The ZenRUN Podcast

Last time John Herzfeld told us he was resetting his training for Delirious. Apparently that reset needed another reset. 😂 But now, with the Delirious W.E.S.T. 200 miler getting closer, John has decided it might finally be time for something slightly radical. A proper roadmap. In this Delirious West 2027 check-in, we chat about starting again after a few quieter months, finding a rhythm without t...

Murray Hodgson is back for his first regular Delirious West 2027 check-in, and apparently running a marathon isn’t particularly exciting anymore. 😂 Since we last spoke, Murray has been recovering from 167 kilometres at the Goulburn Valley Backyard Ultra, and it’s been a good reminder that sometimes the body gets to decide when it’s ready to start running properly again. Now the legs are coming ba...

Well, this is a little different. I’m usually the one asking everyone else about their Delirious training, but Ben Pyman has decided it’s my turn to answer the questions. 😂 So for the next six months, Ben is taking over the interviewer’s chair and following my own journey towards the Delirious W.E.S.T. 200 miler. For this first chat, we go right back to where running started for me, from growing...

Jacqueline Catania already knows Delirious W.E.S.T. pretty well. She’s finished the 100 miler, attempted the 200, and in 2027 she’s coming back with one fairly simple goal: get to the finish line. Although, after what happened last time, there’s now an awful lot more science involved. 😂 In this first catch-up for the Delirious West 2027 series, we go back to Jackie’s sporting background, how runn...

What do you do the moment your run finishes? This week’s ZenRUN Moment is all about those first few minutes after you stop running. For many of us, the run ends with a tap of the watch and we immediately switch back into life mode. We pull out our phone, think about what’s next, jump in the car, or rush home. But what if you gave yourself just a minute or two before moving on? When your run finish...

Craig Jeffrey is back for another Delirious W.E.S.T. journey. Craig finished the 200 miler in 2025, but his planned return the following year never made it to the start line when life had other ideas. Now he’s back, preparing for 2027 and very happy to be part of the Delirious madness again. In this first catch-up, we talk about what keeps drawing Craig towards ridiculously long distances, why his...

When we think about nutrition for a 100 or 200 miler, it’s pretty easy to jump straight to race day. What goes in the drop bags? Gels or real food? How much do I need to eat? But Gaby Villa reckons we need to start much earlier than that. Gaby is a dietitian, sports nutritionist and endurance athlete who works with ultra-endurance athletes, and in this special Delirious West 2027 episode we chat a...

We’ve got something new for the Delirious West 2027 series! Once a month I’ll be catching up with Delirious race medic Kat Booth for a quick chat about the things that might help keep you moving during the 100 or 200 miler, and hopefully mean you need to visit Kat and the medic team a little less often. 😂 For our first chat, we’re talking feet. More specifically, should you be pre-taping known ho...

Nikki Frost is back for another Delirious W.E.S.T. series. And yes, she’s also my daughter, which means there is absolutely no shortage of opinions about who is responsible for any of this. 😂 Nikki’s relationship with running started long before she had much say in the matter, thanks to a childhood spent being dragged along to running events by her mother. Then, after barely running for years, th...

Stuart Rainbow has already had a rather complicated relationship with the Delirious W.E.S.T. 200 miler. There’s been a DNF, a return trip, a finish line… and at one point a very definite “never again”. So naturally, he’s coming back in 2027. 😂 In this first catch-up for the Delirious West 2027 series, we go back to how Stuart somehow progressed from running 10K on a treadmill to deciding that 200...

Shane Connolly is currently travelling around Europe, lives out of a Troopy when he’s back in Australia, and has signed up for his first 200 miler. This feels entirely consistent with the rest of his life. 😂 In this first catch-up for the Delirious West 2027 series, we get to know Shane and how a bloke who discovered he was pretty handy at a 5K rather quickly found himself wanting to run much, mu...

Ashling Rogan isn’t entirely sure she’d call herself a runner. Which is interesting, because she’s currently training for the Delirious W.E.S.T. 100 miler. 😂 In this first catch-up for the Delirious West 2027 series, we get to know Ash and how running went from something easy and convenient to something that became much more important in her life. There were some pretty tough years along the way,...

