Running on Joy

Joy is...Oscillations. For this live episode Running on Joy went ‘on the road’ to link up with a group of very special people who have been of incredible support to the podcast the past year. Camino Ultra is a London-based ultra running and coaching crew that put on a unique series of 50k races within London. Since their founding, their mission has been to create and inspire runners to seek out tr...

Joy is...Trust. This is the first of a special series from Running on Joy following the FareWays project. A collaboration between The Big Hoof Charity and The British Pilgrimage Trust, FareWays aims to connect people to the outdoors through long distance journeys on foot and horse, for the benefits of their mental and physical health. The core team of four are therefore inviting others to join the...

Brendan Leonard is a writer, illustrator, adventurer, filmmaker, and the creator of Semi-Rad.com, not so much a website but a channel for, in his own words: ‘things regular folks can do, adventures for the every-person. It’s a web site for those of us crushing it, kind of.’  Since a problematic relationship with alcohol led to a stint in rehab, at age 23, Brendan has gone on to get a master’s...

Joy is...Being Yourself. Michael Doughty is a former professional footballer and co-founder of Hylo Athletics –– a brand on a mission to put considerations for the planet at the heart of the conversation around sport, starting with their renewable, carbon-negative and recyclable trainers. A lot of our conversation was about communication itself: how we open ourselves to discomfort. hold ourselves...

This episode is the first in a collaboration with Kendal Mountain Festival, the UK's main social gathering for outdoor enthusiasts, whose mission to 'inspire more people to explore, respect and represent mountains, wilderness and their cultures' is very much in keeping with the Running on Joy ethos. Sophie Pavelle is a zoologist and science communicator, whose first book, Forget Me Not , explores...

Joy is...Your Own Speed. James Poole is a North Face Explorer Team ultra runner and all round enthusiast for the outdoors, who have been a long-time voice for connection and inclusivity within the running community. He has run some of the most prestigious ultra-races around the world, including the iconic Western States and UTMB, as well as epic adventures such as an unsupported, 430km journey acr...

Joy is...Liberation. Pola Rapaport is a writer, director, and editor of many award-winning films, as well as the producer of art-related video content, and a university instructor. I came across her work with the premiere of her new documentary Addicted to Life , a paradoxical, intimate, vulnerable and, ultimately, inspirational documentary about the Belgian Paralympic champion Marieke Vervoo...

Joy is...Making an Impact Justin Pugliese is a runner, podcast host and community leader. I was delighted to welcome him to join me on the podcast, as a fellow content creator, to reflect on why and how we do what we do and to provide a space to reflect on what is a period of change and transformation for him. This was a diverse and, at times, emotional conversation that revolves around energy: ho...

Tom Reynolds is a writer, a documentary producer, a run club leader and, most recently, the co-founder of an inclusive trail running adventure across the Peak District. He’s told the stories of some of the world’s most decorated athletes, from heptathlete, Jessica Ennis-Hill; to free skier, James Woods; to Eliud Kipchoge, to the Lionesses, drawing out the nuances of their experiences into insightf...

Joy is...Making Memories. Scott Jenkins could be called ‘200-mile man’ but it is the messaging behind the miles that perhaps most distinguishes him, as well as the actual feats of endurance. The attentive amongst you might recall a previous episode with Scott's brother Rhys, and this was a super opportunity to share an alternative perspective on some of those stories, as well as telling new ones....

Joy is...Staying Alive. At any moment, life could change in an instant. When that happens, what do you do? Anson Mackay is someone who inspires me on a pretty much daily basis. Up until their retirement in April 2022, they were a Professor at University College London, specialising in paleoecology, and have worked for over 30 years on assessing human and climatic impacts on some of the world’s mos...

Joy is...Commitment. Peter Bromka is something of a philosopher of movement. He is an astonishingly fast marathoner and writer about running, whose ability to push the boundaries of what is physiologically possible is coupled with a curious mind that can riff from the micro details of split times to the macro questioning of why we do what we do when we run.   I spent a long time immersin...

Joy is...Time. Nick Triolo is a runner, a writer, a writer about running. With a background in Environmental Studies, he is now senior editor for Outside Run and Trail Runner Magazine, whilst constantly exploring the boundaries of what it means to tell significant stories and how to use those narratives to advocate for the landscape that means so much to him. In attempting to compile the usual lis...

