Dirt Church Radio Trail Running

AidStation 001 – Insert Something Cliche About Processes. A special taste for DCR listeners of our new subscriber-only AidStation podcast. We didn’t know this, but the second Friday in January is known as “Quitter’s Day”. This is the day that statistically, most people abandon their New Year’s Resolutions. Are you a resolution person? Or a Goal guy? Or someone who loves a good old intentional proc...

Kia ora e te whānau. When David Haunschmidt was racing his brothers over the beaches of Westray in the Orkney Islands, he never dreamed that his life would one day take him to New Zealand and near to the top of his sport. Starting trail running in 2018 as a means of expediency (I mean, hey you can still see all the things, but just in less time) David has proven himself to be one of the most consi...

Kia ora e te whānau. For our first podcast of 2024 Eugene and Matt have the pleasure of speaking with Zachary Friedley and Eric Orton. Zach is a returning Champion on DCR, having spoken to Matt on episode 202, and also being part of our Tarawera live pod in 2023.  Eric Orton is a first time caller but he will be no stranger to many of you. Together, they are coming down to New Zealand with 2 x Lea...

Kia ora e te whānau. Gosh, it’s been a year, right? Do they get shorter and  longer as we get older or is that just us. Fresh from Coviduszko, Thredbro, and Taipei, our heroes reunite with man-about-town Andrew McDowall to bring you the annual DCR Christmas Special!! Except this time, we head along to the Fridge and Flagon and the Beer Jerk Running Club at their clubhouse/headquarters. We talk thr...

Kia ora e te whānau. *We acknowledge the Monero Ngarigo people, the traditional custodians of the land that this podcast was recorded on, and pay respect to their elders past, present, and emerging*.  STONE THE FLAMING CROWS! No, literally. They are terrifying. Join Eugene and Matt on this very special episode of DCR when our heroes travel to Thredbo in the Snowy Mountains for the second edition o...

Kia ora e te whānau. Running is often seen as a solitary endevour, however we are always buoyed up by those around us. For those of us who attempt feats that many would consider impossible, or at best improbable, family are essential. Which leads us to our tale about the Appalachian Trail and the Captain. The Captain, ably abetted by Gun Section and The Iceman set out to conquer the southbound FKT...

Kia ora e te whānau. Some of running’s biggest truisms are also the most tried and tested clichēs. And if you think about it, they are cliche for a reason. Because they are true. What’s your why? Have you thought about it? Like, really thought about why you run? Carly Webber and her husband Lee spent three years travelling in a camper-van with their three children before settling in Te Anau 18 mon...

Kia ora e te whānau. The phrase “from out of nowhere” is overused, and largely inaccurate in the sense that everyone, and indeed everything,came from somewhere . Everything (and indeed everyone) has a beginning, a middle, and an end. If this most pummeled term of art was applied to any individual correctly in the context of the Aotearoa trail and ultramarathon scene it would apply to Scott Bougen....

Kia ora e te whānau. Amy Whitehead’s Auntie Joan had dementia. And it killed her. Like most illnesses that effect the brain and function, the seriousness of dementia is little understood and often mischaracterised. Grateful for the support that Dementia Canterbury gave her family, Amy (who may blame others for the idea) decided that she would take on the charmingly named “Pipeline of Pain” in the...

Kia ora e te whānau. Sarah Pendergrass has changed. I mean, we all do, right? But Sarah’s journey has taken her from being a self-confessed “pom at bondi” to being an ultramarathon runner, podcaster, bike-packer, successful illustrator and all round adventurer. Sarah joined Eugene and Matt to discuss her epic run across Scotland, her history with running and cycling, and all the other cool stuff s...

Kia ora e te whānau. This year, Matt was back at it at the Blue Lake for (what was supposed to be) 24 hours of challenge and excitement in the best worst kept secret on the Aotearoa trail running calendar. Toe’ing the line in the 100km distance, and amongst 700 other hardy souls across multiple levels of challenge from “Casual” to “The Claw” this event has it’s emphasis firmly set on self reliance...

Kia ora e te whānau. Cath Wallis lost herself in the midst of a career and the focus of raising family. Standing at the threshold of middle age, Cath honestly didn’t know who she was anymore, and felt “invisible”. Growing up not-sporty, Cath felt that her foray into the world of ultra endurance events may be short lived, but six years, 9 ultramarathons, an intercontinental swim, and countless adve...

Kia ora e te whānau. This week we feature the great, the good, and the not so good from the Great Naseby Water Race. This event has been an Aotearoa trail running institution and has been on the bucket list for us for ages, so it was a privilege to get down to Central Otago and experience the trails and community of this special event.  We catch up with one of the race founders and surely one of t...

