Peak Pursuits

Tasmanian trail runner Andrew Gaskell has one of the most remarkable backstories in the sport. In this episode, he shares how football and a bucket-list marathon led him to ultras, why the trails of kunanyi/Mt Wellington feel like home, and his rise onto the Australian World Championships team. We also revisit his extraordinary 2016 survival ordeal in the jungles of Borneo, the lessons it taught h...

Blake Turner joins us for a wide-ranging conversation on his journey from climbing mountains in the Himalayas and stage racing through Patagonia to racing at the very top of the sport. We talk about his transition from adventure-driven runs to performance-focused competition, the injuries and setbacks that nearly derailed his career, and the breakthroughs that came from building a strong support t...

Welcome to Episode 71 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This episode is hosted by Vlad Ixel and Sim Brick as they battle with mountain internet from Italy and France respectively. Hear how Vlad got 9500m of vert into the week with a race in Italy to cap it off, and get an unfortunate storytime with Sim about her misfortune that has led to her pullin...

On this Trail Running Podcast, we sit down with Ben Burgess and Kellie Angel for another catch up on the show. Kellie reflects on her third place at UTA 100 mile before diving into an incredible two-week experience at the HOKA Pro Trail Camp in Europe . Ben shares his course record run at West Macs Monster and a second place finish at a Sky Race in Andorra . Together, they take us inside their rec...

On this Trail Running Podcast, we sit down with Hannah McRae — fresh from a year that’s taken her from Buffalo Stampede to Lavaredo and onto the Australian team for the 2025 World Mountain & Trail Running Championships. We talk about her path from Six Foot Track to UTMB, balancing night shifts as a vet, and chasing big mountain goals. ***Don’t forget, use code PPP at Bix’s website for 20% off...

This week, Brodie Nankervis and Jess Jason jump behind the mics as both gear up for the short trail race at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships . We chat through our training weeks, the highs and lows, and how we’re fine-tuning things in the lead-up to race day. We also share some big news for the region, the Asia Pacific Trail Running Championships are coming in 2026 , and we could...

On this episode, we sit down with Tom Dade as he prepares for his third World Mountain & Trail Running Championships. We cover his standout 100k performance at Buffalo Stampede, the impact of working with a coach over the last year, and his journey from early national selection to chasing big results on the long trail stage in Canfranc. ***Don’t forget, use code PPP at Bix’s website for 20% of...

Welcome to Episode 69 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This episode is hosted by Vlad Ixel, Sim Brick and Jess Jason and starts with the crew discussing their weeks, including some gear chat (belt vs pack) and navigation chat (watch vs phone). Jess recaps her race at Canberra Trail 100 relay, Sim gives an update on her overseas health mishaps, and...

Welcome to Episode 68 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This episode is hosted by Brodie Nankervis, Sim Brick and Jess Jason! We get to hear how Jess is feeling about being named on the World Championships team in the short trail and how her preparations are going, Brodie puts down a great week of training with the most epic sauna imaginable in Pola...

Welcome to Episode 67 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This episode is hosted by Brodie Nankervis and Vlad Ixel, focusing on the big news of the week, the announcement of the Australian team for the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships. Listen in as Brodie and Vlad give an overview of what they have been up to the last couple of weeks, in...

Welcome to Episode 66 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This episode is hosted by Sim Brick and Jess Jason with a guest appearance from the Race Director of Transcend Ultra, Shane Johnstone! Listen in as Jess and Sim give you some more in depth detail of what their current training looks like before Shane joins the episode to talk through all the wa...

Welcome to Episode 65 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This episode is hosted by Sim Brick and Vlad Ixel as they recap Vlad’s 2:26 Marathon PB at Gold Coast Marathon and Sim’s training as she recovered from illness; before going deep on a listener question about how to mentally deal with the fact that for totally unpredictable or sometimes unseen r...

Welcome to Episode 64 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This episode is hosted by Sim Brick, Jess Jason and Brodie Nankervis and is filled with catch ups with Brodie’s travel, training and race updates from Jess and Sim, a listener question about uphill treadmill and results from around Aus - before a deep dive into the WILD weekend that was! Betwee...

