This week on Trail Talk, Aaron and Ricki get into it. Swiss Canyon Trail and UTA 100 training is underway — they break down where things are at and what the next weeks look like. Prototype shoes at Western States - is it fair? The golden ticket race calendar dropped this week, with some solid calls and a few they'd have done differently. Walmsley is heading back to Western States without having to race his way in. And the case for Rinjani 162k as the hardest ultra-trail race on the planet.

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DISCOUNTS:
CurraNZ 15%
XMiles 10%
Tantrums 15%
Ascend App 30%

👇 All discount links can be found here
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This week on Trail Talk, Aaron sits down with Gavan Hennigan — adventurer, endurance athlete, and the only person to finish the Iditarod Trail Invitational this year.

1000 miles across Alaska in the depths of winter. When the trail disappeared a few hundred miles in, every other athlete stopped. Gavan kept going. He finished in 32 days — two days outside the official cutoff — but he finished. Alone. In conditions no one else was willing to face.

This is not a race story. It's a survival story. We cover preparation, nutrition and hydration in extreme cold, managing health on the trail, sleeping in -50°C, wildlife encounters, crossing sea ice on his birthday, decision-making in the wilderness, and the emotional resilience required to keep moving when everything in you wants to stop.

One of the most compelling conversations we've had on Trail Talk.

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DISCOUNTS:
- CurraNZ 15%
- XMiles 10%
- Tantrums 15%
- Ascend App 30%

👇 All discount links can be found here
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👇 Join the Community
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This week on Trail Talk, Aaron and Ricki sit down with Charlotte Fisher — a runner who started ultra running in February 2023 with zero running background, won her first event with 12 weeks of training, and has since become one of the most exciting names in British ultra running.

In under three years she has won the Centurion North Downs Way 100, finished 3rd woman at UTS Snowdonia 13 hours faster than the previous year to earn elite UTMB entry, finished 3rd woman at Mallorca by UTMB, and become just the sixth woman ever to run a sub-24 hour Arc of Attrition — finishing 2nd woman overall.

We dig into race strategy, weather, adversity, imposter syndrome, UTMB ambitions, and what drives someone to go from never having raced to competing at the very top of the sport.

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DISCOUNTS:
- CurraNZ 15%
- XMiles 10%
- Tantrums 15%
- Ascend App 30%

👇 All discount links can be found here
https://linktr.ee/irunovermountains

👇 Join the Community
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This week on Trail Talk, Aaron and Ricki get into the HOKA Speedgoat 7 — one of the most anticipated trail shoe launches of the year. Ricki was at the UK launch event in the Peak District, and we share our first impressions fresh from testing. Plus a deep dive into training for Swiss Canyon Trail and Ultra Trail Australia, and why CurraNZ has been making a real difference in our recent training.

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DISCOUNTS:
- CurraNZ 15%
- XMiles 10%
- Tantrums 15%
- Ascend App 20%

👇 All discount links can be found here
https://linktr.ee/irunovermountains

👇 Join the Community
https://linktr.ee/irunovermountains

This week on Trail Talk, Aaron and Ricki get into the HOKA Speedgoat 7 — one of the most anticipated trail shoe launches of the year. Ricki was at the UK launch event in the Peak District, and we share our first impressions fresh from testing. Plus a deep dive into training for Swiss Canyon Trail and Ultra Trail Australia, and why CurraNZ has been making a real difference in our recent training.

/ - /- / - / - / - / - / - / - / - /- / - / - / - / - / - /

DISCOUNTS:
- CurraNZ 15%
- XMiles 10%
- Tantrums 15%
- Ascend App 20%

👇 All discount links can be found here
https://linktr.ee/irunovermountains

👇 Join the Community
https://linktr.ee/irunovermountains

Aaron is joined by Aran from Trail Running Review and Carles from Road Running Review — two of the media crew on the Kailas FUGA China trip — for a proper debrief on everything they saw.

First impressions of China, the Chengdu Panda Trail race experience, gear tested in the field, how the event was organised, and the cultural nuances that don't make it into a race report.

Three perspectives. One deep dive.

DISCOUNTS:
• CurraNZ 15%
• XMiles 10%
• Tantrums 15%
• Ascend App 20%

👉 All discount links can be found here
https://linktr.ee/irunovermountains

👉 Join the Community
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Aaron and Ricki are back together after a few weeks away from the regular show. This week: a full debrief from Aaron's Kailas FUGA media trip to China — the brand, the gear, the FUGA Mountain Club, the Chengdu Trail Race, and what China's trail running scene looks like from the inside. Plus the latest ultra trail news and your viewer questions answered.

DISCOUNTS:

- CurraNZ 15%

- XMiles 10%

- Tantrums 15%

- Ascend App 20%

👉 All discount links can be found here

https://linktr.ee/irunovermountains

👉 Join the Community

https://linktr.ee/irunovermountains

This week on Trail Talk, Aaron sits down with Ian Corless — photographer, journalist, and host of the Talk Ultra podcast — for a wide-ranging conversation on the state of ultra trail running.

From the early days of skyrunning to the rise of UTMB, the birth of Glencoe Skyline, the impact of COVID on the sport, the future of trail running governance, and the enduring legacy of Killian Jornet.

One of the original voices in the sport with a lot to say.

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DISCOUNTS:
- CurraNZ 15%
- XMiles 10%
- Tantrums 15%
- Ascend App 20%

👇 All discount links can be found here
https://linktr.ee/irunovermountains

👇 Join the Community
https://linktr.ee/irunovermountains

This week on Trail Talk, Aaron and Ricki sit down with Rebecca Hormann — the woman who crossed Portugal on foot, 302 kilometres east to west, and won on her first attempt. We dig into her journey from a soccer scholarship in Spain to winning ultras, the Terra de Gigantes race debrief, her Kailas Fuga partnership, and what's next including Madeira and beyond.

Also in this episode — big news on a new partnership with Ascend App, the training platform formerly known as Albin. Use code TrailTalk20 for 20% off.

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Ascend App — 20% off with code TrailTalk20
https://linktr.ee/irunovermountains

CurraNZ 15% off
https://linktr.ee/irunovermountains

XMiles 10%
https://xmiles.avln.me/c/FlZlRfhosOqx

Tantrums 15%
https://tantrums.avln.me/c/SrLvDYbqkDna
Code: TrailTalk15

Community
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Jon Albon is back on Trail Talk. Fresh off a tough but educational UTMB debut, Jon is building toward 2026 with Montblanc 90 and another crack at Chamonix on the horizon.

UTMB 2025:
Lessons from his first time round and what changes in year two
How horrendous weather and three documentary crews made it a true baptism of fire

Training:
The shift from low to medium mileage athlete
Progressive overload as the number one principle
Downhill conditioning without mountains, dirty threshold and stair-specific prep

Fuelling:
The electrolyte, fluid and carb triangle
Racing on pink Himalayan salt and granulated sugar
Why fuelling is still his biggest weakness as an athlete

The App:
Albin App is rebranding to Ascend
Origin story, impact, cardio and speed metrics explained
The chatbot that runs on human intelligence, not AI

Support the show and find all links at linktr.ee/irunovermountains