Kia ora e te whānau. This week Matt has the pleasure of speaking to Andy Carruthers, Wellington adventure lover, runner, and creator of the Tararua S-K movie. The S-K, or Schorman- Kaitoki, is a tramping route in the Tararua Range with a distance of approximately 80km and with 6800m of elevation gain. Conceived as a weekend challenge in the 1960’s by the four main tramping clubs in Wellington as t...

Kia ora e te whānau. This week by popular demand Eugene and Matt speak to Ash Bartholomew, who triggered a worldwide explosion of  “it’s suddenly being very dusty in here” as he rolled into the Placer Track at the end of the Western States Endurance Run two minutes over the 30 hour cut off accompanied by his daughter, Lucy (yes, that Lucy). Ash had started strong but a wrong turn in the final stag...

Kia ora e te whānau. This week Eugene and Matt have the extreme pleasure of speaking to returning champion Dan Jones about his incredible 5th place finish at the 2023 Western States Endurance Run. When last we spoke to Dan on DCR he’d journeyed to Kenya to hone his craft with the hope of representing New Zealand at the marathon. What was supposed to be a relatively short trip ended up being months...

Kia ora e te whānau. This week Eugene and Matt sit down to speak with Sam Harvey fresh off his return from Dead Cow Gully. Sam was competing at the Australian Backyard Masters and managed a world record equalling 101 laps over four days and 677-odd kilometres. We talk to Sam about being (in his words) unreasonable, and what he felt going in, versus what he learned going out. Sam is (again, by his...

Kia ora e te whānau. This week Eugene and Matt speak to UTA 100 Champion George Murray. Originally from the South Island town of Blenheim, George has taken a circuitous journey  to be at the beginning of an amazing journey, from his first love of mountain biking, pivoting through to road marathons, then onto the trails. George’s approach to training could be considered unconventional due to his we...

Kia ora e te whānau. This week Eugene and Matt speak with Alex Bezzina who has completed the FKT for the northbound Te Araroa Trail – 3000km in 60 days travelling from Bluff to Cape Reinga. Alex fell in love with running during lockdown and was Inspired by hearing the story of Brooke Thomas’ Te Araroa Southbound FKT. The added impetus for Alex was that he is a massive LOTR fan and therefore is rat...

Kia ora e te whānau. This week Eugene speaks with Sophie Power. Sophie is an ultrarunner who has recently been announced in the Great Britain team for the world 24 hour champs, after setting a lifetime best of 235.739 km. Sophie shot to global fame after the 2018 UTMB when she was photographed breastfeeding her 3 month old at an aid station. The photo went viral and Sophie started speaking out - s...

Kia ora e te whānau. *We acknowledge the Gundungarra people, the traditional custodians of the land that this podcast was recorded on, and pay respect to their elders past, present, and emerging*. Stop what you are doing and go run in the Blue Mountains … it’s really just that good … and what follows is a blast of a podcast detailing the epicness of the 15th running of UTA. Matt and special guest...

Kia ora e te whānau. Running a marathon is difficult, be it a PR, a grind, a failure, or in training, 42.2km is a distance the demands respect. Imagine running one, then another, then another, then another 147 back-to-back, mainly off road, in some of the wildest country in one of the wildest places on earth. This is what we talk to Guiness world record holder (pending), nutritionist and author Er...

Kia ora e te whānau. Mal Law is one of the best known names in the Aotearoa trail running. Mal has raised just shy of a million dollars for charity with his many multi-day adventures. Mal and his wife Sally are also known as the founders of Wild Things, the on-line trail running community beloved to many. Inspired by a fastpacking mission around the iconic Hardrock course, Mal came up with the con...

Kia ora e te whānau. Out the gate with a bonus episode recorded with Lazarus Lake and Shaun Collins on the last night of Laz’s stay. Gary ‘Lazarus Lake’ Cantrell is a self described “Hillbilly from Tennessee” who for the better part of 40 years has been quietly putting on the most difficult foot races on the planet. On good form and ready to wax lyrical about the fellowship of miles, the peculiari...

Kia ora e te whānau. Majell Backhausen is many things to many people. To Eugene and Matt Maj is, was, and always will be the 13th person ever to come on Dirt Church Radio. Speaking to Majell is always such a pleasure, like that time we bumped into him just below Wentworth Falls at UTA, all suffused in golden light, or that time we ran into him and Martin Gaffuri at the Redwoods (again, suffused in...