The Aussie Runner Podcast

3 years on, Geoff & Neil sit back down with Australian Ultra running's equivalent of Russell Crowe, prolific International podium snatcher & super-coach, bro from across the ditch, Scotty Hawker (NZ).   With a recent 2nd spot at UTA100 the boys speak to Scotty about the changing landscape of UTA, what he's learnt about training, injury, nutrition, check-point tips/tricks & multiple cycles of plant...

Jez & Damo chat to the ACT Brumbies most capped player, publican & parkrun fanatic Ben Alexander, a power-house prop with 154 Brumbies appearances & 72 Wallabies caps.   Learn how his parents steered him from the precipice of Uni & Rugby abject failure to a barn-storming 10 year career in the top flight, how running helped him through retirement & some tough times, what a PB leg press attempt & di...

Geoff & Neil catch up with Allicia Heron, the up & coming star of Aussie 24/48hr track running who recently took home the bronze medal at the IAU 24hr Asia and Oceania Championships in India.   Learn how her 15+ years in military service has helped give her the edge, how she deploys the Buddha/Bad arse strategy, how the Bad arse gets her in & out of trouble, how to train for ultra events when all...

Jez & Damo speak to a lady who in the 1988 Seoul Olympics delivered one of Australia's finest gold medal performances … it's the final straight of the 400m hurdles final, Debbie Flintoff-King OAM faces a Russian runner with a seemingly insurmountable lead, and BOOM, with 'a heart bigger than Phar Lap' she surges and grabs a sensational victory on-the-line … go watch the video on YouTube, you won't...

Neil & Geoff speak to back yard ultra specialist & champ Phil Gore.   A man that's won the last 10 ultra marathons he's taken part in over the last 2 years, learn how COVID transformed this 5k streak runner (1132 5k days in a row!) and park run fanatic in to quite possibly Australia's best last man standing competitor.   Learn about the back yard ultra race format, Phil's sleep strategies, tips &...

Damo & Jez talk to the 'Flying Fickel' ... a true people's champ of Aussie running … the legend, the one & only Bob Fickel! … the master of the race running streak, a man who recently celebrated running his 300th marathon, has 31 6ft track marathon finishes under his belt, 40+ City to Surf, 70+ ultra marathons, 30+ Canberra maras & a bonafide Blue Line Legend.   Find out Bob's why, his adventures...

Geoff & Neil chat to the lovely Aussie ultra rep & International 24 hr team gold medal winner Nikki Wynd.   Learn what a fantastic & broad running record she has across so many distances, in just over a decade she's notched up victories at 50km, 50miles, 100km, 100miles, 135miles, 6hrs, 24hrs & 48hrs.   Notably taking on the gruelling hottest race on earth, Death Valley's Badwater 135 (mile) ultra...

Jez & Damo chat to Shaun Kaesler, the knockabout WA local legend responsible for bringing 200 miler ultra races to Australia.   The man who gave up his construction business to build an impressive series of trail races in WA, to create the Delirious West 200 miler, the triple crownunder and his very own running shop.   Jez kicks off the trail vs. road running debate early & Shaun puts him in his p...

Geoff & Neil have a cracker-jack chat with THE runner you want with you in a dark alley … ex MMA cage fighting amateur boxer, Aussie rep, Guinness world record holder, AURA VP, 24 hr treadmill vomit specialist Matt Eckford, a man who's perfectly translated the discipline required for excellence in martial arts, deployed it to 24 hr track racing, often trains 100% on a treadmill & carries a mantra...

Damo & Jez ask … what is the 440? … take 1 former iron man bronze medalist, 1 former rugby player, a solution borne out of the depths of Trent & Todd's dark periods of life & you have something very special … something that is now a global running movement but started out when a troubled man looking for some answers decided to get up early & run up a hill in the dark with his mates … listen to how...

Geoff & Neil speak to Ewan Horsburgh … AURA president, long standing Aussie ultra distance rep, running community stalwart, Blue Mountains local & self confessed coffee loving shoe fiend.   The boys learn about his recent run at the Western States 100 mile race in the US, previous victories at various ultra disciplines, winning the Coast to Kosci 240km race 3 times back to back, his role at AURA &...

On the eve of his first 200 mile race Jez & Damo speak to one of our ultra running stalwarts & local legends, Kevin 'Brick' Heaton.   Under his belt sit 13 x 6ft track, 11 x Ultra trail Australia & 11 Coast to Kosci 240km races finishes.   A man that once got helicoptered rescued out of the Blue Mountains mid race with a totally ripped off quad, only to toe the start line of a 240km run 6 months l...

