Dirt Church Radio Trail Running

Kia Ora Whanau. Andy Good is the New Zealand Mountain Running Champion. And the world has gone mad. New Zealand is in lockdown, and we are bringing this to you from isolation. This week on DCR Eugene speaks to Andy Good, New Zealand Mountain Running Champion. Andy came late to running, and took to it like a duck to water, going from “a couple of runs a week” to representing New Zealand at the worl...

Kia Ora whanau. A week ago when we were speaking to John Ellis about caronavirus in Hong Kong it was in an abstract manner, this week it seems that people worldwide are feeling the effects of travel restrictions and enforced isolation. Here in Aotearoa, we implemented strict travel guidelines regarding self-isolation, which has made journeying to races for many people who live overseas impossible....

Kia Ora Whanau. John Ellis moved to Hong Kong in 2010 and found himself unexpectedly drawn from the roads onto the city’s expansive network of trails. Since moving from road to dirt, John has stacked up a bunch of wins throughout Asia including Moontrekker, Lantau 70, Green Power and MSIG Hong Kong. He has top 20 finishes at HK100, UTMF and Ultra Trail Australia, as well as winning the China Skyru...

Scotty Stevenson is a broadcaster and journalist best known for his rugby commentary and reporting which makes him automatically one of the most well-known New Zealand TV personalities. He’s a sports journalist with TVNZ, and also works with Spark Sport and Radio Hauraki. He’s also a sports writer, has ghost-written and written a string of some of the best sports books, from Straight 8 about Kiera...

This week, Eugene and Matt get the band back together and engage in our first joint conversation of 2020 with the wonderful Lucy Clark. Lucy spent 66 days 7 hours and 8 minutes setting a new female supported FKT on the Te Araroa trail, which runs from Cape Reinga to Bluff. Literally, like, the WHOLE of Aotearoa. Lucy was looking for a challenge and when the idea arose to shoot for the FKT she embr...

Kia Ora Whanau. It’s another packed show this week, and one which touches on the losses that inevitably affect all of us in this life. We start by remembering the runner who passed away after his 100 mile attempt, and also South Auckland’s own Naomi McCrae, who was tragically killed in an accident last week. Embracing life, as those two surely did, we drop the news that we will be doing a once-in-...

Kia Ora Whanau. To bastardise a Lao Tzu quote, A journey of 100 miles begins with one step, and this week on Dirt Church Radio Eugene and Matt sit down to deconstruct Eugene’s 100 mile success at the 2020 Tarawera Ultramarathon. Talking about himself does not come easily for Eugene, in fact, he hates it so much Matt had to surprise him with an interview at the pair’s one year live show. Despite th...

This week Eugene sits down to talk with film maker Aaron Smart about Chasing Pounamu, his stunning film about one man’s quest to finish the Tarawera 100 miler. Matt and Eugene also run down a full Tarawera preview, scooching through our hot takes on who’s in to win, the history of the event, just how Eugene will manage his cheese n’ pickle cravings and how many Spring Energy Gels is too much? We a...

Kia Ora Whanau. This week we come bolting out of the gate with a Dirt Church Radio mega-special of incredibleniscity. Matt and Eugene are reunited in the same hemisphere and same room to run down the plethora of news, Greatest Runs Ever, Stuff You Should Know and also RUTH. FREAKING. CROFT. Matt spoke to Ruth about her triumphant 2019, the importance of looking after yourself and having periods of...

Kia Ora whanau. Whilst down in Te Anau for the Kepler Challenge in December Eugene and Matt had the pleasure of sitting down at Dwight Grieve’s dining room table for a proper Southland yarn. You see, about ten years ago, Dwight was a painter-decorator living in Invercargill, overweight, a bit unhappy, and  wanting to make changes in his life. As you’ll hear from our discussion, he certainly has: D...

Kia ora whanau! Eugene and Matt speak to nine-time Formula One Grand Prix winner and all round  legend Mark Webber about his career, a performance mindset, his love of the outdoors, and his new company-Aussie Grit. It’s fair to say that neither Eugene or Matt are racing aficionados so it was a special treat to speak to Mark, who true to his reputation of being “a regular Aussie bloke”, was down-to...

This week on the podcast Eugene and Matt speak to Matt Rayment...huh? Yes, that’s right. Eugene finally gets revenge on Matt, who, having cruelly ambushed Eugene at the live show last year (in cahoots with Shaun “The Integrator” Collins), was never going to get away without being a guest on the podcast. What unfolds is a conversation much like what you would have heard if you’d ever been on the tr...

