The Sunday Plodcast

For this bonus episode, we discussed some of the distance running news from the past few days. Including, the British Athletics funding announcement, the Great South Run and the Cardiff X Challenge. Enjoy!

This week, we spoke to distance coach, Andy Hobdell. Andy has coached multiple athletes to the Olympic Games; including 1500m runner, Andy Baddeley, and more recently, marathoners, Paul Pollock and Kevin Seaward. We spoke about how Andy's coaching has developed over the years, training for a marathon, Baddeley's famous Parkrun WR, and everything in between. Enjoy!

This week, we spoke to Commonwealth Games Bronze medallist, 1992 Olympian, and now head coach at the Run Yard, Matt Yates. Matt talked us through his own career as an athlete and his transition into coaching. We also spoke about some current issues in the sport; including agents, sponsorship, selection polices, shoes, and much more. Enjoy!

For this bonus episode, we reviewed Sunday's London Marathon. We cover both the men's and women's races, whilst also discussing the potential British Athletics marathon team for next year's world championships. Enjoy!

One week out from the London Marathon, we spoke to 2:10 man and Team New Balance Manchester athlete, Jonny Mellor. Jonny gave us his perspective ahead of one of the biggest races on the calendar, as well as talking through his career so far, and much more. This was a fascinating episode, as Jonny covered some of the highs and lows of competing at the elite level; including what it was like to miss out on Olympic Selection and how he's bounced back to take on new goals. There's lessons and advice in here for athletes at all levels. Enjoy!

For this week's episode, we spoke to 1:44 800m man, Jamie Webb. Jamie's a 2-time European indoor medalist and a world championship semi-finalist in the event. We spoke to Jamie about his 2021 track season, his thoughts on the art of 800m running, his plans for the future, and much more. Enjoy!

For this week's episode we've got a two part special! In part 1, Matt and Oli review the 2021 summer track season; covering everything from time trials to the olympics, and everything in between. For part 2 (1:04:39), we were joined by EP 19 guest, James Thie, to get a coaches perspective on the season. JT went out to Tokyo as a British Athletics coach and he shared his experiences from the games, and much more. Enjoy!

This week, we welcomed athletics commentator and 1984 Olympian, Tim Hutchings, to the podcast. We spoke to Tim about his own career, broadcasting in athletics, the 2021 season, super shoes, and much more! Enjoy!

For this week's episode, we welcomed Canadian Steeplechaser, Matt Hughes, to the podcast. Matt's got a PB of 8:11 and he finished 6th at the Tokyo Olympics this summer. As well as discussing his newfound passion for West Ham United, Matt told us about his career so far; including growing up in Canada, moving to the US to compete in the NCAA, training in the Bowerman Track Club, and much more. Enjoy!

This week, we spoke to 1:59 800m runner, Ellie Baker. Ellie's based in Brighton with coach, John Bigg, and she finished 4th at the British Olympic Trials in June. We spoke to Ellie about her fantastic 2021 season that's seen her win 10 races and dip under 2 minutes for the first time, along with much more. Enjoy!

For this week's podcast, we spoke to British Steeplechase record holder, Lizzie Bird. Lizzie talked us through her fabulous 2021 track season; that's seen her break the British record twice and finish 9th at the Olympics. We discussed her training setup, chasing the Olympic standard, the Games itself, and much more. Enjoy!

For this week's podcast, we spoke to two-time Olympian and 1:43 800m runner, Elliot Giles. Elliot told us about his experiences in Rio and Tokyo, his training setup with coach, John Bigg, his attitude towards racing, and much more. Enjoy!

For the last EP of our Tokyo Bonus series, we welcomed 2:13 marathoner, Josh Griffiths, back to the podcast. We reviewed the last race of the Tokyo Olympics, the men's marathon. Enjoy!

For this week's podcast, we review the Tokyo Olympic Games. We discuss your winner predictions, the best of the British performances, our overall thoughts on the games, and much more. Enjoy!

On day 9 in Tokyo, we sat down with EP 3 guest, Jenny Nesbitt, to discuss the distance action. We covered the men's 1500m final, the women's 10,000m final and the women's marathon.

On day 8 in Tokyo, we caught up with EP 17 guest, and 13:35 5000m man, Jack Rowe. We discussed the men's 5000m final and the women's 1500m final. Enjoy!

On day 7 in Tokyo, we review the men's 1500m semi-finals, where we saw three Brits make the Olympic final. Enjoy!

Joined by Tokyo Olympian and EP 6 guest, Zak Seddon, we reviewed day 6 of the athletics at the Tokyo games. We cover the women's 3000mSC final, the women's 1500m semi-finals and the men's 800m final. Enjoy!

