Chatting to Cathy O'Dowd

Jenny is a joy to chat to. Funny, self aware and full of Scottish banter.We recorded this epsiode about a million years ago but her book as just come out so it’s finally time to release the chat about teenage motherhood, growing up alongside her little boy and re-discovering her own passions.Heavily featured is the world record breaking round the world cycle which makes her the fastest woman to circumnavigate the planet on a bike.Instagram: @jennygrahamis_

Amy Aed walked the length of the Danube River. It was not the journey she planned. In fact, she hadn’t really planned at all so it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that there were ups and down, stops and re-starts. However, sometimes that makes for the best kind of adventures. Join me as I chat to her about setting off with grand expectations, managing injury and travelling as a woman in a same sex relationship in countries where that’s not yet the norm.Instagram: @wandering_everywhere

Since recording this with Laura, more months ago than is polite to still not have published, she has gone on to win Badminton. Listen in though as we talk about early beginnings in horses, a life threatening accident and coming back to win gold at Tokyo 2021. Inspiring stuff!Instagram: @laura_collett

Listen as Victoria Evans relives her voyage across the Atlantic to become the Guinness World Record holder. Recorded quite some time ago, my apologies to Victoria for the delay, but I promise it’s worth the listen!Instagram: @seachangesport

Preet Chandi was a tennis prodigy from a traditional British Punjabi family, living away from home from a very early age. She left school with very few qualifications, joined the army reserves without telling her family, got into university, became an officer in the regular army, got a masters and decided to go to the South Pole on her own.This is a two parter in one episode about the grit, determination and drive of an extraordinary woman. She would tell she’s not extraordinary, but I challenge you to listen to this without being inspired to do something bigger than you, against all the odds and pre-conceptions of society.I spoke to Preet before she left to eventually become the first woman of colour to reach the South Pole unsupported (spoiler alert) and then had the pleasure of catching up with her not long before she went back again to attempt to cross the whole of Antarctica unsupported, with the goal of being the first woman to do so.The change in tone between the first half and the second is interesting. The talkative, enthusiasm is still there but you can hear very clearly the gravity that such an endeavour bestowed upon her. A maturity, a worldliness and perhaps a little bit of the unresolved frustrations she has experienced since her return.Preet is out of the ice as I publish (Dec 2022) in her Phase 2 and you can follow her on IG @polarpreet and on her website www.polarpreet.com

Ursula Martin is also known as “One Woman Walks” after she walked thousands of miles across Wales and then across Europe. Her Welsh walk started when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and our conversation takes us all over the place (literally) although actually we talk less about the logistical achievement of crossing Europe on foot during covid than how someone who needed a change of scenery took to adventure and never really looked back.  It’s a very personal conversation, full of insights and thoughtful meanderings which I don’t think either of us were really expecting to get into. I loved chatting to Ursula. She’s very real and very modest with a dry sense of humour which I suspect has helped her through many of the struggles she’s faced. Catch up with her here https://onewomanwalks.com/, where there is a link to her book “One Woman Walks Wales” or on Instagram @onewomanwalks

South African mountaineer Cathy O’Dowd was the first woman in the world to climb Mount Everest from both sides. Her most challenging Himalayan epic was as part of team forging a new route on an 8000 metre peak. Her many expeditions provided extensive experience with individuals and teams facing stress, risk and overwhelming challenge. She developed these insights into a 25-year career as an internationally acclaimed corporate motivational speaker. Cathy remains an active adventurer. She lives in Andorra in the Pyrenees and spends her time canyoning, ski-touring, climbing, mountaineering and sea-kayaking. Covid allowing, in the summer of 2022 she will be taking part in an exploratory sea kayak expedition along the coast of Greenland.I first came across Cathy when I reqad her book in around 2003. I was awe struck and have remained a fan ever since. Her no nonsense approach to everything may not be everyone’s cup of tea but I find in equal measure a tiny bit intimidating and a huge amount inspiring. There is a part of me that wishes I could be as bold and forthright in my dealings with life. This is well worth a listen.Website http://cathyodowd.com Instagram @CathyODowd Facebook @CathyODowdEverest

