RunUltra

Kate flies alone this week and chats to Jake Catterall about his incredible “Super Loop” in Chamonix last August. He ran every UTMB race, one after another, and yes that includes PTL. He’s getting married tomorrow and we send him our congratulations and best wishes for a fabulous day. Thanks for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast and leave a quick rating or review; it helps other runners find the show.Listen on Spotify | Apple | YoutubeFor more stories, in-depth gear reviews, and training plans from the world of ultra and trail running, hop over to the RunUltra website. Sign up for free and join one of the largest ultra-running communities PLUS you’ll get discounts on loads of products and services from our lovely partners.If you have any questions, feedback, or a story to share, we’d love to hear from you; join the RunUltra community on WhatsApp. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit runultra.substack.com

We chat to the co-founder of Ultra X, Sam Heward who earlier this year bought the Dragon’s Back Race from Ourea when it folded. We are also joined by Bryony Shircore, who ran the inaugural Dragon’s Fire two day race, which follows the first two days of the full route. Thanks for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast and leave a quick rating or review; it helps other runners find the show.Listen on Spotify | Apple | YoutubeFor more stories, in-depth gear reviews, and training plans from the world of ultra and trail running, hop over to the RunUltra website. Sign up for free and join one of the largest ultra-running communities PLUS you’ll get discounts on loads of products and services from our lovely partners.If you have any questions, feedback, or a story to share, we’d love to hear from you; join the RunUltra community on WhatsApp. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit runultra.substack.com

Robin and Kate have a wonderful conversation with Ant who recently completed the UTMB’s PTL, Petite Trot de Leon. They discuss this incredible race, and the fact there’s relatively little exposure about it in comparison to the rest of the events held during the same week. Antonio describes the team any how they planned and carried out their challenge, including saying a sad goodbye when one of them had to drop. All preceded by Kate and Robin having their usual catch up on news.Ant also wrote a race report about PTL, which you can read here if you’re looking for a serious adventure.Photo credit: Manu BortolottiThanks for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast and leave a quick rating or review; it helps other runners find the show.Listen on Spotify | Apple | YoutubeFor more stories, in-depth gear reviews, and training plans from the world of ultra and trail running, hop over to the RunUltra website. Sign up for free and join one of the largest ultra-running communities PLUS you’ll get discounts on loads of products and services from our lovely partners.If you have any questions, feedback, or a story to share, we’d love to hear from you; join the RunUltra community on WhatsApp. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit runultra.substack.com

We’re back! After various holidays, Robin and Kate start the autumn season with Tom Joly, fresh off his finish at UTMB last weekend. They chat about Tom’s race, his training and lead up to the race. We talk about the other stories around UTMB and look forward to Tom’s plans for 2027.Thanks for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast and leave a quick rating or review; it helps other runners find the show.Listen on Spotify | Apple | YoutubeFor more stories, in-depth gear reviews, and training plans from the world of ultra and trail running, hop over to the RunUltra website. Sign up for free and join one of the largest ultra-running communities PLUS you’ll get discounts on loads of products and services from our lovely partners.If you have any questions, feedback, or a story to share, we’d love to hear from you; join the RunUltra community on WhatsApp. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit runultra.substack.com

A fascinating, funny and genuinely heartfelt conversation with Sophie Woods and photographer Zoe Salt about their extraordinary adventure taking on the full Via Alpina. Sophie became the fastest person ever to complete the 2,018km route from Trieste to Monaco, covering more than 117,000m of elevation across eight countries in just 28 days, 17 hours and 59 minutes. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit runultra.substack.com

Laura has just completed her 5th Badwater 135 and was 5th lady in an incredible 29:09:02, coming in under 30 hours. Bar a slightly slower race in 2023, she has got faster and improved her results every year; we chat about her meticulous preparation and training for this incredibly demanding race. Her Chief of Crew and husband Matthew also joined us, giving us unique insight into the logistics of this race.Thanks for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast and leave a quick rating or review; it helps other runners find the show.Listen on Spotify | Apple | YoutubeFor more stories, in-depth gear reviews, and training plans from the world of ultra and trail running, hop over to the RunUltra website. Sign up for free and join one of the largest ultra-running communities PLUS you’ll get discounts on loads of products and services from our lovely partners.If you have any questions, feedback, or a story to share, we’d love to hear from you; join the RunUltra community on WhatsApp. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit runultra.substack.com