On this Trail Running Podcast, James sits down with Aaron Young to unpack a remarkable personal transformation - from heavy drinking and mental health struggles to one of Australia’s best backyard ultra runners and 200-mile-plus competitors. We delve into his Cocodona 250 effort, balancing 3:00 a.m. training with a carpentry apprenticeship, and why going the distance is about more than just distan...

Welcome to Episode 6 of Targeting the Ticket, our series covering the Golden Trail National Series in 2025! In this episode Nathan, Bridget, and Toby are joined by Sim to discuss how Coastal Ascent panned out (or didn’t) for the crew and what the results of that mean for the overall series. With the final now just days away hear how Toby, Nath and Sim feel leading into the race and Bridget's decis...

Welcome to Episode 63 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This episode is hosted by Sim Brick and Vlad Ixel as they discuss their big training weeks towards Gold Coast for Vlad and CCC for Sim, answer a listener question about bathroom breaks in races, and discuss all in the incredible things going on around the trail world with Dead Cow Gully, Aussie...

Welcome to Episode 62 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This episode is hosted by Sim Brick and Jess Jason alongside a very special guest, Kate Avery! Hear about Kate’s pregnancy journey, from winning races early on to still getting out for a track session each week at 38 weeks. The ladies discuss the guidance Kate has been given by health professio...

In this Trail Running Podcast, James sits down with Milly Young as she reflects on an adventurous journey—from overcoming significant health setbacks to discovering climbing and trail running in Chamonix. We cover her epic experience coming 3rd in the 2024 PTL alongside her brother, balancing structured training with the freedom of mountain life, and the lessons in resilience and adventure that de...

Welcome to Episode 61 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This episode is hosted by Sim Brick, Vlad Ixel, and James Sieber and covers Vlad jumping in a road 50k for marathon training, Sim running Wandi Cross and James return to run; followed by chats about the Golden Trail Series Aus and new Trail Con in USA. Results Coastal ascent: https://www.multis...

On this Trail Running Podcast, we sit down with Charlie Hamilton as he reflects on a huge few months — from his performance at Transvulcania to joining the global Adidas Terrex team. We cover his Boulder training block, lessons from the long game, and what it all means for Trail Running Australia. ***Don’t forget, use code PPP at Bix’s website for 20% off Bix products, exclusive to PPP listeners!*...

Welcome to Episode 60 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This episode is hosted by Sim Brick, Vlad Ixel, and Brodie Nankervis and covers everyone's recent training, including a lengthy discussion on why Brodie and Sim have both started including ‘overdressed’ heat training in their weeks. Keep listening for some incredible recent results by Aussies a...

Welcome to Episode 5 of Targeting the Ticket where we are following Nathan Pearce, Bridget Lunn and Toby Lang through their seasons at Golden Trail National Series. With the third race of the series next Saturday at The Coastal Ascent, hear how Nathan, Bridget and Toby have been training in the past 6 weeks and their thoughts leading into this all important race for points before the big showdown...

From elite soccer fields to the snowy slopes of Japan and Canada, Demi Caldwell’s athletic journey is as diverse as it is impressive. After years of competitive soccer and back-to-back winters skiing around the globe, Demi found her stride in triathlon, quickly rising to win age-group titles and earning her professional card at Melbourne's Ironman 70.3. Yet, despite her triathlon success, Demi’s h...

Welcome to Episode 59 of Peak Pursuits, your ultimate podcast for everything trail running in Australia. This episode is hosted by Sim Brick, Jess Jason and James Sieber and covers James’ running rebuild from injury, Jess’ post race recovery, and a discussion around how to deal with the overwhelm that can come with race environments. Also covered is some recent results from Run the Gap and Zegama!...

We're joined by the UTA 100km 2nd place Beth McKenzie to chat about her eventful leadup to the race and then how the race unfolded. Beth shares her strategy, key learnings, and what is coming up in the season ahead! ***Don’t forget, use code PPP at https://bix-hydration.myshopify.com/en-au for 20% off Bix products, exclusive to PPP listeners!*** Thanks for tuning in to Peak Pursuits! Connect with...