The Start Line Podcast

The Start Line Girls have an extra special treat lined up for their 3rd anniversary edition, as they are joined  by their good friend, award-winning leadership coach, author, speaker and educator Michelle Moore.  Michelle joins TSL to talk about her  acclaimed debut book Real Wins, which draws on Michelle's work delivering coaching and leadership programmes during a twenty year’ career in sen...

Celebrating International Women's Day and Women's History Month, The Start Line Girls take a look back in the archives to their favourite moments from the ladies who have graced The Start Line Podcast over the last 3 years. Check out the featured episodes: Ep 5 - But My Hair… (Yes, Black Girls DO Run!) featuring Matila Egere-Cooper Ep 7 - It Just Gets Better with Time (featuring Donna Mc...

The Start Line Girls are back with episode 33, the last in the series of the 'Behind the Podcast' episodes.  This month, our special guest is Marcus Brown (formerly known as Marathon Marcus and now as Marcus_Runs on Instagram!). Marcus is what we would call an 'Amateur Elite' athlete!  A man of many marathons, he is a co-founder of Black Trail Runners, co-host of BTR podcast &a...

The Start Line Girls are back for 2022 and in this episode they look back to their favourite running moments of 2021, discuss the issue of female safety, talk about what they are looking forward to in 2022 and share their first experience of hosting at stand at The National Running Show with Emancipated Run Crew . We'd love to hear from you, so please follow us on Instagram , Twitter and Face...

After suffering another recent loss, the Start Line Girls are back after a little hiatus, as  Dee, Jules and Petrina invite their mother Imogene to talk to them about coping with loss and how life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain. If you're suffering from a bereavement, you may want to check the Mind website which has some useful resour...

The Start Line Girls dedicate this episode to our beautiful, funny, caring, special friend and loved one David Ajilore who passed away from gall bladder cancer on the 28 August 2021💔💔💔. We think you would have appreciated this episode hun!❤️ ‘ We understand that in order to achieve anything noteworthy in life it takes a combination of grit and grind .’ Derek Oxley Our guest in this special epis...

In part 2 of the Blazing Trails series, The Start Line Girls are joined by Sabrina Pace-Humphries and Sonny Peart, co-founders of the trailblazing Black Trail Runners (BTR), on the day they celebrated the first anniversary of their launch.   The group which was born in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movements of 2020, was formed to create a space for Black runners to experience the joys and ch...

The Start Line Girls return with the second  instalment of their  Behind the Podcast sessions. This month we interview India Cook and Tommy Mitchell creators and hosts of The Run Duo Podcast. The Run Duo Podcast is a bi-weekly podcast which was launched in 2018. Co-Hosts India Cook and Tommy Mitchell are Atlanta-based runners, who have enjoy running at all distances - from 5ks to marathons. This d...

Danny Stokes is a father of two from Basildon, Essex and a teacher and head of house at Mulberry Academy, Shoreditch in East London.  He's a trail runner who has completed all sorts of events,  including several trail marathons and he is transitioning to ultras, with a 40 miler under his belt (although he claims that he is ‘NOT FAST!’) He loves working with young people and he loves trail run...

The Start Line Girls have got some bonus treats in store for you starting this month, as we kick off our Going Behind The Podcast series!  We will be speaking to some of our favourite podcasters to bring you their stories, getting closer to the person behind the podcast.  First up is one of our favourite ladies, Coach Pilar Arthur-Snead, host of The Last Tenth Podcast. Podcaster, runner, coach and...

In the week that marked one year since the killing of George Floyd, the Start Line Girls were absolutely honoured to speak to Deo Kato, an amazing young man who is using running as a form of activism. He is on track to complete an incredible 381 day running streak where he has run at least 10k every day! Inspired by the 381 day strike that African Americans participated in as part of the Montgomer...

The Start Line is celebrating 2 years, 24 episodes (well, 25 including the bonus TSL In The Round special ep...) and almost 4.5k downloads!  We take a look back at the our top 5 most popular episodes in this short but sweet birthday edition.  Thanks to all our listeners for sharing this journey with us - your listening ears are something we will never take for granted.  We would love to hear from...

8 March 2021 is International Women’s Day and in celebration of this day we bring together for conversation some of our incredible sister-friends, who have each chosen to create their own paths in life, shaking things up and intelligently breaking down the perceptions society may have of them as black women. They are creating their own destinies whilst smashing expectations. They show the world wh...

