The Green Runners Storytime

What happens when your deep love for wild mountain trails collides with the high-carbon realities of elite international racing?For our tenth episode, join Laura as she sits down with Francesco Puppi, elite trail runner, physics graduate and co-founder of the Pro Trail Runners Association (PTRA), to explore how he navigates the delicate balance between professional sport and environmental advocacy. From securing a podium spot at Western States to pushing through fatigue at the OCC, Francesco shares how viewing running as both a science and an art helps him process the uncomfortable truths of modern life.Francesco reveals how viewing climate advocacy through an analytical lens shifted his perspective from personal shame to collective responsibility, how the PTRA successfully advocated for equal prize money and greener race partnerships, and why embracing imperfect activism is essential for real systemic change.🏃 Check out the Pro Trail Runners Association and their work at trailrunners.run🎧 Listen to Francesco's podcast, Any Surface Available📖 Read Francesco's thoughts on sports and climate Substack☕ Support the Show: Help us build a greener running world for the price of a coffee a month. Join The Green RunnersHosted by Laura BriggsProduced & Edited by Paola Handley

Ready to build your confidence off-grid and conquer the trails on your own terms?In this episode, Laura chats with ultra-runner and charity consultant Hannah Large. Inspired by her mother to fall in love with off-road running Hannah shares her experiences from winning Race to the Stones to co-founding Making Tracks Bristol, an initiative helping women and marginalised genders build navigation skills, run safely at night, and embrace grassroots fell racing.By learning to read a map and planning adventures right from your doorstep, you can reduce your travel footprint while unlocking true running freedom.👣 Check out Making Tracks Bristol on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingtracksbristol/☕ Support the Show: Help us build a greener running world for the price of a coffee a month. Join The Green Runners: https://thegreenrunners.com/📷 Cover photo: T Fenn

Ready to step off the fast fashion treadmill?Laura catches up with slow fashion designer, sustainability creator, and TGR member Lydia Bolton to explore how upcycling can change how we kit up. Lydia breaks down how she went from unpicking old curtains to running Trash Labs for Nike, reworking Adidas football kit, and starring in the final chapter of our Gear for Good campaign. A chat about the beauty of taking the mindful path, reshaping a multi-billion-pound industry thread by thread, and finding joy in giving preloved gear a second chance. ✂️ Discover Lydia's work and upcoming workshops👕 Check out the Gear for Good campaign☕ Support the Show: Help us build a greener running world for the price of a coffee a month. ⁠Join The Green Runners⁠📷 Lily MilesHosted by Laura BriggsProduced & Edited by Paola Handley

Everything you always wanted to know about Local Meet Ups, but were afraid to ask: join Laura as she chats with seasoned endurance runner and super volunteer Kevin Bowen, founder of the original chapter of The Green Runners’ Local Meet Ups. From tackling multi-day challenges like the Dragon's Back Race and Montane Spine Race, to pioneering Local Meet Ups in Nottingham, Kev shares his experience on creating a simple, accessible blueprint for groups popping up across the country. Discover how to pick low-carbon, traffic-free routes, partner with existing events like parkruns, and connect with fellow runners at upcoming events like the Nottingham Green Festival (Sunday 13 September 2026). Building a greener running community does not require hundreds of miles of trail, just a few local steps together!🏃 Local Meet Ups: Find your nearest group or learn how to host your own at https://thegreenrunners.com/local-meet-ups/🎪 Nottingham Green Festival: Catch Kev and the team at the festival or find details at https://nottmgreenfest.org.uk/☕ Support the Show: Help us build a greener running world for the price of a coffee a month. Join The Green RunnersHosted by Laura BriggsProduced & Edited by Paola Handley

An Olympic gold medalist, a Supreme Court pioneer, and a visionary eco-artist walk onto a riverbank... but the fight to save Devon's dying rivers is no joke. This episode, host Laura Briggs sits down with Anne-Marie Culhane, Goldman Environmental Prize winner Sarah Finch, and London 2012 Canoe Slalom Champion Etienne Stott MBE to unpack the wildly creative 43-mile relay fighting to restore the River Exe's endangered Atlantic salmon population. The trio reveals what it takes to defeat oil giants in the UK’s highest court, how navigating elite whitewater translates to climate advocacy, and why trading competitive race times for running "as a shoal" can turn environmental despair into pure community action. This is a story about grassroots defiance, ecological wonder, and the unforgettable power of running for something bigger than yourself. 🐟 Join the Salmon Run (Sat, Sept 19th)💚 Green Runners Discount: Members get 20% off. Get in touch for your code! ☕ Support the Show: Help us build a greener running world for the price of a coffee a month. ⁠Join The Green Runners⁠.Hosted by Laura BriggsProduced & Edited by Paola Handley

