Tales from the Valley Podcast

TFTV ft. Sam Hodges

This week, Katie takes over hosting duties and puts Sam in the hot seat for a change. Sam runs through his personal bests — including a 9:57 3 km time trial where a shoelace came undone mid-run, a gritty 1:18 half marathon at the Western Sydney Half, where he came third after running through the field and picking off competitors throughout the second half, and his 2:56 marathon, which capped off his original ambition of breaking three hours.
Katie then debuts a brand-new segment: Rapid Fire Questions, putting Sam on the spot with some quick hits.
🏃 Training Weeks
Katie recaps a varied week of strength training and cycling, before having a crack at the JT Running 5 km on the track Tuesday night.
Sam successfully paces the JT Running 5 km group through to sub-20 minutes, but spends the rest of the week jogging easy while battling a head cold.
🎄 Thank you to all our listeners for the support this year — wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and happy running!

TFTV ft. Rene Collins

Sam and Katie sit down with Rene Collins, a familiar face in the Illawarra running scene who wears many hats — from coaching local ultra-marathon athletes, to pacing at major city marathons, and most recently leading the run sessions for SAVVY.
Rene’s running journey began with the Canberra Marathon, an initiation he describes as brutally tough, famously hitting the wall around 32km. From there, things escalated quickly. He tackled the Six Foot Track (45km) in the Blue Mountains, followed by the UTA 100km, a race Rene recalls as a comedy of errors — yet still an unforgettable and enjoyable experience.
Momentum carried him into the Southern Sydney 100km on the track, where he finished an incredible 2nd place, before stepping up again to the 100-mile distance. This progression ultimately led to his selection for Coast to Kosciuszko (C2K) in 2022.
Rene reflects fondly on completing C2K and walks us through the demanding selection process, including how he worked deliberately to earn selection again for C2K 2025. A key part of that journey was taking on the Alpine Challenge, a gruelling 100-mile race at Falls Creek, to ensure he made the cut.
🏃‍♂️ Training Weeks
Katie outlines a conservative training block, combining a strength-focused program with 6 × 800m reps working down conservatively, plenty of gym work, and cycling.
Sam continues with Yasso 800s (7 reps on Tuesday) alongside a long tempo session on Friday, keeping mileage steady in the 70–80km/week range.
Rene is easing back post-C2K, mixing cycling, Savvy sessions, parkruns, and Thursday track.
☕ Café Kit of the Week
3D-printed stand to air out soft flasks
Katie’s Day Planner
ASICS Kayano
🔁 Around the Club
Rene shouts out Bob Oganovski
Growing anticipation for the JT Running 5km Time Trial

TFTV ft. Edwin Smith

Sam & Katie sit down with Edwin Smith – a relatively new runner who’s dived deep into the world of trail running over the past few years. Edwin recently ran Mudgee Marathon in just over 4 hours, and he’s chasing that sub-4 early next year 👀
He also completed the Pilliga Grand Slam (10k, 50k, 20k spread across 3 days!) and is now building a running community through his social content. Edwin talks us through how he documents his journey and how his Pub Half Marathon concept ended up gaining huge traction online.
Check out Edwin here → @running_with_edwin
Upcoming for Edwin:
Six Foot Track
105k self-guided course early ‘26
Red’s Backyard Ultra on the radar
🏃 Training Weeks
Edwin
4 runs per week
Tempo work
2hr trail long run on weekends
Katie
3 day run-strength plan
12×400m, 3×8min
Zwift sesh + heavy gym work
Sam
Half-Yasso 800s
Tempo + Threshold + k-reps
Hilly long run with a spicy finish on Sunday 😮‍💨
☕ Café Kit of the Week
Toppo Trail Shoes
Injinji Toe Socks
“Warming up” before your run
Recovery Base Shellharbour
🏔️ Round the Clubs
Edwin shouts out The GOATs Trail Running Club
🔥 Valencia Results – huge congrats to the WTC crew!
Greg Frost – 2:28
Jacob Foster – 2:28
Stefan Deane-Smith – 2:36
Russ Dessaix-Chin – 2:38
Mitch Ryan – 2:46
Liam Henderson – 2:50

Ep 4 Down the Track - James Tunbridge (JT Running)

Sam catches up with James Tunbridge to celebrate the first birthday of JT Running