On 4th February 2021, we ‘celebrated’ World Cancer Day. Cancer had never been a feature in our family, up until 2019, when it erupted into our lives with our Auntie Bev being diagnosed with lung cancer and our Dad with prostate cancer. Auntie B passed away in May 2019, five months after her diagnosis. Our darling cousin Stephanie, Auntie Bev’s daughter, is now cruelly travelling through her own ca...

Goodbye 2020! Hello 2021! Wow! What a year!!!! Bushfires, Kobe, Covid, BLM, Trump overthrown, inequalities highlighted…...No one would have predicted the mess that was 2020. How much has life changed? How much heartbreak and challenge. But also how much opportunity and recognition of God’s beauty and life’s fragility. 2020 was a year unlike anything anyone has ever seen. Throughout 2020 The Start...

It's Part 2 of our specials celebrating black businesses to reclaim Black Friday and celebrate #BlackPoundDay in the UK which is the first Saturday of the month in the UK and for this episode we speak to our lovely neighbours Ade Adeleke and Carmelita Goodwin, owners and managers of Stones Gym in Thornton Heath, south London. This incredible couple of 32 years purchased a gym 14 years ago, as...

Episode 19…and 20! Its Black Friday and Black Pound Day……!! The Start Line Girls are claiming this year’s Black Friday event and celebrating Black Pound Day by bringing you something a little special! Its a Double Header Edition where we are celebrating not one, but two amazing Black couples and business partners who are doing their own thing! In these two episodes we are celebrating two of our ke...

With the coronavirus rampaging across the world, various protests against racial injustices with the Black Lives Matter movement, ecological and natural disasters and political unrest, so far 2020 has been the year that many want to forget. But one thing The Start Line Girls want to remember is the amazing content on screen and online which marked Black History Month 2020 in the UK.  This episode,...

We’ve been on a lil' hiatus but The Start Line Girls are back with a special edition to kick off the start of Black History Month for the UK. Following the successes experienced by our running crew @emancipatedruncrew over the summer, namely being featured in The Running Channel , working with @blackcrewsunited in organising The Carnival Run 2020 (running the route of the Notting Hill Carniva...

After last episode’s round table discussion around why there is a reluctance in the UK and United States to talk about race, The Start Line Girls invite friends Tasha Thompson (@blackgirlsdorunuk) and Lara-Lee Green to discuss what happens when you do you break the silence to discuss race in what may be seen as traditionally white spaces - Tasha in the social pages of Runner’s World, and Lara-Lee...

In this special bonus episode of The Start Line, recorded prior to the murder of George Floyd on Monday 25 May 2020, we discuss the tragic murder of Ahmaud Arbery. A 25 year old black man who loved running. Ahmaud was out running on the afternoon 23 February 2020 when he was hunted down, trapped, and shot to death around 1.30pm in the afternoon by two white men, father and son, Gregory and Travis...

“BRO serves to organise, educate and condition the Black Community on the basis of running as a practical demonstration of unity. #LETSGROW” This month we are excited to bring you a diverse running group from over the pond! All the way from Baltimore, we introduce you to Black Running Organisation (BRO)!!!  TSL Girls speak to Isa Olufemi and his fiancée, Intea Deshields about why and how they set...

It's a year! One whole year this weekend since Dee, Jules and Pet sat in our mama’s garden and recorded the very first episode of The Start Line! One year and 14 episodes later and who would have guessed that the whole world would be literally turned on its head by the deadly Coronavirus. That not seeing or hugging or kissing or socialising with your family and friends would be the ultimate a...

“An online community to encourage and inspire female runners of colour” In the month which hosted International Women’s Day we are pleased to bring you an all girl feature and introduce you to another diverse running crew! Black Girls Do Run UK meets TSL! TSL speaks to Tash, Linda and Sasha, co-founders of the Black Girls DO Run UK, about their virtual and physical running crew. We explore their r...

For the first proper episode of 2020, The Start Line Girls kick off a series of episodes featuring diverse running crews who are seeking to challenge the stereotypical image of a runner, running groups, which are growing massively despite the standard portrayal of running as being a pursuit typically enjoyed by a certain demographic (namely young, white and achingly middle class). Painful as it is...