Joy is...Waking Up. Dr Kate Rawles is giving the world a wake up call. She is an outdoor philosopher, with multiple degrees to their name, a writer, cyclist and activist who is passionate about the need to find urgent, intelligent and effective responses to our multiple environmental challenges. With a love for endurance, she uses what she terms ‘Adventure Plus’ journeys to communicate on environm...

Joy is...Inspiration. There are many ways in which Beth French could be described: an ultra-marathon open-sea ocean swimmer who was once a Buddhist nun, a single mother who home schools her autistic son and an adventurer who suffered from a crippling chronic illness in her youth. From being confined to a wheelchair with ME at 17, in 2016 she set out to become the first person to swim across the se...

Joy is...Many Faces. Nick Acheson is a conservationist, author, speaker and presenter from North Norfolk where he lives in a flint cottage by a duckpond with his three-legged lurcher and a flock of rescued animals. For ten years, he lived in South America, working with conservation NGOs such as WWF and Wetlands International. He also spent three years in Asia and have worked with wildlife on every...

Joy is...Quiet. Rane Roatta might sound like your typical competitive cyclist, rising early to lay down the miles, following a strict regime and sweating in the Miami sun. What makes him unique, however, is that clocking up 80 mile daily rides originated from a real necessity not to crank out watts but…fruit. Although terming himself a 'professional amateur', Rane competed in the inaugural gr...

Joy is...Wordless Happiness. Max Romey is perhaps best described as a person in motion. He is an artist who paints astonishing watercolours, often on top of mountains, which, of course, he has to get to first. He is a filmmaker who specialises in capturing athletes, particularly trail and ultrarunners, as they hurtle through simultaneously awe-inspiring and unforgiving landscapes. He is a run...

Joy is...When You Can't See It. After an early career characterised by hours at a computer, Charlie Harpur turned his back on desk work and embraced the physical elements of gardening. When not working as a Landscape Designer and Gardener, he is an impressive trail and ultra-runner who, in 2019, became the British 100km champion. His other achievements include finishing 3rd Brit at the CCC by UTMB...

Hailing from Edinburgh, Hannah Bailey is an award-winning photographer, journalist, and producer, who has spent the last decade immersed in the underground scenes of action sports, adventure and the outdoors, now running her own consultant company Neonstash, which specialises in adventure. Her work has been recognised with awards from the Women's Sport Trust and Campaign Magazine, and in 2020 she...

Joy is...Freedom. Angel Collinson made her name snaking improbable lines down the sheerest mountain faces in her career as a big mountain skier. In that time, she racked up nearly every accolade possible: not only world titles, but also magazine covers and starring roles in adventure movies that would typically go to men. In 2021, however, she turned her back on her professional career and instead...

Joy is...Love. Robbie Phillips is is a professional adventure climber and filmmaker from Edinburgh. His intrepid spirit has carried him across the globe, climbing, in his own words, 'every type of rock, in every style'. From an early career competing as part of the GB team and then working as the Scottish climbing team’s head coach, he is now best known for his cutting edge ascents on alpine rock,...

Joy is...Being You. A Friday 'Shining Lights' episode with a remarkable young man. At nineteen years old, Avery Seuter is not your typical teenager. In September 2022, he set off on an incredible cycle journey from his home in Maine to Key West, Florida, to raise money for the East Coast Greenway, a 3,000-mile pedestrian and bicycle path that connects the two states. Not only is the scope of the d...

Joy is...The Fuel. Canyon and Forest Woodward are brothers who grew up in the mountains of Southern Appalachia and the North Cascades of Washington State. After childhoods spent roaming the woods and trails, Canyon would go on to forge a path as a championship level trail runner; political strategist; author, and climate activist, managing the campaign that would see his friend, Chloe Maxim, becom...

Joy is...What You Have. Rhys Jenkins is a record-breaking, ultra-endurance athlete from Cardiff, South Wales, who, over the last 10 years, has raised over £125,000 for various charities. Indeed, in 2021, he was a torchbearer for the London Olympics in recognition of his incredible work. His introduction to ultrarunning was running from Boston to Austin in the USA with his brother and two friends....