The Running Tales podcast is back in June
The extraordinary tales of everyday runners returns in audio from June with stories of marathon success over adversity and taking on the MDS
Some 🔥 BIG NEWS 🔥 for fans of our running ramblings today...
The Running Tales Podcast is BACK!
We've joined forces with Run, Tri, Bike magazine to be part of their exciting, new Everyday Athlete Podcast Network.
Running Tales started as a podcast, way back in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, and in the years that followed we spoke to everyone from parkrunners to Olympians.
The aim of the podcast is the same as this Substack newsletter - which it spawned: to tell the extraordinary stories of every day runners.
Earlier this year, Michelle and I took the tough decision to stop producing the podcast. One reason we closed it was the amount of time and resource it was taking up, but thanks to Run, Tri, Bike we can now talk to extraordinary runners, while they take care of the technicals.
Run, Tri, Bike share the same ethos we have at Running Tales - promoting running in all its forms and runners of every type.
The new network will feature a range of voices, including:
Run, Tri, Bike's own Fireside Chat show
Beyond the Finish Line with Joe Hardin
The new show will be recorded live and hosted across social media platforms, as well as on the Run, Tri Bike’s website and in podcast format.
We’ll be sure to post all the various links where you’ll be able to listen to and watch it in due course.
The new show, which will run on a bi-weekly basis, launches on Tuesday, June 11 and we've already got some fantastic guests lined up.
Here’s a quick preview of the shows we have lined-up in June:
Reaching the finish line - The joy of runners’ helping each other:
Who: Jim Hall and Rohan Kallicharan
When: Tuesday, June 11 from 5pm GMT
Where: Watch our chat LIVE on the Run, Tri, Bike Facebook and Instagram pages, and on the Everyday Athlete Podcast Network Instagram page. The conversations will also be available in podcast form, as well as on our own Running Tales Facebook and Instagram pages.
Jim Hall is within sight of the finishing line of the London Marathon. And not just any finish - a sub-three-hour marathon.
It's quite the effort for a 52-year-old who didn't start running seriously until the Covid pandemic.
But his legs are starting to go. He's struggling to stay upright.
That's where Rohan Kallicharan comes in.
As Jim looks set to fall, Ro helps him stay on his feet until the marshals arrive to help him. They tell Ro to finish his run, they've got things covered - and the two are separated.
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After the race, Ro finds a picture of the pair of them on the BBC marathon feed, and puts out a message to see if anyone knows the mystery runner and whether he made it to the finish line.
Not long afterwards Jim replies: 'It was me... I literally fell to bits as I hit Buckingham Palace.'
And did he finish? Yes. And not just yes, but under that iconic three-hour mark, coming home in 2:59:57.
'Thanks to you and a minute in the bag I snuck in,' he told Ro, 'you are a legend sir'.
Such are the lives of long-distance runners, ready to hit huge targets but also to help others.
The pair are now firm running friends, and next month they will be reunited on the Running Tales Podcast, part of the Everyday Athlete Podcast Network.
Rohan Kallicharan’s running bio...
Rohan Kallicharan, a sub-three hour marathoner, is on the verge of something extraordinary.
Currently sitting on the grand total of 99 marathons - including 10 in 10 days - the man dubbed by friends as 'Ro Farah' will have reached the 100 mark before two huge occasions in his life - his 50th birthday and his appearance on the Running Tales Podcast alongside Jim Hall.
His achievement barely touches the surface of Rohan's story.
Over 15 years, started as a teenager, Ro struggled with his mental health, attempting suicide three times. He was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Through a lot of hard work, he was able to move forward with his life but it was when he discovered the joy of running that Ro, having ballooned to 19 stone, began to rebuild it.
Jim Hall’s running bio...
Jim Hall's acquaintance with running used to be confined to doing the local 10k once a year and the odd parkrun.
But when the Covid pandemic hit and he was unable to see friends to play pool and billiards, Jim began to concentrate on his work - and running.
Before he knew it, he had lost a stone-and-a-half and taken two minutes off his 5k time. Embracing the sport, he joined Shrewsbury AC, with the aim of becoming the best version of himself running-wise.
Jim's running awakening had arrived somewhat later in life, but he was excited to see what he could achieve.
Now aged 52, PBs have tumbled and distances increased with the world becoming Jim's running oyster.
From being told she couldn’t run to tackling the Marathon des Sables:
Who: Emily Moore
When: Monday, June 24 from 5pm GMT
Where: Watch our chat LIVE on the Run, Tri, Bike Facebook and Instagram pages, and on the Everyday Athlete Podcast Network Instagram page. The conversations will also be available in podcast form, as well as on our own Running Tales Facebook and Instagram pages.
It’s heralded as the toughest footrace on Earth, combining soaring temperatures, scorching sand and endless desert.
The six-day, 250km (155-mile) Marathon des Sables is not to be messed with.
Many of those who take on the run through the Sahara in Morocco say it is as much a mental as a physical battle.
Back in February, Emily Moore told Running Tales: “It’ll be alright, won’t it?”
While her answer may seem blasé, it hints at a mindset that has seen Emily achieve things she probably shouldn’t ever have done.
Aged just 19, she suffered a knee injury which doctors said would prevent her from walking unaided, let alone running.
A determined Emily immediately entered the London Marathon, eventually completing it with her knee surgeon cheering her home.
She’s since completed numerous marathons and triathlons - after teaching herself to swim - and became an ultra runner when she finished the Glasgow to Edinburgh Ultra in October 2022.
That was followed by a five-day, 123-mile race through the foothills of Nepal - an event she power-walked in preparation for the heat of MDS.
So how did Emily find the glare of the Sahara? Did she beat the desert? Was everything at MDS ‘alright’ on the night?
Find out on Running Tales from 5pm on Monday, June 24.
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I'm restarting running this summer though it'll look different now that my legs are of no use. I'm purchasing an electric scooter and my son will run alongside
Congrats on coming back!