blather about cordless vacuum cleaners (it’s the content you’ve been crying out for) we talk about our pace and fitness dropping off post-marathon. We also talk about the difficulty of trying to create goals that aren’t necessarily about pace.

We then move on to the gym, exploring the differences in experience and price for a gym memberships. There’s a HUGE variety, which we sort of knew, but goodness, not everyone is paying 30 quid a month, it turns out! Then we move on to gym class intimidation or gymtimidation if you will. And we lead into children and sport, and the concept of being “good at sport” – something we’ll get back into in a forthcoming pod. We thought there was nothing to talk about, but it turns out that there’s a lot!

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 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.