Running Won't Save You

Our end of season interview is here and we are thrilled to be joined by top sport psychologist Dr Josie Perry. In this episode we discuss the problem with Strava, how not to attach your identity to an outcome and how to define what success means to you to make your running more fun and fulfilling. There are also some really helpful tips on how to define your purpose and why it's important to do so...

Damo and Allie are back for the final co-host episode of the series to discuss Damians successful win at the Lakeland 100. Damo talks us through the highs and lows of the race, his focus, plan and how he exectued it but the big question is how many times wil he mention UTMB? Spoiler alert - it's a LOT. There are also some really bad jokes plus answers to your questions about his race. The Running...

Welcome to your diverse sports episode! This week Allie and Kirsty talk about football, golf and of course Via Ferratta (never forget) and are joined by a special guest in the form of Allie's sister Janey who at 55 has just completed her first 100 miler. There's also come chat about getting the race you deserve, the arrival fallacy and some book recommendations you may not be expecting - links bel...

This week Allie and Holly talk about Dan Lawson's incredible success on the SWCP, setting a new FKT and doing it in the quietest, simplest, and most pure way possible - we could all be a bit more like him? There's also some chat about Hollys most recent race at Ham and Lyme and as always, we answer some of your questions - keep them coming! The Running Won't Save You podcast is proudly sponsored b...

It's a packed show this week as Allie and Damo talk about Lakeland 100 prep, John Kellys' AT attempt and Dan Lawsons jog along the Southwest Coast path as well as answering some of your listener questions and discussing your successes. There are some discussions around HRT and menopause - links to what we discussed below. Keep your question's coming in because we love them! Renee's Webinar on meno...

Strap in everyone - this one goes deeeeeeep. This week Kirsty and Allie talk everything from AI induced sexism to being manhandled off a course. The bulk of the podcast focuses on defining success and the ways in which we can refocus ourselves to see the best and not worst in our efforts, how all circumstances are neutral and how to get the most out of our efforts. There are also some top tips sto...

Allie and Holly finally catch-up post Summer Spine and of course end up talking about foot flakes, chaffing, poo residue and how Jon Shield went, in their eyes, from zero to hero by failing to meet his own standards. Success takes many forms and sometimes not getting the result you want can be a huge win. There are a few shout outs for our own successful pod listeners, producers and mates and we s...

In this episode, Damian catches up with Allie just hours after her incredible win at the 160-mile Montane Summer Spine Challenger North. With one of them running on just 18 minutes of sleep, they attempt to piece together what happened — while trying (and mostly failing) to keep the conversation from descending into delirious nonsense. Allie shares how she framed and reframed her mindset before an...

She's back! This week Allie is rejoined by her friend, mentor, and hero Kirsty Reade - fresh of the back of an ego smashing race in Italy. In this episode we talk books (as always), ego, FUCKING INFLUENCERS, Italian mountains, Kevin Munt, tennis, skill, effort, and talent. PLUS, we try to answer the question do our definitions of success change with age? The Running Won't Save You podcast is proud...

Our season three opener covers everything from depression to tiny hippos as Allie and Holly dig into what success means to them. There's some interesting chat around societal vs personal success plus the usual catch up and rants - and who on earth actually thinks they can pace Killian at Western States? The Running Won't Save You podcast is proudly sponsored by XMiles - get 10% off all web orders...

Our season finale features the incredible Siân Longthorpe. Running has been an integral part of Siân’s life for the past 35 years. For many years, as a decent club runner, the focus was on training hard to race everything from 5Ks through to ultra marathons – both on the road and the trails – with a marathon PB of 2:35. However, since 2016, racing has largely taken a back seat, with running instea...

This week we have the Northern Traverse course recording holding, tea drinking, Danby Wiske hating Damian Hall co-hosting a podcast that we had to record twice because Allie deleted the first set of files. Find out what Damos best bits, worst bits and most babyish bits of the NT were, how he became both an unlikely fashion icon and a groundbreaking chef on the course plus when does and ultra just...

