Off Track 005 | By the Run Down

A personal best doesn't always feel like success. For Matt Baxter, running 2:10:57 at the Valencia Marathon came with the realisation that his professional running career was coming to a close. In this episode of The Rundown, Oska and Tom sit down with Matt to explore the journey behind that moment—from his early days in New Plymouth to NCAA team titles with Northern Arizona University, professional running with HOKA NAZ Elite, and a return home to Taranaki. Matt shares the school-racing setbacks that nearly pushed him out of the sport, the unexpected chain of events that took him and Emily to America, and why the people and culture at NAU meant more than the trophies. There's plenty of banter along the way, including college rivalries and press-conference comments that took on a life of their own. But this is also a candid conversation about pressure, injury, family, identity and learning to recognise the value of a journey that didn't end exactly as planned. Now coaching through RunZing and managing Front Runner New Plymouth, Matt is focused on helping others experience the belonging and support that shaped his own running life. We cover: Finding running—and almost giving it away Breakthrough performances and visualisation The move to Flagstaff and the American college system NAU's championship culture and memorable rivalries The transition into professional running Marathon lessons from New York, Gold Coast, CIM and Valencia Life with Emily, raising a family and returning to New Zealand Building stronger teams and a more connected running community Follow The Rundown wherever you listen, and share this episode with someone navigating a big goal or a new beginning. Content note: Contains strong language and discussion of bereavement.

Tom, Theo and Oska break down Auckland Marathon weekend, Almgren's New York win on debut, World Athletics lifting the stack limit on cross country spikes, and a full Nike Vomero+ review. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro + the Facebook Marketplace con 2:45 Auckland Half Marathon recap 10:20 Auckland Marathon: Toby's course record debut 21:45 Almgren wins New York on debut 30:10 Cross country spike stack limits scrapped 34:30 What we're wearing this week 37:50 Nelson shake out + Adidas Adios Pro 5 wear test 40:05 Kiwi results round-up 43:10 Test Run + Run Club news 46:00 Nike Vomero+ review HIGHLIGHTS Auckland: Toby runs 2:15:29 on marathon debut to break the course record and win by eight minutes. Bridgette Denehy wins her third Auckland Marathon in a row (2:42:49). Will Sinclair breaks the half marathon course record on debut, and Eva wins the women's half in 1:13:37. A record 18,500+ people registered. Andreas Almgren wins New York on marathon debut in 2:06:01. World Athletics has removed the stack limit on cross country spikes. Nelson shake out: Thursday 3 December, 6pm, corner of Trafalgar and Bridge Street, with the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 5 to wear test and hats to give away. Test Run: $15 to book a pair for two days, refunded when you return them. On Cloudsurfer 3 is next. Run Club: Tuesday 6pm hill reps up Hackthorne from Princess Margaret Hospital, plus easy runs in Richmond, Nelson and New Plymouth. Nike Vomero+ review. LINKS Frontrunner Colombo: https://frontrunnercolombo.co.nz Watch on YouTube: [paste YouTube link] The Run Down by Frontrunner is a weekly NZ running specialty podcast, new every Friday. Music: "I Say When (Instrumental)" by Vicki Vox, via Epidemic Sound.

Andy and Logan are joined by Scotty Hawker, New Zealand ultra-trail runner and online coach, about to line up for a 100K in Antarctica with a crack at the 9:20 continental record. In this episode: - Logan's 292 km bike ride and Andy's 2:59:52 50K at Hagley Park - Scotty's Auckland Marathon as an Antarctica tune-up - How fast and professional trail running has become - Doping and drug testing in the sport - From the Coast to Coast to ultras: how Scotty got started - The Antarctica 100K, new fatherhood and staying motivated - The Vibram sponsorship story - Why Scotty keeps going back to UTMB - Advice for athletes who want to go pro, and coaching in the age of AI - Tales from the Trails: the Blue Mountains rescue - No Free Ads and what's coming up on the NZ calendar Segments: Athlete Spotlight, Tales from the Trails, No Free Ads. This episode contains explicit language.

Pip, head coach of the Frontrunner Run Club and one of our new regular reviewers, joins Oska and Theo this week. We recap the Timaru Ten, the real nationals: flat, fast and perfect conditions, with Toby Gualter's course record, seven men under 30 minutes and a string of big PBs for the women. Theo walks us through his race morning and his 32:39 PB, and we talk about the pacers who made it all work. Then we look ahead to the Auckland Marathon and Half Marathon. Toby Gualter makes his marathon debut chasing the course record, defending champ Dan Balchin has plenty of experience on his side, and we go through the women's and half marathon fields. We also cover Georgie Grgec's NZ 10K road record, the Peres Jepchirchir doping case and its effect on LA28 qualifying standards, Mark Kiptoo's M50 marathon world record, and a tribute to coach Arch Jelley. Then it's the Run Club update, the Adidas HyperBOOST Run as the most underrated shoe of 2026, and the Saucony Endorphin Speed 6 scored on our new Run Culture Scale. New episodes drop every Friday at lunchtime. frontrunnercolombo.co.nz

