Tales from the Valley Podcast

This week, Katie takes over hosting duties and puts Sam in the hot seat for a change. Sam runs through his personal bests — including a 9:57 3 km time trial where a shoelace came undone mid-run, a gritty 1:18 half marathon at the Western Sydney Half, where he came third after running through the field and picking off competitors throughout the second half, and his 2:56 marathon, which capped off h...

Sam and Katie sit down with Rene Collins, a familiar face in the Illawarra running scene who wears many hats — from coaching local ultra-marathon athletes, to pacing at major city marathons, and most recently leading the run sessions for SAVVY. Rene’s running journey began with the Canberra Marathon, an initiation he describes as brutally tough, famously hitting the wall around 32km. From there, t...

Sam & Katie sit down with Edwin Smith – a relatively new runner who’s dived deep into the world of trail running over the past few years. Edwin recently ran Mudgee Marathon in just over 4 hours, and he’s chasing that sub-4 early next year 👀 He also completed the Pilliga Grand Slam (10k, 50k, 20k spread across 3 days!) and is now building a running community through his social content. Edwin t...

Sam catches up with James Tunbridge to celebrate the first birthday of JT Running

Sam & Katie sit down with Joe Mallat, who’s had a breakout year on the roads. Joe’s dropped his 5 K to 16:43 at Sandon Point parkrun, clocked 34:55 at Sydney 10, and finished 2nd at Shellharbour Half in 1:21:54. A former basketball and rugby player, Joe dabbled in cross-country through high school but only recently found structure after joining JT Running. He credits the group’s training envir...

Sam & Katie sit down with Brad Milosevic — the podcast’s fastest marathoner yet. Brad lives in Canberra and in 2015 pulled off something wild: winning both of Australia’s biggest fun runs, taking out City2Surf in 42:12 and the Melbourne Marathon in 2:16:00. Over the next few years he chased the Olympic qualifier, ran another 2:16, and represented Australia at the 2017 World Championships. Acro...

Sam & Katie sit down with rising talent Cate Giason, who works at Run Havoc and has just wrapped up school with plans to study something in the sports world. Cate already owns some incredible PBs — 4:53 (1500m), 10:16 (3000m) and 7:08 (2000m steeple) — and she’s not slowing down anytime soon. Cate shares how she first got into running through her family and Kembla Joggers at age eight, her fir...

Inspired by the vulnerability of our past guests, Sam, Stefan Deane-Smith, and Rohan Laurendet sit down for a raw and honest conversation about their own mental health challenges — and how running has both supported and complicated those experiences. Rohan also hosts The 11th Hurdle podcast, where he explores mental health and performance with incredible depth and empathy. You can check it out her...

Sam and Katie catch up on the podcast and dive into fresh ideas for the new year — including the expanding partnership with Run Havoc. It’s shaping up to be a big 2026 with more episodes, more collaborations, and some new concepts brewing behind the scenes. Katie drops a huge training update with an 83km week, highlighted by a brutal 12 × 200m on / 200m float session and some smooth, controlled te...

Sam sits down with Riley Kilham for the first instalment of our new monthly segment. Riley has generously thrown in a $100 Run Havoc voucher for one TFTV listener each month — absolute legend 🙌 This month we dive into Riley’s training week — including some spicy continuous track work and pacing his mate to a 1:25 half at Husky.  Shoe of the Month: Nike Vomero Plus (early contender for shoe of the...

Sam catches up with Hamish “Kerns” Simpson, fresh off 30 loops at Reds Backyard Ultra (203.7km). Hamish has lined up at Reds three years in a row, but this year looked different — after linking up with super coach Barry Keem, he’s built consistency, structure and serious momentum. The results speak for themselves with PBs across the board this year, including 17:58 for 5k and 3:08 for the marathon...

This week, Sam & Katie chat with up-and-coming triathlete Jack Caldwell. Hailing from Eden on the Far South Coast of NSW, Jack has been training from a young age. A naturally strong swimmer who also shone in school cross country, Jack eventually combined both strengths—adding cycling into the mix—to discover his talent in triathlon. After playing a range of sports growing up, Jack began racing...

This week, Sam & Katie sit down with the incredibly inspiring Taya Mae. Fresh off a huge PB streak — 42:51 for 10K at Shellharbour and a 3:20 marathon in Melbourne just last weekend — Taya shares her unique journey through running, bodybuilding, and powerlifting. Having dabbled in running during high school and more consistently in 2023, Taya spent much of 2024 focused on bodybuilding, backing...