What have poodles, umbrellas, VIP boxes and the sky falling in got in common? They are all things that Kirsty saw on her incredible run from St Bees to Robin Hoods Bay on this year's Northern Traverse. In this episode Kirsty talks about comparing events when you've done them more than once, and how to know when you're ready to take on these huge distances. She also shares with us her newest endura...

This week Allie is joined by Holly straight off her incredible second place at The Speed Project - we talk about the highs and lows, the blood, sweat, tears and people telling you wrong distances. Theres a great 15 mins section at the end where we have all the hosts on for the first time ever, as Damian and Kirsty celebrate completions, wins and records set at the 200-mile Northern Traverse. What...

Thie weeks podcast is a bit different, and some might find it distressing from the start. Please jump straight to the interview at about 10 mins in if you don't want to hear about Allie's struggles with depression over the last few days. The main feature today is a brilliant interview between professional frenemies Damian Hall and John Kelly. They discuss what made the Barkley so hard this year an...

There is discussion about mental health crisis and suicidal ideation from the start. This week Allie is re-joined by podcast fave Kirsty Reade who has once again 'done the research' and has a whole host of interesting stuff to share. You can expect chat about Bullshit Comparisons (the excellent book by Andrew Brookes) Josie Perry's top tips for not comparing yourself to others and why our sense of...

Brace yourself! (that's a super funny joke about this week's pod....) This week is a Holly Stables special where we talk about all things Speed Project before she jogs off into the sunset via some horrendous roads, deserts and bitey things. This episode has some ace questions for you lot plus a brilliant conversation about what we shall call Inspiring Comparison - the stuff that lifts us up and ke...

Damos back! And he's fresh of a 40-mile race that he DIDN'T win....so we have a great opportunity to talk about who DID win, and how an elite athlete see's comparison and competition. Huge congrats to Ellis Davis and big ups to Limitless Trails for their excellent events. There's a good chat on comparable races actually ARE when there are so many variables, and we answer a couple of listener quest...

Podcast favourite Kirsty Reade is back as my co-host and it doesn't disappoint! This week we're talking about why Kirsty didn't actually want to cover comparison as a topic - and what that has made her find out about herself, why thinking "I'm onto you" is a sign your in the comparison trap, and how upward social comparison may make you a better runner. We also ask how can we make comparison bring...

Welcome back dear listener! It's time for season two - and this season theme is COMPARISON! I'm joined by my co-host and coach Holly Stables (AKA the hot woman on the treadmill) for a quick catch up to find out why she's wearing a ski suit in the gym, what she's been up to since the last time we chatted and to go through whether Comparison can ever be a good thing (we think it can). We also answer...

It's the end of season special, and I have only gone and got the King of Consistency, The Master of Change Brad Stulburg on to talk to me about sustainable excellence and the mindset stuff that takes people from bang average to sort of OK at running. We cover everything from tragic optimism to activation energy and discuss the differences between consistency, motivation and action and ask is disci...

And now...the end is near. It's the last 'normal' episode of Season 1! In this episode myself and Damian talk about how to be consistenctly green (spoiler - you can't), how much fun we had in the Village Green and also talk about Damos move from INOV8 to NNormal. We have a final update from Gemma (or is it) we review the best jokes of the pod and we announce what our new theme for season two will...

We are thrilled to be joined by not one but SEVEN of the female Spine competitors on this episode as they drop in to tell us what consistency meant to them on and before their races. In addition, Allie and Kirsty chat about the genius of Oliver Burkeman, what really went on in those Spine checkpoints and why you really should Stay on the Bus. Please send us your questions and conundrums and let us...

This week we have a correspondence and coaching special - a little catch up on the questions that you have been sending through to the pod for the wonderful Holly. There is some absolute coaching gold in here, so make sure you save this one and send it everywhere as we cover everything from heart rate to RPE to why we get mega sad after big races. We also have an update from our own experiment Gem...

It's Spine week! Basically, this is like Christmas for Damian, so we've done a little Spine preview for you, detailing the runners and riders for the 2025 edition plus we talk about the value of consistency during a 268-mile race. We answer a couple of your questions, debated the "8 year" rule, plus we reveal who out incredibly special end of season interviewee is. Please get your questions for Br...