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COACHES CORNER!

In this episode, coach Wozza (Warren Wrenkel) returns to talk about the latest happenings in the trail and ultra coaching worlds.

We dive into the 1:59.30 marathon world record at London Marathon. Around that subject, we also talk about Joe Wicks fuelling advice, the effect that super shoes has and the progression of road running over time.

We talk about coaching slower runners and how to get them moving faster through drills and plyometrics. We talk about training for mountaineering and ultras concurrently.....and we discuss Jon Albon's 90g of sugar water for cheap fuelling.

Finally we discuss what gels we've tried lately and our opinions on taste and the science behind hydrogels.

All good stuff!

HT

@ultrarunning_sam

@hometrails_

http://www.youtube.com/@ultrarunningsam

Message Home Trails here - include an email or name for a response ⬅️

Exclusive interview with Sam Heward from ULTRA X about buying up the Dragons Back and Northern Traverse!

Sam firstly tells the story of UX and how they came into the fortunate situation to be able to save the two iconic races. He talks about UX 7 year journey to put on world class multi-day events all over the world and how their experience put them in the position to take on DB and NT.

In this episode I lean heavily on the Home Trails WhatsApp community to set me ups with the questions that YOU the trail running community want answered...

Will the races be changed beyond recognition?

Will the races be more expensive?

Will the iconic routes change?

Most importantly.......will the food still be the same?

All this and more is answered in this episode. Hopefully we managed to cover all bases, so give it a listen and share with your community.

HT

@ultrarunning_sam

@hometrails_

http://www.youtube.com/@ultrarunningsam

Message Home Trails here - include an email or name for a response ⬅️

EPISODE 200!!!!

In this landmark episode I speak to returning guest Damian Hall.

Damo is no stranger to the podcast and has appeared in numerous episodes over the years.....This time however, it's not to talk about The Spine Race or Barkley (although they do obviously get a mention) This time we talk about his new book, RUN FOREVER! "The secret to becoming an ageless athlete"

We dive into the book and how it came to be. We talk about the in-depth information that he's gathered to help all of us oldies still wanting to perform at our best. I speak about how the book has helped me personally with goals for this year and we chat about some of the extraordinary examples of "Ageless Aces" that are still performing at the highest level in our sport!

Pete Stables and Rene Mcgregor contribute to the book with expert help in strength training and nutrition.

A great read as always. You can find a copy on amazon and he's done an audiobook version for those of us with age related bad eyesight!

See the links below...

https://amzn.eu/d/09QBRw5z

https://intoultra.org.uk/home

https://thegreenrunners.com/

@ultrarunning_sam

@hometrails_

http://www.youtube.com/@ultrarunningsam

Message Home Trails here - include an email or name for a response ⬅️

In this episode I speak with Centurion Race director, James Elson.

James returns to the podcast to talk about his one time only race, Sea 2 Sea. A last minute replacement for the defaulted Northern Traverse by Ourea Events.

If you've been following the ongoing discussions about the demise of one of the UKs biggest names in race organisation, you'll be fully aware of the fact that 2 phoenix's rose from the ashes. One being the Community Traverse and the other being the standalone race organised by Centurion.

James talks about getting the race in place at short notice. The logistics of such an undertaking and how it went from an organisers point of view. We also talk about his personal experience doing the Sea 2 Sea himself in his own self supported style (other than a bit of help towards the end from Allie Bailey with a few gels and a sausage roll!)

James confirms that Centurion will not be putting the S2S on again next year and he still confidently believes that someone will buy the NT and the other races and bring them back under new management. Good news for all hopefully!

HT

@ultrarunning_sam

@hometrails_

http://www.youtube.com/@ultrarunningsam

Message Home Trails here - include an email or name for a response ⬅️

Charlotte returns as guest/host? were not even sure at this point because she's been on the pod so regularly!

Chalotte returns to give us the low down on her well earned 12th place at Chianti. After doing a pivot from Tenerife Bluetrail that was cancelled due to bad weather, to this race. Charlotte was initially disappointed with placing outside of the top 10.

But on reflection, she now happy to have put down a solid race against some of the worlds best trail runners!

We talk about her career that we've watched first hand grow from essentially an unknown, to someone with enough clout to be personally invited to a major UTMB race.

Always good to catch up with the rising star that she is!

HT

@ultrarunning_sam

@hometrails_

http://www.youtube.com/@ultrarunningsam

Get in touch with Home Trails here ⬅️

In this episode I speak to Kitty-Leigh Oxley about the Community Traverse!

In the wake of the collapse of Ourea Events, Kitty decided that all that training and money spent getting to the start line of The Northern Traverse couldn't go to waste! Surely there were others in the same situation? The seed of an ideas was born and now we have the Community Traverse!

Support for this event has grown rapidly since its inception and continues to grow. What started as an idea to just do the coast to coast route anyway, has now turned into a full time project for Kitty.

In this episode we discuss the logistics of gathering together a group of runners, volunteers and various supporting organisations to make this idea reality.

The theme that ran through the whole of this discussion was one of hope and community spirit. The fact that this can come together so quickly really highlights that the British trail running community is as string as ever and despite divisive events happening in our sport, we can come together to make good things happen!

If you want to run with the CT then below are the details on how they're logistically making it work. if you want to volunteer your time or resources to help them DM the Community Traverse on instagram.

Re: support options as they stand.

Each CP will vary slightly depending on the facilities we have access to.

At the moment we’re working on securing better locations in Kirkby Stephen & Richmond.

As a minimum, CPs will have gala tents, camping chairs and a gas hob.

There will be plenty of tea, sandwiches, snacks, treats, and gels.

There will be hot food options wherever possible.

Exact locations for support points will be shared very soon and a GPX file for our route will also include all our support locations.

HT

@ultrarunning_sam

@hometrails_

http://www.youtube.com/@ultrarunningsam

Get in touch with Ultrarunning Sam here ⬅️

On this episode of the podcast we speak to Dan Holder.

Dan completed this years Arctic Spine race, a non-stop 293 mile winter ultramarathon along the Kungsleden Trail in Arctic Sweden.

Dan had to contend with -40 degree temps, 40mph winds, pulling a pulk with all of his survival gear including a tent to sleep in along the way. If you think that the Winter Spine Race along the Pennine Way is difficult...then wait until you hear what Dan had to put up with!

From northern lights, moose and hallucinations...to cold so intense you have to do everything with gloves on.....and I mean EVERYTHING!

Dan tells the pod about his former career in the Marines and how his experiences set him up perfectly for the Arctic challenge. Dan has a serious back story that's led him to where his is now, making a difference to people with Atomic Rambo Coaching, his coaching business designed to help trauma victims and positive mindset coaching for business professionals.

HT

@ultrarunning_sam

@hometrails_

http://www.youtube.com/@ultrarunningsam

Get in touch with Ultrarunning Sam here ⬅️

On the podcast this week we have Jon and Henriette Albon!

The power couple for 2026? It seems so! They both decidedly won their respective races at TGC, with Jon battling friend of the show - Josh Wade to a hard fought win. Whilst Henriette won her race by over 90 minutes!

In this episode we dive into what the 'Norwegian Method' really is. We talk about their respective Superhero origin stories and how they came to be the couple that we know today. We talk about their coaching philosophy and why everyone from Norway seems to be smashing ultra trail races!

We also talk in detail about the couples coaching app, Ascendtrail.app and how it worked for them both in prep for this race and how it can work for us mere mortals!

This was a super informative interview and I hope you will get as much out of it as I did!

Now go download the coaching app!

HT

@ultrarunning_sam

@hometrails_

http://www.youtube.com/@ultrarunningsam