What happens when you trade your desk for a dusty running track on the other side of the world?This month, host Laura Briggs sits down with award-winning author and journalist Adharanand Finn (Running with the Kenyans, The Way of the Runner, The Rise of the Ultra Runners) to explore the terrifying, hilarious, and deeply transformative reality of a life lived on the run.Adharanand opens up about his early roots in environmental journalism, the sheer panic of moving his entire family to Iten, Kenya, and the claustrophobic comedy of hauling three young children across the Trans-Siberian Express to research running culture in Japan. Plus, he reveals how he accidentally stumbled headfirst into the exploding world of endurance running.This is a story about creative leaps of faith, family survival, and the beautiful human connections forged through sweat and open roads.Adharanand's books and Patreon subscriptionThe Way of The Runner PodcastRunning retreats⁠⁠Join The Green Runners: Become part of a community running for the planet, not just a PB.Hosted by Laura BriggsProduced & Edited by Paola Handley

Help us grow: Rate, Share, Follow!How does a man who has spent 15 years presenting on national radio breakfast shows find his balance? He runs. Really, really far.This week on The Green Runners Storytime, Laura chats to the irrepressible Vassos Alexander, sports presenter, author, and veteran of some of the world's toughest ultramarathons.Vassos shares his captivating philosophy of being a "minimalist maximalist": chasing massive, logic-defying distances (including the legendary 153-mile Spartathlon) while stripping away the noise, the over-complicated gear, and the ego.Listen to Vassos on the Track Radio breakfast show: https://www.trackradio.com/Read Vassos's books: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/author/vassos-alexander/Join The Green Runners: ⁠https://thegreenrunners.com/⁠Become part of a community running for the planet!Hosted by Laura BriggsProduced & Edited by Paola Handley

Help us grow: Rate, Share, Follow!Have you ever felt the heavy, physical weight of climate paralysis? Laura does too. Her answer wasn’t to stop: it was to move differently.In this episode we follow Laura from the Welsh mountains (where the "Eco Pilgrims" were born) to the relentless climbs of the Camino Primitivo. What happens when a team of three becomes a 200-mile solo mission?Laura discusses the "drudgery" of winter training, the apprehension of being a woman alone on the trail, and why swapping an airport lounge for a ferry isn't all sacrifice: it’s a rediscovery of joy.Read Laura’s Report on Substack: https://ecopilgrims.substack.com/Follow the Eco Pilgrims on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eco.pilgrims/Join The Green Runners: https://thegreenrunners.com/ Become part of a community running for the planet!Hosted & Written by Jeev SinghProduced & Edited by Paola Handley

Help us grow: Rate, Share, Follow!In late 2025, sustainability strategist and B Leader Hannah Cox set off on an impossible mission known as Project Salt Run. Her goal: to run 100 marathons in 100 days tracing the Inland Customs Line, a forgotten, 2,500-mile living hedge built by the East India Company to enforce a lethal salt tax.Fresh from crossing the finish line in February 2026, Hannah joins Laura Briggs to share the "dirt bag" reality of the expedition. From battling acute gastroenteritis in the Indian heat to stitching her only pair of shoes back together by the roadside, this is a story of radical transparency, ancestral reckoning, and the sheer grit required to turn a colonial horror story into a £1 million legacy for climate resilience through Project Salt Run.Donate to Project Salt Run: Help Hannah reach the £1M goal for ClientEarth, Frank Water, Big Change, and 1% for the Planet. ⁠Donate here⁠Join The Green Runners: Become part of a community running for the planet, not just a PB. ⁠Join here⁠Hosted by Laura BriggsProduced & Edited by Paola Handley

Help us grow: Rate, Share, Follow!Welcome to The Green Runners Storytime. Laura is joined by Damian Hall, who has just returned from Tennessee after being the 'Last Man Standing' at this year's edition of the Barkley Marathons. After 40+ hours of Tennessee mud, missing book pages, and sleep-deprivation hallucinations, Damo sits down with Laura Briggs to discuss the grit required to survive Loop 3 and the inevitable "Climate Hypocrite" paradox of elite international racing.Join the mission: https://thegreenrunners.comHosted by Laura BriggsProduced & Edited by Paola HandleyPhotography: David Miller