Tales from the Valley Podcast
Behind every runner there is a story, and we think our local communities deserve to have theirs’ told. The Tales from the Valley Podcast aims to uncover running stories from the South Coast of NSW. Passionate runners Sam Hodges, Katie Mahoney & Mitch Ryan will be catching up on a weekly basis to unravel the running stories from the South Coast and take you on their own personal running journeys.
Episodes
Tuesday Feb 27, 2024
Tales from the Valley - Episode 4 ft. Brad Croker
Tuesday Feb 27, 2024
Tuesday Feb 27, 2024
Sam and Russ get the chance to sit down with a real big dog in the running industry Bradley Croker. Crokes grew up in Mollymook and didn't run so much as a kid, but was inspired by the 96' Olympics and picked up running casually on the treadmill. Fast forward Crokes is a co-host on the Inside Running Podcast and has had a very successful running career with a 2:17 marathon and impressive PB's all the way down to the 800.
Crokes runs us through some beautiful running trails between Ulladulla and Batemans Bay, in fact was humbled on a few long runs by the Ulladulla Rats club when he was younger. We get to hear a bit of detail about Brad's greatest achievements including the Lake Biwa Marathon, Sydney 10 and Christchurch Half Marathon. He then gives us an overview of his experience winning the Christchurch Half Marathon a few years ago, though acknowledges the course will have changed when Russ and Sam head over.Crokes updates us on his slow build back to fitness after being diagnosed last year with Ventricular tachycardia. Russ continues to struggle getting back into training with a pinecone jumping out in front of him during his run and starts to lean towards an approach of jogging his way back to fitness and stripping out the intensity. Sam stacks together 2 solid training weeks both of 118km, honing into marathon pace despite the humidity and caps things off with a very solid long run in Bawley point after celebrating Amelia Berry and Jake Tranter's wedding.
The guys cap things off with an overview of the Canberra Marathon course given a large Wollongong contingent are running this, with some wise words from 2 previous 3rd place getters (guess which 2 hosts). A big shout out to Charl Jansen Van Rensburg's 2:40:41 result at Osaka Marathon coming very close to his A-goal. If you haven't already check out Inside Running Podcast via the link below:
https://open.spotify.com/show/0XNi1i6IdT2TJBc8uwy2IY?si=5c42817cae9a4403
Also support the Sam and Russ's Fundraiser for the Little Miracles Trust via the link below:
https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/tales-from-the-valley-podcast-race-christchurch
Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
Tales from the Valley Podcast - Dylan Gall on NLRC
Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
Dylan Gall joins Sam for a chat on the podcast. Dylan is the co-founder of the Never Lazy Run Club, and a talented runner himself (17:02 5k and 35:55 10k). Growing up in Narooma Dylan always did a bit of running while he did boxing, though when he moved to the Gong he took up running a little more seriously. Initially, Dylan and Jarrod had started the ‘Active Bois Run Club’ which was a hand full of mates who met at the kiosk. The likes of Timmy Waters and Nath Hennessy were rolling around, and before they knew it they had upwards of 50 runners meeting on a Sunday morning at North Gong.
Dylan and Sam talk about a few of the earlier ABRC events including a huge showing at the Run Shellharbour Festival, supporting the 42forCF cause and groups heading away to major marathons like Melbourne Marathon together. This led to events like a 3k handicap race around the Blue Mile, Christmas Party’s and scheduled run times at designated cafes around the Gong.
The recent name change from ABRC to Never Lazy Run Club (NLRC), firstly was an interesting story and secondly was changed to ensure that the club was viewed as truly inclusive and everyone could feel comfortable in joining.
Dylan is also a Personal Trainer and had started ‘Make it Count Performance’ (MICP). Dylan and Sam have a chat about the importance of strength training and Dylan’s success working with local runners.
Get down to the following locations to join in with the NLRC:
Beaton Park for Track Tuesdays – 5:15pm at Beaton Park Carpark
Wednesday Mid-week run – 6am at North Beach Kiosk
Friday Morning run – rotating, updates on Insta. Coffee is a necessity so will be from a café
Sunday Morning Run (5k to Longy) – 6am at North Beach Kiosk
https://www.instagram.com/neverlazyrunclub/
PS – support our fundraiser for The Little Miracles Trust in the leadup to Christchurch Marathon:
https://www.givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/tales-from-the-valley-podcast-race-christchurch
Saturday Feb 17, 2024
Tales from the Valley Podcast - Charl Jansen van Rensburg
Saturday Feb 17, 2024
Saturday Feb 17, 2024
Sam and Russ chat with Charl after learning he is gearing up for Osaka Marathon on February 25th. Charl has impressive PB's across the board including 15:57 for 5k, 34:10 for 10k, 1:16 for the half and 2:45 at New York marathon.
Charl tells us how he started running in Africa growing up, and how he dabbled in multiple sports which gave him a basis for a long and healthy running career.
Charl has had an impressive and consistent training block despite a very busy schedule and working in a high pressure field career wise. We talk about how flexibility has been key during the training block and also the benefits of training in the hot and humid Wollongong Summer and reaping the benefits with a cooler marathon in Japan.
