Dirt Church Radio Trail Running – Details, episodes &amp; analysis

The Squadrun 4-Week Training Trial for DCR Listeners!

Enjoy!

Music by Andrew McDowall, Digicake

Helene Barron- Beyond The Finish Line | Dirt Church Radio 348

mardi 21 octobre 2025 • Duration 01:11:32

Kia ora e te whānau.

Best laid plans and all that…We had a bumper episode lined up for you this week, with a lot of stuff to talk about, and an amazing GRE, that was even before we got to Andrew’s conversation with the mighty Helene Barron. Annoying story short, our entire episode got zoinked by the AWS outage. Perfect. So please enjoy this distilled episode of DCR, with the one and only Helene Barron, elite trail athlete, high-performance physiotherapist, coach, mother, wife, sister, friend, and legend. The trail exploits are but a small part of Helene’s story, as she has recently gone through a two-year battle with tongue cancer. Andrew talks with Helene about overcoming this most serious challenge, and a whole to more on this episode of Dirt Church Radio. Excellent Stuff.

Dirt Church Radio – Best Enjoyed Running.

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Episode Links

Helene Barron Instagram

The Squadrun 4-Week Training Trial for DCR Listeners!

Enjoy!

Music by Andrew McDowall, Digicake

For Those About To Rock, We Salute You | Aid Station 37

vendredi 22 août 2025 • Duration 42:29

Kia ora e te whānau. It’s that time of year when we start to see the end of winter and the earliest glimpses of spring. Thoughts turn to the new year, big events, and the lead-up to those events. Does one size fit all when it comes to peak months and loading during the macrocycle? This doesn’t even begin to touch on the double-edged sword of Strava and the world of socials. Luckily, Andrew and Matt get to hang out each week with one of the best coaches in the business, our own Ali P.

Listen in for a timely reminder before you begin stacking the bricks for the season ahead. We also talk about gear — how much is too much, or too little? And when does something that should aid you actually get in the way?

Plus, we have a listener-facilitated dolphin skull update. Excellent stuff.

Dirt Church Radio – Best Enjoyed Running.

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Episode Links

Daniel Jones on Instagram

Enjoy!

Music by Andrew McDowall, Digicake

Cath Wallis: Find your Adventure

Episode 250

mardi 12 septembre 2023 • Duration 01:26:10

Kia ora e te whānau. Cath Wallis lost herself in the midst of a career and the focus of raising family. Standing at the threshold of middle age, Cath honestly didn’t know who she was anymore, and felt “invisible”. Growing up not-sporty, Cath felt that her foray into the world of ultra endurance events may be short lived, but six years, 9 ultramarathons, an intercontinental swim, and countless adventures later, Cath has proved herself wrong. This week, Matt spoke with Cath, who as well as all this is an Athletics Australia accredited coach and leader of Find Your Adventure, a community for people who want to find themselves through adventure. We talk about Cath’s history and beginnings, the several multi-day desert adventures Cath has engaged in, and how a self-described “ordinary”* person can complete some extremely extraordinary things. Plus, for your listening pleasure we’ve got Daniel Jones calling in from Chamonix to run down his incredible 12th place at UTMB following his 5th place at Western States. Best Enjoyed Running.

Episode Links

Cath Wallis Instagram

Find Your Adventure

Gavin Clifton takes on the Furber Steps

Naseby: A great race, great distances, and lessons learned from a DNF.

Episode 249

mardi 29 août 2023 • Duration 01:31:42

Kia ora e te whānau. This week we feature the great, the good, and the not so good from the Great Naseby Water Race. This event has been an Aotearoa trail running institution and has been on the bucket list for us for ages, so it was a privilege to get down to Central Otago and experience the trails and community of this special event. We catch up with one of the race founders and surely one of the community’s kindest souls, Aileen Sinclair, with 200 mile winners Shannon-Leigh Litt (with a course record to boot!) and Brandon Purdue, 100 mile winner John Bayne, and the pride of Wānaka, Brook van Reenen. Also, Matt counsels Eugene as he reflects on the lessons he learned from his 100 mile DNF - that’s right, sometimes those buckets on your list have holes in them. Best Enjoyed Running.