Geoff & Neil speak to THE ironman of the moment, Under Armour athlete Ali Day.   Learn how a massive, almost inconceivable, comeback from injury led to a unique history making 6 from 6 wins in the 20/21 championship.   Hear about the crazy monkey bar incident that saw him break both wrists and surgery that saw 24 plates & screws turn Ali in to a REAL ironman.   Ali talks about his journey from nip...

Jez & Damo talk to top bloke, US based Queenslander & Dual Olympian Patrick Tiernan … the man that left NOTHING in the tank at the Tokyo 10,000m and established master of road, track & cross country running.   The boys learn how Pat came to terms with a performance that resonated with the nation but left him not trusting his body, what the marathon is doing to talented 10,000 runners and … hold th...

Neil & Geoff speak to Aussie Comm Games & World Champs rep Sarah Klein.   A very driven athlete that lives & breaths the marathon, learn about the single biggest challenge to her identity, a 4 year ban from competition, how did she cope, why the ban was reduced to 2 years, what led to it & what she would have done differently if she could go back in time.   Hear how she's educating athletes about...

The boys talk to 1500m Olympian, first Aussie lady to break the massive 4 minute barrier & Puma athlete Linden Hall … learn what   breaking 4 meant to her, why she took the risk with a new & unproven coach at a critical pre Olympic time, THAT race at the Olympics, negotiating her way out of an Indian toilet, what her favourite lunch-leaver track session is & exactly what role jigsaws, needles & wo...

A talented smart young athlete & accidental marathon world record holder? … occasionally we interview someone & all we can say is WOW … Damo & Jez speak to 22 year old lightening quick Paralympian Jaryd Clifford! … a seriously wise head on young shoulders, this guy has been able to unpack so much that's happened to him & use it to drive & motivate himself … what's more he's also easily able to art...

Neil Light-foot & Geoff Twinkle-toes talk to the very talented Joasia Zakrzewski … where to start with this NSW based GB athlete & GP? … Comm Games rep, Comrades 3 golds & 1 silver, 100k champs, 6ft track & coast to Kosci to name but a few, but more importantly the only person we know whose race prizes include a metre long dried fish, a toastie machine & 50 litres of blue sports drink.

Jez talks to beach sprinting star Bree Masters, one of the very few to transition from beach to track & recently laying down some very impressive 100m times.   They discuss how she uses social media to both influence but just as importantly engage with her followers, the key lessons a recent injury taught her, how beach sprinting perfectly marries running & beer … and most importantly why her nick...

Geoff & Neil speak to a true Aussie ultra running legend … athlete, coach, Aussie rep & race timer extraordinaire Martin Fryer, a man that's smashed his way through 25 years of top class local & international long form running … he's run 433 km in 48hrs, has 21 6ft Track ultras under his belt & once took part in a 2741 km 43 day Tour de France on foot race.   The boys learn about his mental strate...

Jez & Damo speak to inspiring Tasmanian youngster Meriem Daoui, who at 22 was recognised with the Peter Norman humanitarian award (following legends like Deeks & Wellings),   holder of multiple Aussie age based marathon records, Type 1 Diabetic, Oncology nurse & distance running fanatic, a lady that ran Tassie's hardest half marathon 7 days in a row, clocking up the equivalent elevation gain of cl...

If you have run, crewed or supported NSW's flagship UTA 100km race over the last decade you will know that one man has smashed himself in to the top 10 on TEN occasions … Geoff & Neil talk to local ultra legend Jono O'Loughlin! … learn how he's going to finish a race even if he's broken, how blowing up has taught him to race better, how he had to say goodbye to the gym before jumping in to running...

Responsible for THE MOST EPIC Aussie 800m victory EVER, Ralph won our last male track gold medal at an Olympics over 50 YEARS AGO … the time he ran that day was so fast it would have got him gold in 5 of the following 10 Olympics, what's more that time was only just recently taken by another Aussie, a certain Mr Bol.   Learn what made Ralph tough, race strategy ready, mentally prepared, hear what...

Wow, what a story! … from 142kg to winning 6 of her first 7 ultra-marathons.   Neil & Geoff talk to rising star Reesha Lewis, hear about the moment she decided to turn her fitness around, a decision that saw her drop 75kg, the critical role her amazing Mum played, the grit that saw her up 3 times a week at 3 am climbing her local mountain for weeks on end & finally why "it's not a diet, it's a lif...

Jez & Damo speak to performance dietitian Pip Taylor, former pro triathlete, Snr Sports Dietitian: Firebirds Netball, Chair AFL Sports Dietitians Assoc., Director of the Board, Sports Dieticians Australia (SDA) & acclaimed Author of The Athletes Fix.   The boys tackle: beer, the sports drink, fluro yellow wee, 3 things you must build in to your nutrition plan, insight into the mind of a pro athlet...