Sam catches up with past guest Rede Carney, who’s turned 2025 into a PB-fest: 16:55 at a KJ track night, 34:42 through 10k at Sutho2Surf, 1:18 for the half — then a surprise 2:46 at Sydney Marathon (9-minute out-performance on the day) and a 2:51 for 2nd at Shellharbour on tired legs. We talk training density, racing with family, and rebuilding with a conservative approach that still totals 16–18...

Sam & Katie sit down with Karla Maganto, co-founder of the DK Society Run Club alongside Toby Upton. Karla shares how running has completely transformed her lifestyle — from thinking she’d never run a half or full marathon to now balancing Hyrox workouts, strength training, and swimming. She’s passionate about movement, recovery, and building community in Canberra, investing serious time in co...

Sam & Katie welcome their first official guest from Canberra — Dan Dreher. Dan has some seriously fast PBs, including 14:33 for 5k and 29:53 for 10k, all achieved off relatively low mileage and a relaxed, body-aware approach. He sees himself as a 5k/10k specialist, rarely running further than 21km, but with a strong emphasis on speed across his career. Dan shares his journey through Canberra’s...

Episode Summary Sam & Katie chat with Mark Langley, who moved to Wollongong late last year and quickly made his mark by winning the Run Wollongong Marathon in 2:36 earlier this year. Mark’s road PBs include 15:57 for 5K and 2:32 for the marathon, but his range stretches further — he also claimed victory in the Manly to Bondi Ultra. Mark only began running in 2019, debuting with a 3:27 marathon...

Sam and Katie sit down with Ben Bell, a versatile athlete with an incredible story. After years of rowing, Ben moved into triathlon at age 35 — and what followed is nothing short of remarkable. Ben has run a 70-minute half marathon (2019) and a 2:36 debut marathon. He recorded strong showings at the M7 half marathon and marathon, often finishing just outside the prize money. He is also a Hawaiian...

Episode Description Sam and Katie sit down with Jeff Cheso to dive into his impressive running journey. Jeff shares his standout personal bests—8:56 for 3k, 15:17 for 5k, 69:39 for the half marathon, and 2:29 for 3rd place at the Canberra Marathon—while reflecting on how his sporting career began with rugby league before shifting to competitive running. He credits consistency and a touch of health...

Sam sits down with Chloe to unpack her recent racing success. Chloe reflects on her breakout 5K at Sandgate parkrun, where she surprised herself with a 16:26, boosted by the energy of 800 runners and a smooth staggered start. She also shares the story behind her win at the Sunshine Coast 10K in 34:40, a race where she focused on keeping a steady rhythm and delivered a performance she’s proud of.

In this episode, Sam shares exciting updates for Tales from the Valley — from setting up merchandise (including new crewneck jumpers and a launch discount) to expanding podcast coverage into the Canberra/ACT region and refreshing the club shout-out segment with race updates from past guests. He also talks about continuing the Down-the-Track Feed mini-series to follow up on guests’ progress. Katie...

James Alexander’s Triathlon Journey In this episode, Sam sits down with James Alexander to unpack his impressive endurance sports career. James first joined the Savvy Running community around 2012 before making the leap into triathlon in 2013–2014, inspired by watching top athletes train locally. Since then, he’s built a strong résumé that includes a 9:12 personal best at his debut Ironman in 2019...

Bravehearts Marathon Challenge – Glenn’s 7 Marathons in 7 Days In this episode, we celebrate Glenn’s incredible achievement in the Bravehearts Marathon Challenge, where he completed seven marathons in seven days across seven states – raising an impressive $47,000 for child protection. We dive into the story behind the fundraising, from the community-driven “Glenathon” hosted by Sapphire Coast Runn...

Sam & Katie sit down with Phil & Ady, the founders of Parola Run Club. Since summer 2023, the crew has been meeting at the North Gong Kiosk every Tuesday at 6 am – rain, hail or shine. What started as a way to keep their uni friend group connected and accountable has grown into a thriving community, with 30 runners turning up to the very first session. Phil shares how the club boosted his...

Down the Track – Episode 1: Lucy Holman We're kicking off the very first episode of Down the Track with none other than Lucy Holman — a powerhouse on the local distance running scene. Lucy stamped her authority in 2024 by winning both Shellharbour Marathons — in April and September — and clocking a rapid 2:56 marathon in the process. But she didn’t stop there. Just recently, she took on the Huskis...