Kia ora Whanau. This is the first Dirt Church Radio for 2020 and THE DECADE!!!!! 2019 was been a lot..Matt and Eugene find themselves scattered to the four winds this week and phone it in (literally, not figuratively) to run through their best of’s, highs and, well, more highs. We discuss some of the amazing athletes that we’ve spoken to this year and also bring you two interviews this show with W...

Kia ora Whanau. This week, we speak with chef Billy White about his debut cookbook Eat, Run, Enjoy. The book combines two of Billy’s biggest passions, trail running and delicious food and features such trail running stars as Courtney Dauwalter, Zach Miller, Ricky Lightfoot, Emily Forsberg, Ida Nilsson and Mimmi Kotka.  Billy White was born in York and has been a chef for over 20 years. Initially b...

Kia Ora Whanau. What a weekend that was! This show was recorded live at the Fiordland Lobster Company meeting room (true story) during registration at the 32nd annual Fresh Choice Kepler Challenge. Parts of it were also recorded in room 212 of the Distinction Hotel (true story) and a small part of this was recorded in Eugene’s bedroom (true story) because as per, we were giddy and fatigued during...

Kia ora Whanau. Imagine being able to run because someone told you that was something that you were allowed to do. That running was something that you could do, but only at a specific time, and never with company. The degree of freedom that running would give you would take on a whole new meaning. For many of us, running is a privilege that we take for granted but for Tanya Bottomley, this was her...

This week, we speak with Dave Beeche, Managing Director of IRONMAN Oceania. Why IRONMAN, you ask? Because IRONMAN now owns two of the biggest races in our neck of the woods, UTA in Australia, and Tarawera here in New Zealand. IRONMAN are open that they have designs on expanding their trail portfolio. So we thought it would be good to go to the horse’s mouth. This is a no holds barred conversation...

Eugene and Matt talk to Chris Bisley about his Southern Seasons Miler campaign. That is four 100 mile races in the South Island in a calendar year. Those races are Northburn 100, Hanmer 100, Great Naseby Water Race 100 and the Krazie Kapers 100. Chis had, at our conversation won Northburn, Hanmer, and Naseby, and was just tapering to tackle Krazie K’s. Intensely competitive, Chris was chasing the...

Kia Ora Whanau. Run 6.66666667 km within an hour. Then do it again. And again. Every hour. Do it 60 times until you are the last person standing at Big’s Backyard Ultramarathon in Tennessee. Maggie Guterl is that last person standing and the first woman to win at Lazarus Lake’s infamous event. As with our other Big’s conversations, we’ll keep it short here and let the quality of the conversation a...

Kia Ora Whanau. Most of us, at a certain time in our lives will undergo what noted developmental theorist Erik Erikson described as a psychosocial crisis. These happen for us at different stages of our life’s journey however for Damian Hall, it was between the stages of Integrity vs. Role Confusion and Generativity vs. Stagnation. This is commonly referred to as an (ahem) mid-life crisis. Like mos...

Kia Ora whanau. Strap yourselves in for the biggest episode of Dirt Church Radio yet. We go all in with a double episode, two full conversations with Katie Wright and Will Hayward, two of the final four left standing at Big’s Backyard Ultra, recently held in Tennessee. This race is the brainchild of Lazarus Lake, the man behind the infernal Barkley Marathons, and is a Last Person Standing event, w...

This week Matt has the pleasure of speaking to Kerry Suter and Ali Pottinger, founders of the coach lead running community SQUADRUN. The pair discuss their inspiration for starting SQUADRUN, and how it has transformed not just the lives of thousands of people, but their own. It’s clear that this is more than a job for Kerry and Ali, who talk openly about the challenges that come with providing a s...

Kia Ora Whanau. This week Eugene and Matt have the pleasure of speaking to Wellington stalwart Sam McCutcheon. Sam loves running, and, whilst Sam would cringe to hear you say it, he is very good at it. Sam has won The Kepler Challenge twice, set the Wuu2k course record, and clinched third place at the Tarawera 102km. Sam has represented New Zealand at the world trail running championships, placed...

This week, Matt has the pleasure of speaking to Dr Tim Day, the race director of Tarawera Ultramarathon. It took us a while to complete the set, with Tim’s partner Paul Charteris being our first ever guest on DCR, but boy was this worth the wait! Tim is a private person, who would prefer to let Paul do the talking about the race that they both love, so we thank Tim for his generosity in speaking t...

Kia Ora Whanau. Fiona Hayvice was the second-ever guest on this-here podcast and this week Eugene and Matt have the pleasure of speaking to her again! Fiona has been busy since we spoke to her last time, coming fourth at the IAU Asia and Oceania 24 hour championships, fourth at the Tarawera 100 miler, fourth at the Tarawera 100km, Ultra Trail Australia 100km and recently setting a course record at...