The UKRunChat podcast.

In this episode Michelle speaks with Jess Learmonth. Jess is best known for her Olympic gold as part of the mixed triathlon relay team, at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.Jess has also enjoyed gold, silver and bronze victories across World Triathlon Series, European Championships, Commonwealth Games and Super League Triathlon.Now, Jess is taking a break from triathlon as she prepares to welcome her first child, due in September.Michelle and Jess chat about:- Finding the balance between starting a family and maintaining her sporting career.- The reactions Jess has faced from the sporting world to taking a break to have her first child.- Jess's plans to return to sport, including preparation for the Olympics in Paris 2024.- How Jess has maintained her health and fitness throughout pregnancy, and her advice to women wanting to do the same.

Recovery Runners Community was  born in January 2021 when two runners from Leeds, Dean Smith, and Jamie Heselden, came up with the idea of introducing a small group of people in recovery from drugs and alcohol to the benefits of running. Since then, the Community has grown and achieved local and national recognition, officially launching as a running community in Leeds on 1st August 2021. Although Dean and Jamie use running in their own recovery from alcohol addiction, Recovery Runners Community welcomes anyone who is curious about, or uses, the benefits of running to recover from and manage life changing events or addictive behaviours including substance addiction, gambling, disordered eating, and mental health issues amongst others. The team working with Dean and Jamie have all been impacted by some of these issues, either personally, or through supporting friends or family. Running is the glue that holds them together, and they offer friendship, fun, and a non-judgemental running community for all. They aim to ‘heal souls with soles’ and strongly believe there should be no barriers to this. They supply donated kit and trainers to those that need a start.. Contact: recoveryrunners21@gmail.com to find out more or ask  any questions. 

In this episode we catch up again with the team from Soar our Strength & Conditioning partners.  Listen to this conversation with Alex and James as we discuss:What are the most common running related injuries and what can we do to help reduce the risk of these injuries?Why rest alone is not enough to help an injury recover.Specific strength exercise recommendation all runners should do.What is occlusion training and should you do it? And more....

In June, Team SweatElite claimed victory over 16 other teams in Eurotrip - a 400km non-stop relay run from Cologne in Germany to Strasbourg in France. EuroTrip has very few rules; teams are made up of 8 people, 2 of which must be female, there are 5 checkpoints to hit and motorways are not allowed. Teams must combine running ability, ordering and shift strategy, fuelling and wayfinding to succeed. Working alongside Precision Fuel and Hydration, Team SweatElite was made up of runners from UK, Ireland, USA, Sweden and Australia most of whom had never met before. Despite being one hour behind at one point, they pulled through hard towards the end, picked a very fast route into the finish and pipped Team Volt by 14 seconds for a dramatic finish. A fascinating episode with 4 members of the team about the physical demands of this epic event, and the logistical approach that was needed to take the team to victory in this unique event.

Doug Richards, the renowned author behind the books "Running Hot & Cold" and "Can We Run With You, Grandfather?," embarks on an extraordinary adventures as he sets his sights on running destinations all over the world. His next endeavor? Conquering a staggering distance of 24,902 miles, symbolizing the remarkable circumference of the Earth's equator. You can follow Doug on: Twitter Once Around the Planet

In this podcast episode Michelle speaks with UKRunChat community member Andrea who is embarking on an Alphabet Challenge.  The challenge started by combining travelling with running. As someone with a passion for adventure, nature and travel, it became apparent how engaging and motivating it was to combine adventure with running. Whilst it's not a new concept to run for a purpose - the tradition of going travelling in search of new things that we might lack is quite a historical concept from our ancestors. One of the most consoling aspects of travel is that we are likely to encounter nature in a way we don't see every day.  The idea of running through the alphabet meant that even if it's not far from home, it's already a journey and allows us the freedom from everyday stuff. Andrea started this challenge in Athens which makes complete sense as It's the birthplace of running and where marathon running began. Enjoy this episode andd hearing all about Andreas challenge.  You can follow Andreas adventures on Instagram

Jenna Pogue is a runner with Massey Ferguson Running Club in Coventry and her book "Running in Real Life" is a light-hearted collection of stories, anecdotes and race reports from and about real runners, that portray what running can really be like.    You can follow Jenna on:   Instagram Facebook Blog   You can see Jennas book here    

Former Head of Strength and Conditioning and Head of Learning at the English Institute of Sport, Alex has supported over 250 Olympic, Paralympic and World Championship medal winning performances. In this episode we talk to Alex about the Soar Ready to Run product and how 15 years of data has enabled the team to offer elite level, personalised strength & conditioning programs to everyone.  We also talk about plyometrics and training with injuries.  Alex Wolf Twitter Soar Twitter  Soar Instagram   

We are delighted to have returning for the second time on the UKRunChat podcast Sam and Tony Holness.  Regular listeners will remember Sam and Tony being on previously and they have both been busy since we last spoke including Sam competing at Kona, achieving a Guinness world record and running a sub 3 at London marathon! Sam has Autism and has become the world's first openly autistic athlete to conquer the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. Enjoy this chat as Michelle hosts once again, you know you can get in touch if you would like to on info@ukrunchat.co.uk Sponsors Oladance. Sam Holness - Instagram Michelle - Instagram    

In this episode Michelle chats with Ultra Runner and Author Michiel Panhuysen. Journalist and ultrarunner Michiel Panhuysen is a multiple-time Barkley entrant, having fallen under the spell of this most enigmatic of races – and its presiding philosopher-genius organizer Lazarus Lake – in the early 2010s. On each occasion, the Barkley won. The Barkley nearly always wins. Mig is Author of In The Spell Of The Barkley that has just been translated into English.  In The Spell Of The Barkley