The Trail and Error Podcast

We're joined in this episode by Sam Calvert the UTMB UK Event Director and by Andrew 'Ferg' Ferguson, Race Director of the Arc of Attrition to discuss changes to the next edition of this beloved race. In a really wide ranging and open chat we discussed course changes to the Arc 100 and new races and the new race finish. We also talk about UTS and lessons learned from the changes there along with t...

Helen-Ann Hartley is the current Bishop of Newcastle and, as a member of the 'Lords Spiritual', has a seat in the UK House of Lords. She's also about to take on her first ultramarathon, the 43 mile Sprint Summer North race. She joins me and Matt to cover her running journey to this point and how her life and work have influenced and cemented her love of running, particularly as a large...

Episode 103 We were lucky enough to grab an hour with 4 x Leadville Trail 100 winner and coach Ian Sharman ahead of the release of his much anticipated first book 'The Art of Ultrarunning'. We chat about the highs and lows of his long running career and why mistakes are such and important part of the journey in endurance sports. Ian's book will probably become a bit of a running bible in short ord...

Episode 102 Sha Khan Visually Impaired Ultra Trail Runner Imagine you're taking on the Arc of Attrition. Wild weather, technical trail, hundreds of other runners all moving at different speeds and all funneling down the narrow coast path with you. Now imagine all of that and you're visually impaired! Meet Sha Khan, a visually impaired ultra trail runner who took on and completed this year's Arc of...

Episode 101 I'm joined on this episode by Danny Stokes, founder of TrailFam, and my friend and author of 'Failure is an option' Matt Whyman as co-host. What fires someone up enough to launch a charity? Danny's experience of lockdown vs. his students' experience was the catalyst to set about bringing change in how access to green spaces and nature is provisioned for young people. We dive into the n...

For our 100th Episode I had the pleasure of chatting to the super talented Mercedes Siegle-Gaither. We're clearly on full Arc of Attrition mode now as we're just 48 hours away from the start of the 100 race and it was so much fun hearing about her prep and chatting too about the race, her entry into the sport and the comparisons between north American and European trails and where the diff...

Sabrina Stanley joins me on this episode as we look towards her upcoming participation in the 2026 Arc of Attrition by UTMB. For Sabrina the podium and quite often first place came regularly from 2016 onwards. A 4th place finish in Leadville was quickly followed by a 3rd place in States in 2017, followed by taking the win at Hardrock the year. After the race world emerged from the pandemic she wen...

Ep. 98 Jamie Stephenson We're delighted to welcome Jamie back to the podcast. Well known throughout the Cornish trail running community, Jamie has returned to his home county after a couple of years enjoying the mountain trails of Portugal and after smashing his previous outing on the old Arc 50 and setting many records on the race scene he's now taking on his first 100 miler in the shape of... th...

Ep. 97 Charlotte Fisher Charlotte joins me to talk about her explosion onto the race scene with podium after podium over the past few years. With the Arc of Attrition by UTMB 100 her next race it was an ideal time to chat and find out more about her running journey and winning her first EVER race which just happened to be a 100km trail race! We dive into the tough lessons and successes, the races...

Ep. 96 Arc of Attrition 2026 We're delighted to chat to Ferg and Jane about the upcoming Arc of Attrition and get under the hood on changes to this edition of the race.  With 4 race distances over the 3 days there's a lot to manage and of course as always with this race the weather in the depths of a Cornish winter will play a huge part in the success of failure of the participants. With L...

Ep. 95 James Elson For anyone in the UK endurance scene this man shouldn't really need an introduction. He's quite possibly one of the most influential figures of trail running in the UK over the last decade.  James is the RD and founder of Centurion Running, host of the British Ultra Running Podcast and is a member of the ‘Mountain and Trail’ strategy group at UK Athletics.  We chat about...

Ep. 94 David Parrish DBR What a pleasure to welcome back David to chat about winning the 2025 Dragons Back Race.  This brute of a race covers almost 240 miles of gnarly mountain terrains and to finish you must run the equivalent of sea level to the summit of Everest TWICE in 6 days.  What went well? What didn't?  There were navigation issues, a time penalty and changes to the route to contend with...

Ep. 93 Holly Wootten  Holly joins me and new co-host Lewis Ryan to talk about her upcoming return to Dragons Back and her previous appearance in the scorching heat of 2023 which served as a (very long) recce run for a more competitive attempt in 2025.  We talk about her entry into the sport and how she was the runner her crew were searching for, which makes more sense when you hear the story!  Now...