Andy and Logan crack open the mystery beers from Trail Running NZ and run through a huge weekend of racing. Taupo Ultra produced a new 100K course record from Gary Carlton, and Crater Rim had fast times in great conditions. Logan wins the 22K, with finish-line interviews from Jack Payne and Tim Jorgensen, our Athlete to Watch. Ruth Croft takes out Diagonale des Fous. Also this week: lactate testing at Hagley, a review of the Norda 005, the new Test Run demo shoe system at Frontrunner Colombo (frontrunnercolombo.co.nz/pages/test-run), and Coach's Corner questions on travelling for hills and the longest run for a 100K. Next episode is our first human in-studio guest. Off Track is the trail spinoff of The Run Down, recorded at Frontrunner Colombo in Christchurch.

Saucony Triumph 24 Review, Timaru 10 Preview + Hannah Gapes on a Tear Tom, Theo and Oscar are back with the weekly running specialty podcast from Frontrunner Colombo in Christchurch. This week Theo makes his podcast debut in the third chair. IN THIS EPISODE Meet Theo: his running background, how he ended up on the pod, and his Timaru 10 goals Tom on racing back to back (Auckland, then Queenstown), why he won't taper for each race, and his shoe choice Timaru 10 preview: the pace groups, the fields, and the live stream Hannah Gapes on a tear in the NCAA: what's driving it and where it could lead Crater Rim results and what's coming on Off Track New in store: heat press Run Club merch, the Community Colab, and Test Run, where you can book shoes for a weekend The Athletics New Zealand summer season rundown Listener question: does colourway change how a shoe fits? Saucony Triumph 24 review: Theo's 300km verdict, the new Incredlite foam, fit, and how it compares to the 23 LINKS Test Run: https://frontrunnercolombo.co.nz/pages/test-run Shop: https://frontrunnercolombo.co.nz Timaru 10 live stream: [add link] New episodes every Friday at noon, ready for your weekend long run.

Anna's back from Europe, Tom's lining up for Auckland and Queenstown, and Oska's out of retirement. We recap Race the Pro 5, run through the weekend's marathon results, give first impressions of the Mizuno Hyperwarp Pure 2, and preview Timaru Ten. Full show notes The Run Down is our weekly running specialty podcast from Frontrunner, taking you behind the scenes of our stores around New Zealand, the shoes we're testing, the training we're doing and the races coming up. This week: Anna's back from six weeks in Europe: Edinburgh, Spain and Rome, and how European crowds compare to NZ events Tom's Auckland Half and Queenstown plans, and his pro triathlon licence paperwork Oska's comeback from injury, and a possible Spectacle 5K Race the Pro 5 recap: 120 runners, teams of five, 800m laps, chasing a team of the country's best Kipchoge, Chicago and the weekend's big marathon results Shoe talk, then Mizuno Hyperwarp Pure 2 first impressions Kona's surprise winner and retirement Test Run: book demo shoes online, keep them for two days, with a refundable deposit Timaru Ten preview Community competition: design a Christchurch run culture tee to be heat-pressed in store. Email your designs to us. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:30 Anna's back from Europe 05:00 European crowds vs NZ events 07:30 Auckland Half and Queenstown 12:00 Tom's pro licence and the ECG scare 17:00 Oska's comeback 21:00 Spectacle 5K and the hangar night race idea 23:00 Race the Pro 5 recap 27:30 Kipchoge, Chicago and Melbourne 35:30 Shoe talk 39:30 Mizuno Hyperwarp Pure 2 48:00 Run Club and Kona 53:30 Test Run demo shoes 55:30 Timaru Ten 59:30 Community heat-press competition  

