Dinner with runners - gels and Gatorade or brandy and cigs?
Join me and Jason Bahamundi from Run, Tri, Bike as we pick our ultimate running dinner party guests
Brandy with a pedestrian? Cigarettes with Laz? A dollop or two of inspiration with your pudding?
This week at Running Tales HQ, I’ve been thinking over our ultimate dinner party of running and running-related guests.
It came after Jason Bahamundi, the founder of the brilliant Run, Tri, Bike website and the Everyday Athlete Podcast Network invited me to be a small part of his latest venture.
The Everyday Athlete Clubhouse is a private community that doesn’t require podiums, but instead welcomes vibes, sweat and snacks.
It provides a supportive space for people to hang out and share the fun of endurance sports with other everyday athletes.
Jason asked me to be a guest on the Clubhouse’s 30 x 30 x 30 series of podcasts, available for members only. Each episode features a fascinating runner (and me!), an insight into their story and discussion around a chosen theme.
For my subject matter, I decided to create a fantasy dinner party, made up of athletes past and present. The rules were to pick a current elite runner or someone who is well-known in the running world right now, a runner from the past (dead or alive!), an extraordinary everyday athlete, and a running friend who inspires you.
The podcast will be available to Clubhouse members on September 15, including details of all of Jason’s picks in full. But today, I thought I’d give you a quick run down of my fantasy running dinner party.
I’d love to know what you think - and who you’d invite…
A current elite runner or someone well-known in the running world:
Gary ‘Lazarus Lake’ Cantrell
From ebullient sprint stars like Noah Lyles and Julien Alfred, through the greatest marathon runner of them all, Eliud Kipchoge, to ultra marathoners such as Kilian Jornet and Courtney Dauwalter, there is no shortage of active runners who would doubtless have some thrilling dinner stories.
But instead I’ve chosen a race director in the form of the somewhat sadistic Gary Cantrell, aka Lazarus Lake.
Laz is most famous for his creation of the infamous Barkley Marathons, a 100 mile ultra marathon that has barely been completed since its inception in 1986. But it is far from his only extreme creation, with The Strolling Jim 40, Last Annual Heart of the South, and Big’s Backyard Ultra all providing unique and mind-boggling challenges.
Where I think he really comes into his own as a potential dinner guest is the singular peculiarity of his races and outlook. The Barkley Marathons, started by the lighting of a cigarette and involving the collection of pages from a book scattered throughout the course, would provide a fascinating conversational aperitif on its own.
His controversial views on the ability of women to finish the race and Jasmin Paris’ subsequent success in doing so could also create some potential sparks over the port and biscuits.
Jason’s pick: Zach Miller
A former runner or athlete, either deceased or retired:
Richard Manks
This pick may have an element of recency bias to it as I only featured Richard Manks’ story here on Running Tales at the end of August.
But I have to admit I’ve become somewhat obsessed with it.
After all, there are not many athletes out there who have completed 1,000 mile events on a diet of roast beef and brandy.
For those who missed our previous article, Manks was a mid-Victorian exponent of the once famed sport of pedestrianism.
In1851, he completed a one thousand mile walk round London’s Kennington Oval in 500 hours.
The man known as the Warwickshire Antelope drank strong beef tea, ale and brandy while completing his phenomenal feat, and tucked in to game and poultry, roast beef and steaks, mutton, and chops - so we’d need some hearty, traditional fare for our dinner party.
I’d love to see how Manks would bond with Cantrell over their love of extreme distance events, although how a Victorian era gent would get on with a straight talking American could be fascinating.
Jason’s pick: Chrissie Wellington
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An inspirational everyday athlete:
Claudia Burrough
It wouldn’t be a Running Tales dinner party without a healthy dose of celebrating those everyday runners and athletes who achieve extraordinary things.
And there are few people who have done more on that front than wheelchair racer, Claudia Burrough.
After suffering undiagnosed pain in her legs back in 2018, Claudia - already a keen parkrunner - started using crutches at events. Eventually, she turned to a basic wheelchair, firstly at the Royal Parks Half Marathon - and later the London Marathon.
Things spiralled from there and by 2022, she was lining up at the start of the famed Comrades Marathon. The South African ultra race, which covers around 89kms (55 miles) between the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg, is known as ‘The Ultimate Human Race’ and is hardly known for being ‘wheelchair friendly’.
Just hearing Claudia talk about how she completed the event would be inspiring enough, but she is also fascinating on the challenges faced by wheelchair athletes having had to complete London Marathon in a ‘day chair’ rather than a racing one due to financial constraints and the inability of the medical profession to properly diagnose her meaning she can’t access grant funding.
Jason’s pick: Derek Sprau
A friend with an incredible story:
Natalie Crawford
Any Running Tales dinner party wouldn’t be complete without a runner who genuinely has no idea how special they are.
Michelle and I have a few within our circle, but no-one more incredible than Natalie Crawford.
After battling throughout a childhood where she was regularly in and out of hospital, Natalie was finally diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at the age of 28.
Often seen as a death sentence - a portrayal Natalie fights back against, cystic fibrosis is not meant to go hand-in-hand with athletic pursuit.
But Natalie was not interested in what perceived wisdom had to say. She decided to fight back against CF, with running the primary weapon in her toolbox.
Incredibly, she has gone on to complete a host of half-marathons and the London Marathon four times. In many ways, her achievements - and those of Claudia Burrough - would put anything even Lazarus Lake has seen, or Richard Manks managed, in the shade.
I think the conversation between our everyday athletes and their more heralded dinner companions would be fascinating - ultimately, who would be teaching who what?
Jason’s pick: Alissa Lay
Who would your running dinner party guests be? Let us know in the comments below
Further reading:
Richard Manks: The Victorian 1,000 mile ‘ultra walker’
In running circles, it is stated that the original backyard ultra is Big Dog's Backyard Ultra.
“My dream is to stay alive, to live a life I'm proud of and where my children can look at me and be proud”
“Everything was about death and dying, and sick and pity. That’s not how I want to live. Life is beautiful… I wanted to change the narrative of CF. I didn’t want to be a pity story.”
How support of disabled children made conquering Comrades a privilege
As Claudia Burrough raced towards the end of South Africa’s Comrades Marathon her overwhelming feeling was privilege.
Support Running Tales:
Please help us keep producing Running Tales across Substack and in podcast form:
 | A guest post by
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This conversation was a lot of fun. Thank you for joining me in this podcast challenge and for being a part of the RTB and EAC communities.
Love these picks!