Freelance Social Media goto and lover of big days outside, Frankie Dewar is a climber, hiker, skier and general fun seeker Frankie has cycled 3,000km around the UK to interview people older than herself about the outdoors to show that you don't have to "do it whilst you're young". In this conversation, we cover everything from how the podcast came about to how she coped as a young carer to her mum and how she burst into her 20s tyring to make up for time “lost” during her childhood. How envy can be a powerful motivator, musing over what “being enough” means, how to manage when the work you do is so closely aligned with your own identity and how to support a loved one on a journey, both physical and spiritual. https://www.frankiedewar.co/ https://www.instagram.com/frankie_dewar/ https://www.tiktok.com/@frankiedewarcreative https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankie-dewar/

Running began for Lucy when she was 15 years old as a way to spend time with her Dad. When he decided to run a 100km race through the blue mountains 5 years ago she trained alongside him for every step of the way. On race day, she ran from place to place to see him and accidentally ran her first ultra. Then she decided that she wanted to complete a race of this distance and ran side by side with her Dad for 100Km, finishing in 12:36:00 and smiling. She was in love, not only with the physical and mental side of performing the art of ultra-running but the community and the environments it took her to.The following year she entered this race again and ran solo finishing in a time of 9:30:00 to place her second female and suddenly she had emerged into this sport with potential. She then wanted to keep pushing the limits and so competed in a 6-day multi-stage race in the Simpson Desert in Australia finishing 2nd female and 2nd overall.Fast forward a few years and in 2014 she ran as part of the Australian/New Zealand Skyrunning team in Chamonix, France winning the junior division of the Mont Blanc Marathon to become the junior world family Skyrunning champion. She then competed in the Ultra distance world championships of 85kms where she won the junior category to become the world ultra-junior trail running champion.A second place in the 2018 Western States race catapulted her into the public eye but when she lined up again in the same race a year later, after a reassessment of her diet, lifestyle and health, her body shape had changed and that same public demanded to know why she was no longer the same runner.This led to a recaculating of what was important, what she loved and a chance to take it back to basics and remembering the “why”. This conversation covers everything from her start in running, her relationship with her parents, her body and her sport.We discuss at length her movie “Running Out”, where she ran the 231km Larapinta Trail in the Autralian Outback and the extreme challenge that presented as well as where is “the line” when it comes to pushing your body. I cannot recommend the movie enough!Lucy is a bright, bubbly spark of joy and inspiration and I loved chatting to her.IG: @lucy_bartholomewhttps://www.lucybartholomew.com/http://www.runningoutmovie.com/

At the time of the episode release (January 2022) Victoria Evans is about to depart in February to become the 8th British woman to solo row the Atlantic Ocean. Setting off from Tenerife, she will row 3000 miles over the course of nearly two months to reach Port St Charles in Barbados. It’s a challenge that’s been 3 years in the making, with Victoria forced to postpone last minute at the start of 2021 due to COVID restrictions . It’s an endeavour she’s undertaking to raise awareness about, and money for, UK Charity ‘Women in Sport’. A sports lawyer herself, she didn’t start being active until her late twenties when she moved to Switzerland for work. Access to the transformational benefit of sport for all women and girls is a cause that she’s passionate about on both a personal and professional level.We talk about her awakening into sport, equality for women in sport, how the culture needs to change, why she decided to do this row and how she got into sport relatively late in life and how much benefit she has gained from it. Finally, we talk about the row and what she hopes to get out of it. Part two will be after her row is completed and we’ll get to hear how the dream compared to the reality.I didn’t ask her for a #challengecatie but I will when she gets back!IG: @seachangesport www.seachangesport.com