Off Track is back — a week late thanks to dogs and airport logistics, and with plenty to catch up on. Andy and Logan start with training: school-holiday survival mode and a busy race-season build for Andy, a post-Tekapo reset (plus a mountaineering course and a taped-up ankle), and Logan's return to running, where each new session type feels like unlocking a character in a video game, alongside big bike miles ahead of La Petite Brevet, a 300K mountain bike loop of Banks Peninsula. We launch a new segment, Tales from the Trails, inspired by the stories that land in Training Peaks comments. The first comes from a friend's early-morning tempo run up Captain Thomas / Godley Head. Send us yours! We also read out a very good reply to last episode's chat about weeing on the run. Then it's three weeks of Kiwi results: Annabel Bramwell and David Hammersmith (course record) at the Rakiura Challenge on Stewart Island, Clinton Manderson and Megan Craig at Marina to Marina, the dog-and-runner 4 Paws Marathon in Bottle Lake Forest (including a 39:55 10K), Dan Jones winning the masters at road relays, a record 1,300 entrants at Cave Kidnappers (a course record for Amber Morrison and a 3:02 from Calum McPherson in the 34K), and Simon Cochran's record 205K "Claw" at the Blue Lake 24-hour. A look at Masters records leads to the story of Jack Foster, who started running at 32, finished eighth at the Olympics, and still holds the NZ M40 marathon record of 2:11:18 from 1973. Athlete to Watch is Chester Holt-Quick, who's building to the Spectacle 100K in Nelson and has an enormous 2027 calendar. Overseas, we cover Lucy Bartholomew's Melbourne Marathon PB, Salomon becoming Ironman's sponsor (and what that might mean for UTMB), Des Linden's road-to-Western-States plan, and Ruth Croft lining up at Diagonale des Fous. Finally, a preview of Taupo Ultra and Crater Rim (Andy is racing the 22K), gear choices for the weekend, a No Free Ads shout-out, and a Coach's Corner on when to start carrying fuel and fluids and how best to carry them. This episode covers: Training catch-up and the new Tales from the Trails segment Results: Rakiura Challenge, Marina to Marina, 4 Paws Marathon, road relays, Cave Kidnappers, Blue Lake 24-hour Jack Foster and the NZ Masters records Athlete to Watch: Chester Holt-Quick Overseas: Lucy Bartholomew, Salomon x Ironman x UTMB, Des Linden, Ruth Croft Preview: Taupo Ultra and Crater Rim Gear: Norda 005 and the singlet No Free Ads: hotel reception lollies Coach's Corner: fuel and hydration Got a trail story or a coaching question? Send it to Frontrunner Colombo or @andygood on Instagram, or comment on Spotify. Anonymous is fine.

Tom's back after more than seven weeks away — most of it spent training in Andorra with Hayden Wilde and Kyle ahead of the 70.3 Age Group World Championships in Nice, followed by a genuinely brutal travel saga getting home. He's joined this episode by Theo, who gets his own spotlight after a trip to Melbourne meeting the On Running crew and helping launch the Cloudsurfer 3 in New Zealand.   The centrepiece of this episode is Oska's full Berlin Marathon trip with adidas — sitting down with the AdiZero design team to understand every decision behind the new Adizero Adios Pro 5, visiting the House of Fast, getting a photo with Gebrselassie, and watching Tigist Assefa win the women's race while running the final two kilometres on a ruptured Achilles. We get a full technical breakdown of the Pro 5 itself, a listener question on finding a daily workhorse trainer, and the full rundown on **Race the Pro 5 After Dark**, the Sydenham Underpass event held on 8 October with a live DJ, smoke machine, laser lights and the works.   **This episode covers:** - Tom's seven weeks training with Hayden Wilde and Kyle in Andorra - 70.3 Age Group World Championships, Nice - Tom's travel nightmare getting home, and whether he's going pro next year - Theo's Melbourne trip and the On Cloudsurfer 3 - Oska's full Berlin Marathon trip with adidas - Tigist Assefa's remarkable Berlin win - Deep dive: the adidas Adizero Adios Pro 5 - Listener Q: finding a workhorse daily trainer - Race the Pro 5 After Dark — Sydenham Underpass, 8 October   Got a question for the show? Drop it in our Instagram DMs or the Shopify chat.  

Episode 3, and we've got our first-ever guest on the show — Sawyer, who contributed zero words but excellent company throughout. The centrepiece of this episode is Andy's full, honest recap of the Tekapo 50K — a genuinely rough day that included stomach issues from early on, cramping from the 28K mark, and a mid-race can of Coke from his crew that may have single-handedly saved the result. We also cover Ruth Croft's return to racing at Diagonale des Fous on Reunion Island, a genuinely wild prize money announcement out of Colorado's Run Rabbit Run (now offering $100,000 USD to the winner — the largest single prize in trail running history), a full review of the Tekapo Trail Weekend as an event, and a proper Athlete to Watch spotlight on Frances Redmond, who ran a patient, calculated 50K to come from third to first. From there it's a rapid-fire listener Q&A covering shoe choice, fibre intake before a race, hill training specificity for a climb like Mount John, and recovering from a DNF, plus gear notes on the Norda 005 and the On running vest. We close out with a couple of lighter segments — Shokz headphones and a genuinely excellent stout recommendation — before a candid, good-humoured conversation about one of ultra running's less-discussed realities. Fair warning is given before that section if it's not for you. This episode covers: Training updates and two new races on the calendar Ruth Croft's return at Diagonale des Fous Run Rabbit Run's $100,000 prize announcement Tekapo Trail Weekend: full event review and results Athlete to Watch: Frances Redmond Andy's full Tekapo 50K race recap Rapid-fire Q&A: shoes, fuelling, hill training, injury recovery Gear notes: Norda 005, Mountain to Coast, the On vest No Free Ads: Shokz headphones, a stout recommendation Got a question for the show? Send it through on Spotify or to the Frontrunner Instagram.