For our day 5 recap at the Olympics, we caught up with EP 13 guest and 3:34 1500m man, James West. The three us reviewed the women's 800m final, the men's 1500m heats and the men's 5000m heats. Enjoy!

Day 4 review of the distance events at the Tokyo Olympics. We recap the women's 5000m final, the men's 3000mSC final and the women's 1500m heats. Enjoy!

In our day 3 recap, we discuss the men's 800m semi-finals and the women's 3000mSC heats at the Tokyo Olympics. Enjoy!

For this week's episode, we spoke to GB 800m runner, Adelle Tracey. Adelle has a PB of 1:59 and she's a European finalist and World Championship semi-finalist. We spoke about her career so far; including working with her coach, Craig Winrow, her 2021 season, her plans for the future, and much more. Enjoy!

On day 2 of the Athletics at the Tokyo Olympics, we bring your reviews of the women's 800m semi-finals and the men's 800m heats. Enjoy!

For this bonus episode, we review day 1 of the distance events at the Tokyo Olympics. We cover the men's 10,000m final, the women's 5000m heats, the women's 800m heats and the men's 3000mSC heats. Enjoy!

For this week's episode, we welcomed European Indoor Bronze Medallist, Verity Ockenden, to the podcast. We spoke to the 15:03 5K, and 31:43 10K, runner about all things running. Verity talked us through her career so far; how she got into running, competing in the NCAA at Lamar University, her 2021 season, and much more. Enjoy!

Not long to go now until the Athletics kicks off at the Tokyo Olympics! We're going to bring you daily content about all the distance events throughout the Games. Keep your eyes peeled for our first episode in the series, airing on July 30th.

This week, we welcomed the Tokyo-bound, Jake Heyward, to the podcast. Jake holds personal bests of 3:33 in the 1500 and 3:52 in the Mile and he spoke to us about life at Oregon Track Club, his preparation for the Olympic Games, and much more. Enjoy!

For this week's episode, we spoke to the Head of Athletics at Leeds Beckett University, Andy Henderson. Andy works with a vast group of top distance runners up in Leeds (including former plodcast guests, Alex Bell and Phil Sesemann) and he told us about how he got into coaching, how his group has evolved in recent years, and much more. Enjoy!

For this week's episode, we welcomed GB 800m runner, Lynsey Sharp, to the podcast. Lynsey's a two-time Olympian with a PB of 1:57 and we spoke to her about her career so far; that includes making multiple major championship finals and picking up Commonwealth and European medals along the way. Lynsey talked us through her experiences on the elite distance running circuit, and much more. Enjoy!

This week, we spoke to 2016 Olympian, Andy Butchart. Andy has a PB of 13:06 in the 5000m and has just booked his spot on his 2nd GB Olympic team. We spoke to Butchy about his career so far, his goals for the rest of the season, and much more. Enjoy!

With the British Olympic Trials coming up next weekend, we welcomed Mark Hookway and Niki Faulkner to the podcast; to discuss our picks for the top spots at the trials! After some debate, we managed to agree upon some winners for each of the distance events and, hopefully, this will help you with your own picks for our trials prediction contest. If you want to be in with a chance of winning a £100 cash prize, as well as a pair of New Balance Fuel Cell RC Elite V2 running shoes (provided to us by SportsShoes.com), head over to our Instagram (@sundayplodcast) for full details.

For this week's episode, we spoke to Kevin Ondrasek from Thunder Road Running. Kevin is a US-based distance running coach who ran a 3:41 1500 before transitioning into coaching at numerous NCAA universities. These include Florida State, Oklahoma and Texas A&M. Kevin talked about what life is like for collegiate athletes in the NCAA, as well as some of the unique challenges that coaches face when working in the US collegiate system. Enjoy!

For this bonus episode, we were joined by professional sports broadcaster, Tom Gayle. Tom was part of the commentary team for the British Athletics Olympic 10,000m Trials and the three of us discuss the trials meet. We talk through both the men's and the women's races, that saw Marc Scott, Eilish McColgan and Jess Judd book their spots on the plane to Tokyo. Enjoy!

For our 30th episode, we welcomed Tom Mortimer to the podcast. Tom has been in fine form so far this year; winning all his races on British soil and running PB’s of 3:42 in the 1500 and 13:28 in the 5000 in the process. Currently running at Loughborough University under Chris and Sonia McGeorge, Tom told us about his current training setup, his plans for the rest of the season, and much more. Enjoy!

This week, we spoke to US-based Brit, Patrick Dever. Currently studying at Tulsa university, Paddy talked us through life in the NCAA and the type of training that's led to his recent PB's of 13:28 in the 5K and 28:28 in the 10k. Enjoy!