Kirsty Reade ran Hardrock 100 two weeks ago, and although she was just over the 48 cut-off to finish, she became the first British woman to finish the loop. Angie Funtanilla volunteered for iRunFar, and was positioned around the course in order to feedback results and photos during the race. She joined Kirsty talking to Kate and Robin about the whole experience from both sides, giving us a fantastic picture of this stunning and tough race. Thanks for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast and leave a quick rating or review; it helps other runners find the show.Listen on Spotify | Apple | YoutubeFor more stories, in-depth gear reviews, and training plans from the world of ultra and trail running, hop over to the RunUltra website. Sign up for free and join one of the largest ultra-running communities PLUS you’ll get discounts on loads of products and services from our lovely partners.If you have any questions, feedback, or a story to share, we’d love to hear from you; join the RunUltra community on WhatsApp. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit runultra.substack.com

David joins Robin and Kate for a fun chat about all things running. We focus on Badwater; the race is coming up in a couple of weeks time and a new film “The Long Way Round”, by Max McGee, premiers on YouTube this Friday, which follows David’s own journey to the race in 2025. We learn about how David got into trail running, started Camino Ultras and the community he’s built around that. And if you want to learn what gaffer tape and vaseline have in common, listen on. It was a huge pleasure chatting to David; it’s a long episode but we had so much more to ask him, so he’s definitely coming back. Possibly the nicest guy in ultra running.Watch Max’s film hereThanks for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast and leave a quick rating or review; it helps other runners find the show.For more stories, in-depth gear reviews, and training plans from the world of ultra and trail running, hop over to the RunUltra website. Sign up for free and join one of the largest ultra-running communities PLUS you’ll get discounts on loads of products and services from our lovely partners.If you have any questions, feedback, or a story to share, we’d love to hear from you; join the RunUltra community on WhatsApp. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit runultra.substack.com

After the announcement of Spine taking over Cape Wrath from Ourea Events, I invited Chris and Debs on to talk about their own unique event on the Cape Wrath trail. We discuss how it came into being and Debs own long experience of the original race on both sides of the fence. What emerged sounds like it will be a very different, albeit highly professional, challenge (not race!) which they want to make as accessible as possible for anyone wanting to explore the Cape Wrath Trail under a safe umbrella. Debs’ passion shines through and it was clear to me that while they agreed it was frustrating to have another event, they are cheerful and optimistic about theirs.Photo courtesy of Steve AshworthThanks for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast and leave a quick rating or review; it helps other runners find the show.Listen on Spotify | Apple | YoutubeFor more stories, in-depth gear reviews, and training plans from the world of ultra and trail running, hop over to the RunUltra website. Sign up for free and join one of the largest ultra-running communities PLUS you’ll get discounts on loads of products and services from our lovely partners.If you have any questions, feedback, or a story to share, we’d love to hear from you; join the RunUltra community on WhatsApp. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit runultra.substack.com

When Kate saw Centurion Running’s reel following and celebrating the last finisher of the SDW100 around the track, she knew she wanted to invite her on the Podcast. This wasn’t Sue’s first 100 and we talk about why she was last, how she battled an injury at 40 miles and an ongoing niggle which stopped her running at 66 miles. Where many would throw in the towel, she kept going, chasing cut offs and in spite of everything she finished.We also touch on what happened at Biotropika and a possible new Backyard record plus Western States starts tomorrow and we are cheering on the Brits, including Fi Pascall.Photo courtesy of Pierre PapetThanks for tuning in! If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast and leave a quick rating or review; it really helps other runners find the show.Listen on Spotify | Apple | YoutubeFor more stories, in-depth gear reviews, and training plans from the world of ultra and trail running, hop over to the RunUltra website. Sign up for free and join one of the largest ultra-running communities PLUS you’ll get discounts on loads of products and services from our lovely partners.If you have any questions, feedback, or a story to share, we’d love to hear from you; join the RunUltra community on WhatsApp ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/srzu9zcz This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit runultra.substack.com