TFTV ft. Joe Mallat

Sam & Katie sit down with Joe Mallat, who’s had a breakout year on the roads. Joe’s dropped his 5 K to 16:43 at Sandon Point parkrun, clocked 34:55 at Sydney 10, and finished 2nd at Shellharbour Half in 1:21:54.
A former basketball and rugby player, Joe dabbled in cross-country through high school but only recently found structure after joining JT Running. He credits the group’s training environment and guidance from coach James Tunbridge—who just celebrated one year of JT Running—for his rapid progress. Joe now has his eyes set on a sub-33 10 K and a strong marathon debut.
We unpack training weeks from all three hosts:
Katie builds mileage, tackles a sharp VO₂ Max track set (400/300/200s), and rolls through 4 × 6-minute tempo efforts while exploring strength work for her knee.
Sam logs a fast 1 K + 300s session and a surprise set of 2 K reps on Saturday.
Joe mixes running with swimming and gym, plus some snappy 600 m and 300 m intervals on the track.
☕ Café Kit of the Week: Vomero Plus shoes, Shokz Over-Ear Headphones, and Way of the Hero Half Tights🏃‍♂️ Round the Club News: A look at the Kosciuszko Ultra Trail weekend and congratulations to Robby Jay, first winner of the Run Havoc voucher!

TFTV ft. Brad Milosevic

Sam & Katie sit down with Brad Milosevic — the podcast’s fastest marathoner yet. Brad lives in Canberra and in 2015 pulled off something wild: winning both of Australia’s biggest fun runs, taking out City2Surf in 42:12 and the Melbourne Marathon in 2:16:00. Over the next few years he chased the Olympic qualifier, ran another 2:16, and represented Australia at the 2017 World Championships.
Across 2017–2018 he rewrote PBs from 3000m through to the Half Marathon, crediting much of that rise to training in Ken Green’s stable with a strong group of high-level runners. Brad also shares his “phone book” analogy — years of consistent training stacked together so you might rip out a few pages, but you can’t tear the whole book.
After one last shot at a fast time at Lake Biwa, Brad moved into a new career as a primary school teacher. Now he runs for fun, though somehow finds himself back in sub-16 5km shape off a few weeks of jogging and jumping in with Phillo Saunders’ group.
Katie builds steadily with a 97km week and some conservative track work. Sam is in Sydney running 70km with a couple of solid sessions in daily trainers. Brad recaps four jogs.
Café Kit of the Week:Adidas Evo SLAvocado Zinc sunscreenSinglets / Tank Tops
Round the Club Shoutouts:Brad shouts out the Girraween Athletics Club where it all started for him.Sam reminds listeners of the monthly $100 Run Havoc Gift Voucher.

TFTV ft. Cate Giason

Sam & Katie sit down with rising talent Cate Giason, who works at Run Havoc and has just wrapped up school with plans to study something in the sports world. Cate already owns some incredible PBs — 4:53 (1500m), 10:16 (3000m) and 7:08 (2000m steeple) — and she’s not slowing down anytime soon.
Cate shares how she first got into running through her family and Kembla Joggers at age eight, her first ever track race in Year 8, and how she now balances training for Triathlon under coach Ben Bell.
She takes us through a full training week:• 2k threshold efforts• Jogging & cross-training• Track workouts• A Sunday long run• Plus her hit-out at the GONG5000
Sam puts together his best 543215 session yet, DNF’s the GONG5000 at 3km due to chest tightness, and then redeems the week with a strong Sunday long run. Katie is officially back — 91km, track reps, and her debut Mona Fartlek (5.3km).
Café Kit of the Week• Foam Roller• Neo Vista 2• Asics Megablast thoughts• Zooper Doopers

TFTV - Men's Mental Health Chat

Inspired by the vulnerability of our past guests, Sam, Stefan Deane-Smith, and Rohan Laurendet sit down for a raw and honest conversation about their own mental health challenges — and how running has both supported and complicated those experiences.
Rohan also hosts The 11th Hurdle podcast, where he explores mental health and performance with incredible depth and empathy. You can check it out here: https://open.spotify.com/show/3PhiwHspaGGke77HEkYca4
This episode includes discussion of distressing mental health themes, so please take care while listening and consider whether it’s the right time for you to tune in.