Stay tuned to our Instagram and we will try to provide the best link to follow Charl's splits on the day.
Tuesday Feb 13, 2024
Tales from the Valley - Episode 3 ft. Greg Frost
Tuesday Feb 13, 2024
Tuesday Feb 13, 2024
This week we get to chat to good mate and 2:32 man Greg Frost. Frosty ran his Marathon PB at Berlin Marathon in 2022 and took out the first Wollongong Running Festival 10k. Frosty hails from Narooma and spent is junior years playing a bunch of different sports. Frosty now stares down the barrel of Tokyo Marathon on March 3rd and he’s in some ripper form off the back of some beefy Marathon Sessions, with friend of the show James Tunbridge at the helm coaching wise.
Russ is back running some reasonable mileage as he carefully plans to sprinkle in some intensity over the coming weeks. Sam speaks about his 3rd place finish at Bay to Bridge Half Marathon in Batemans Bay, though he still feels he’s leaving a bit out on the table mentally as he struggles at the backend of another hot and humid race. This prompts a bit of discussion around running psychology as Sam engages a professional to improve the mental aspect of his running. We hear about Gregs last fortnight of marathon training, with his last big session before he starts to gradually descend into a taper before Tokyo in 3 weeks’ time.
Things end with a bit of general marathon chat and a few quick questions fired at Frosty. Stick around after we say by for ‘Caught in the Ocean’ by our South Coast friend Tim Winterflood.
Friday Feb 09, 2024
Tales from the Valley Podcast - Chris Beckmans
Friday Feb 09, 2024
Friday Feb 09, 2024
Sam gets the chance to speak with Chris 'Becko' Beckmans - 8:28 Ironman Triathlete, 1:12 Half-Marathoner and an all around accomplished endurance athlete. Chris grew up in Wagga and studied at UOW, though he flew under the radar as a very gifted athlete while he carved up the South Coast AFL Comp for the Wollongong Bulldogs.
Years down the track Chris is now living in the UK and sticks to a very impressive training routine. We hear about his training philosophy, including how he approached the Bike, Swim and Running disciplines intuitively to get the most out of himself, how his background as a physio enables him to apply strength and recovery routines seamlessly and how he approaches nutrition across the various races that he competes in.
Chris also applies his experience in training and racing to other athletes as he coaches numerous athletes in Australia and the UK, we get to hear how he approaches programming and weekly schedules.
Keep an eye out for Chris's training and coaching services with the links below:
https://www.instagram.com/chrisbeckmans/
https://www.strava.com/athletes/10711851
https://fourendurance.com/
Tuesday Jan 30, 2024
Tales from the Valley - Episode 2 ft. Mitch Ryan
Tuesday Jan 30, 2024
Tuesday Jan 30, 2024
Mitch Ryan, the informal Executive Director of Wollongong Track Club joins Russ and Sam this week.
We hear about MItch's stellar junior running career and how he rekindled his love for running in recent years; and we can't forget about his fierce rivalry with Josh "Frothua" Engels. Mitch and Russ then run through the history of Wollongong Track Club and Mitch talks about his goals to bring the different running communities in Wollongong together with interesting and inclusive events.
Russ goes for his first run and tells us about his plan to gradually get back into marathon training after his knee and hammy troubles. Sam continues to put solid training together though lets his head get the better of him in a poor performance in the Blue Mile 5k. Mitch tells us about his recent week and race last week and his training leading into State 5k and Canberra Marathon.
Tune in for this weeks outro song 'Hemlock' by fellow Far South Coastian Tim Winterflood and check us out on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthevalleypodcast/
Wednesday Jan 24, 2024
Tales from the Valley Podcast - Zac O'neil
Wednesday Jan 24, 2024
Wednesday Jan 24, 2024
Sam has a chat with Zac O'neil 2 months after his ripper top 10 performance at C2K (240km from the Coast of Eden to the top of Kosciuszko).
Zac tells us how he got into running, and talks about his travels across the Middle East and Europe last year which featured 2nd place in the Wadi Rum Full Moon Marathon (informally known as Tatooine Marathon) and the Val d Aran 110k in the Pyrenees as a qualification event for C2K. He also opens up about his training prior to C2K and the race experience itself with quite insightful chat about recovery and nutrition practices.
Zac and Sam then have a chat about Marathon training as Zac switches gears and is looking to run a significant PB at Shellharbour Marathon on April 15th.
Find some of Zac's training, content and his video documentary on the C2K race via the links below:
https://www.strava.com/athletes/31418249
https://www.instagram.com/zac_oneil/
https://www.youtube.com/@zaconeilultra4314
Wednesday Jan 17, 2024
Tales from the Valley - Episode 1
Wednesday Jan 17, 2024
Wednesday Jan 17, 2024
Sam and Russ introduce the Tales from the Valley Podcast and the intention to bring awareness to running on the South Coast of NSW.
Sam is stacking together training weeks, while Russ talks about how he manages an unfortunate early injury in his leadup.
While Russ gets back to the training track Sam is lacing up for the Blue Mile 5k at the Wollongong Aquathon on Australia Day, and the Bay to Bridge half marathon in Batemans Bay the following week.