How often do you expect every run to feel exactly the same? This week’s ZenRUN Moment is a gentle reminder that every run meets a different version of you. Some days you feel energised, strong, and ready to go. Other days your legs feel heavy, your mind is busy, or you’re simply running on empty. Instead of fighting those days or wishing you felt different, today’s invitation is to let your run me...

Murray Hodgson has been running in one form or another for most of his life, but at 66 he reckons the best might still be ahead of him. And somehow, retirement has turned into a rather serious backyard ultra habit. 😂 In this first catch-up for the Delirious West 2027 series, we get to know Murray, from growing up as one of nine kids in Geelong to a teaching career that eventually took him oversea...

Paige Krekeler is travelling all the way from the United States to Western Australia to take on the Delirious W.E.S.T. 200 miler. And after talking to Paige for a while, this decision starts to make a surprising amount of sense. 😂 Paige has a slightly unusual way of choosing races. Sometimes the name helps. Sometimes there’s an interesting bit of race merchandise involved. And apparently a 200 mi...

In this episode of ZenRUN, I chat with Chris Sarra about running, resilience, identity, family, and the powerful lessons that can come from simply putting one foot in front of the other. Chris grew up in Bundaberg, in a big family, with rugby league, backyard sport, and plenty of stories from childhood. Running, however, was not always something he loved. In fact, Chris admits he used to hate runn...

Ben Pyman is back on the podcast and back at Delirious West in 2027, although this time he’s doubled the distance. After completing the 100 miler twice, Ben has decided there was really only one logical next step. The 200. 😂 In this first catch-up for the Delirious West 2027 series, we go back to where Ben’s running started, how he became such a big part of the ultra-running community from both s...

John Herzfeld has already finished the Delirious W.E.S.T. 200 miler once. Apparently that means the obvious thing to do is come back and do it again. 😂 In this first catch-up for the Delirious West 2027 series, we get to know John and the slightly unconventional path that eventually led him into ultra running. Running hasn’t always been a carefully planned pursuit for John. In fact, his approach...

Brad Halls reckons he’s more of a shuffler than a runner. Which feels slightly questionable when you’ve already finished the Delirious W.E.S.T. 100 miler and 200 miler. 😂 Brad only started running a few years ago, after swapping motorbikes for a pair of running shoes. Somewhere along the way, a rather fortunate 5K podium convinced him it might be time to retire from short-distance racing and star...

Levi Quinton has already experienced Delirious West from the other side. In 2026, he was part of the race team, chasing runners around the course, watching their stories unfold and getting a very close look at just how much can happen over 200 miles. Apparently that wasn’t enough. Now he wants to run it himself. 😂 In this first catch-up for the Delirious West 2027 series, we get to know Levi and...

When was the last time you ran for five whole minutes without checking your watch? This week’s ZenRUN Moment is a simple challenge that can feel surprisingly difficult. On your next run, leave your watch alone for the first five minutes. No checking your pace. No looking at your distance. No wondering whether you're running "well enough". Just run. Instead of relying on the numbers, tune into your...

Craig Maluish has a bit of an all-or-nothing streak. He wasn’t a runner growing up. Skateboarding was his thing, and running only really entered the picture during a pretty significant turning point in his life. His solution? Start with a few kilometres, attempt some enormous days on the Bibbulmun Track and sign up for an 80km ultra before he’d even run his first race. 😂 That probably tells you q...

Ben Ridley once said he was never doing Delirious again. So naturally, he’s signed up for the 200 miler in 2027. 😂 In this first catch-up of the Delirious West 2027 series, we go back to where Ben’s running started, which is quite a long way from 200-mile ultras. Running definitely wasn’t his thing growing up, and his first parkrun involved considerably more stopping and gasping than running. Som...

Kelli O’Neill hated running at school. These days, she’s a trail runner and ultra runner who has taken on everything from UTA 50 to Delirious 100 milers, with plenty of adventures, wrong turns and good stories along the way. In this episode, we chat about how a women’s triathlon helped lead Kelli towards trail running, why being out in the bush and sharing adventures with friends became such a big...

Paul Watkins describes himself as having “close to zero sporting ability”, which makes the rest of his story rather entertaining. Running started as the sport he could actually get into at school. Somehow, that eventually led to mountaineering expeditions, Arctic ultra marathons, dragging sleds through ridiculous conditions and, most recently, completing the Delirious W.E.S.T. 200 miler. Paul came...