For this week's podcast, we welcomed Olympian and Scottish Marathon record holder, Steph Twell. We spoke to Steph about her career so far, including making the Olympic team aged just 18 in 2008, her current training setup, her plans for this summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo, and much more. Enjoy!

On this week's episode, we spoke to Aldershot and St Mary's distance running coach, Mick Woods. Mick talked us through his coaching career since he started in 1986; sharing stories about some of the world class athletes he has produced over the years. We also discussed the importance of cross country training and racing for the development of distance runners, and how we see the discipline moving forward in the next few years. Enjoy!

On this week's episode, we spoke to GB distance runner, Phil Sesemann. After a breakthrough start to 2021, where he made the GB team for the European Indoor Championships, Phil is looking for some fast times over the 5,000m and 10,000m this summer. We spoke about some of his upcoming races, his training setup in Leeds, and much more. Enjoy!

This week, we spoke to Olympic Marathon Trials winner, and 2012 Olympian, Chris Thompson. Chris talked us through the trials race from his perspective; reliving the calmness that he felt as he ran the race and the passion and emotion that poured out when he crossed the line. We also discussed Chris' lengthy career up to this point and what it takes to survive in the sport for so long. Enjoy!

This week, we spoke to 2:27 marathoner, Steph Davis. After winning the British Olympic Marathon Trials last month, Steph has booked her place on the plane to Tokyo for this summer's Olympic Games. Steph told us about the trials from her perspective, her training leading into the race, her plans for this summer, and much more. Enjoy!

This week, we welcomed 2:20 Marathoner, Anthropologist and Author, Michael Crawley, to the podcast. Michael spoke to us about his book, 'Out of Thin Air', that details his 15-month stay in Ethiopia; where he lived and trained amongst some world class marathon runners. We talked about all aspects of Ethiopian running culture, including their training, their diet, and much more. Enjoy!

On this week's episode, we spoke to Podium 5K race organiser, Chris Barnes. After seeing some lightning fast times at the latest edition of the event last weekend, Podium has come under a lot of scrutiny in the world of athletics over the past week. We sat down with Chris to discuss some of the questions people have been asking, the impact that this has had on him, and what it might mean for the future of Podium 5K. Enjoy!

This week, we spoke to 1:59 800m runner, Alex Bell, and her fiancé/training partner Josh Norman. In part 1, Alex told us about her career so far, the depth of talent in British 800m running right now, and much more. In part 2, Josh spoke to us about his work as a trader for a betting company and we discussed the potential for the introduction of gambling into domestic athletics in the UK. Enjoy!

This week, we spoke to GB Half-Marathon runner, Jake Smith. With a personal best of 60:31, Jake is the 3rd fastest brit in history over the distance. We spoke to Jake about pacing the Olympic Marathon Trials and his plans for his own debut in the future, his running progression since joining his coach, James Thie, at Cardiff Met Uni, and much more. Enjoy!

On this bonus episode, we preview the upcoming British Marathon Trials for the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games. Joined by race director, Tom Bedford, we discuss the challenges of putting on such an event, the excitement surrounding the race itself, where you can watch the live stream, and much more. Enjoy!

This week, we spoke to the Director of Athletics at Cardiff Metropolitan University, James Thie. A stellar athlete in his own right, James made World, European and Commonwealth Games finals over 1500m before transitioning into coaching. We spoke to James about being self-coached for much of his own career, how he transitioned into coaching others, the challenges of coaching during a pandemic, and much more. Enjoy!

On this week's episode, we spoke to 1983 London Marathon winner, Mike Gratton. With a winning time of 2:09, Mike is still ranked as one of the top Brits in history over the marathon distance. Mike talked to us about his training leading up to London, how the sport has progressed since his career (yes, another shoe chat), and much more. Enjoy!

This week, we spoke to GB 5000m runner, Jack Rowe. Jack has had a breakthrough indoor season this year; winning the UK trials in the 3K and then making the final at the European championships. Jack told us about his career so far, including competing for Aldershot as a junior and heading to the US and racing in the NCAA system as a postgrad. Enjoy!

On this week's episode of The Sunday Plodcast, we spoke to Irish international distance runner, Sean Tobin. Sean had a breakthrough year in 2020 and we spoke to him about his career so far, his current training setup with the Dublin Track Club, and much more. Enjoy!

On this week's episode, we spoke to GB and Hoka distance runner, Jess Judd. Jess told us about her transition from a fantastic junior into a world class senior, what her current training setup looks like, her plans for 2021, and much more. Enjoy!