Episode 92 Sarah Kelly is a scientist and endurance athlete who turns up the dial on enthusiasm to 10 in just about all aspects of her life.  Her adventures are what happens when you take a 'can do' attitude and mix it with a 'give anything a go' view of the world.  On this episode we chat about her 'Puddle Buckley', the 'Frog Graham' and so much more including top tips on midges and mosquitoes. ...

Episode 91 Scilly 60: Race Special 5 Islands, 60k, 6 races, 3 boats and 150 runners. Sounds straightforward? Welcome to the Scilly 60, brainchild of our last guest Wez Swain and his Scilly 60 Events company. Basically a 60k sprint which includes 5 boat transfers (some short, others up to 45 minutes) where runners charge around some of the UK's most picturesque islands in the hope of beating the cl...

#90 Wez Swain What an absolute pleasure this was to chat with race director and proud Scillonian Wez Swain. Based on the Isles of Scilly, 28 miles of the south west coast of Cornwall Wez, already an accomplished 'swim run' competitor took the bull by the horns and created the Scilly 60 Events company to showcase the beautiful running environment these isles provide. We chat about his exper...

Ex Royal Marine David Parrish joins me alongside a new guest co-host, Jodie Gauld, to talk multi-day adventures, his victory at the 2023 Cape Wrath Ultra and how he's preparing for the 2025 Dragon's Back Race. Alongside his record breaking companion, 'Munro' the spaniel, David has been running and hiking in the mountains in his native Scotland since leaving the military and his skills in the mount...

#88 Max King A resident of Oregon and ‘Dragon Tamer’, running legend and coach Max King joins me and guest co-host Lewis Ryan on this episode. We talk about his 2024 DBR win, taking on locals in their own back yard and the narrowing differences between race experiences around world. We even got the scoop on Max’s upcoming attempt at the Barkley Marathons and his tips for on the go repair and recov...

I’ve been itching to have Shane back on the show for a number of reasons. The foremost of these was his completion of the Dragon’s Back in a one’r, creating an FKT for this iconic route. It’s also the first real ‘3 peat’ achievement in appearing as a guest on the pod’! We chatted about his sub 24 hour finish on January’s  Arc of Attrition by UTMB 100 miler and discuss how his experience as both a...

#86 Noor van der Veen On this episode I speak to ultra runner and mountaineer Noor van der Veen.  Noor turned up with an awesome performance on this year's 100 mile Arc of Attrition by UTMB taking 1st place in the women's race comfortably. As always we cover a whole host of topics including race recce's and tactics, opinions on the race and the realities of female participation in the world of tra...

In this episode I chat to Lewis Ryan, overall winner of the Arc of Attrition by UTMB 100 mile race. We cover how the race unfolded and his experiences along the route as well discussing comparisons between his 2024 victory on the 50 mile race and how that race unfolded this year with a victory from Tom Evans and also how he felt about the race being a UTMB World Series event. We also talk a little...

On this episode I speak to ultra runner and coach Julia Davis. We turned this chat into a travelogue of sorts, talking about Julia's running experiences donning the GB vest to race in India, her love of a race over Cape Town's Table Mountain and her uncanny ability to attract snow and unseasonable weather as well as chatting about the Arc of Attrition podium and her coaching with Centurion Running...

In this episode of Trail and Error Tris is back on the start line... for the Centurion Running Winter Downs 200 race.  200 miles obviously an extremely long race, and Tris's longest attempted one’r distance to date.  We go through all the details of his preparations, the race details and his plans in the first half of this episode before catching up with him again to hear how it all went.  There's...

In this episode of Trail and Error we talk to endurance runner and coach Chris Kelly. A former footballer, hip surgery in 2016 forced Chris to look at sport in a new way and thankfully he discovered he was a runner! We talk about his running, injuries and rehab, 1st place on the GUCR and his epic 24 hour/169 mile feat as well as his sub 21 hour finish Arc of Attrition. Despite his injuries and sur...

In this episode we talk to Luke Grenfell-Shaw, a member of the Brooks Running trail running team and cancer survivor. Luke was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in 2018 at the age of just 24. Far from recoiling he launched himself out into the world on a mission to make the most of life. 8 years on and Luke has a tandem bike ride from Bristol to Bejing under his belt as well as competing on the world...