Episode Links

Great Naseby Water Race

Andy Carruthers: Tararua S-K, the movie and the magic

Episode 248

mardi 15 août 2023 • Duration 01:21:40

Kia ora e te whānau. This week Matt has the pleasure of speaking to Andy Carruthers, Wellington adventure lover, runner, and creator of the Tararua S-K movie. The S-K, or Schorman- Kaitoki, is a tramping route in the Tararua Range with a distance of approximately 80km and with 6800m of elevation gain. Conceived as a weekend challenge in the 1960’s by the four main tramping clubs in Wellington as to who could do it in a single weekend, the desire for people to travel faster and lighter has only grown in the preceding 60 years. Matt speaks to Andy about his love affair with the S-K, his history with the route, his successes and challenges, and his decision to document the route and the people who have informed this most legendary of mountain journeys . Best Enjoyed Running.

Episode Links

Daniel Jones on Instagram

Ash Bartholomew: Wrong Turns, Redemption, and being Lucy's Dad

Episode 247

mardi 1 août 2023 • Duration 01:05:09

Kia ora e te whānau. This week by popular demand Eugene and Matt speak to Ash Bartholomew, who triggered a worldwide explosion of “it’s suddenly being very dusty in here” as he rolled into the Placer Track at the end of the Western States Endurance Run two minutes over the 30 hour cut off accompanied by his daughter, Lucy (yes, that Lucy). Ash had started strong but a wrong turn in the final stages cost him dearly . We talk to Ash about his life spent running, and how what started off as a self-described “selfish” hobby has led to an incredible relationship and many miles shared with Lucy over the years and a ringside seat to her journey as a global ultramarathon star. Ash speaks with fondness how his boys Josh, and now Thomas, have also picked up the running bug, with Josh smashing a 13 hour Ultra Trail Australia, and Thomas soon to undertake his first marathon. Honest, reflective, and humble, this is one conversation that you won't want to miss. Best Enjoyed Running.

Dan Jones, Living the Dream: From Whakatāne to Western States.

Episode 246

mardi 18 juillet 2023 • Duration 01:17:48

Kia ora e te whānau. This week Eugene and Matt have the extreme pleasure of speaking to returning champion Dan Jones about his incredible 5th place finish at the 2023 Western States Endurance Run. When last we spoke to Dan on DCR he’d journeyed to Kenya to hone his craft with the hope of representing New Zealand at the marathon. What was supposed to be a relatively short trip ended up being months when the world shut down due to covid. This is when Dan first went down the Western States rabbit hole. Fast forward a couple of years and with a golden ticket entry under his belt after the Tarawera Ultramarathon 102km win Dan was ready to go. With his trademark enthusiasm and complete lack of pretense Dan talks to us about his build up, his efforts to get the final 1%, his training in the States with his close friend Hayden Hawks, and the race itself. We both had sore faces from smiling so much. This episode is a wee ripper. PLUS Dan tells us about what he’s up to next, you heard it here first. Best Enjoyed Running.

Episode Links

Ultra-trail Australia Home

Sam Harvey, Never Surrender: The psychology and physiology of running for 101 hours

Episode 245

mardi 4 juillet 2023 • Duration 01:24:51

Kia ora e te whānau. This week Eugene and Matt sit down to speak with Sam Harvey fresh off his return from Dead Cow Gully. Sam was competing at the Australian Backyard Masters and managed a world record equalling 101 laps over four days and 677-odd kilometres. We talk to Sam about being (in his words) unreasonable, and what he felt going in, versus what he learned going out. Sam is (again, by his own admission) a fighter, and we talk about this desire to scrap with literally everyone and everything with his burgeoning sense of development of self and transcendence through days and days of pain and connection on a deeper level with others on the course. Sam discusses what made him stop, and why it’s eating him. We hear of his excitement at the upcoming Big’s Backyard in Tennessee and we (in our most avuncular manner) attempt to dissuade Sam from competing in the Krazie K’s backyard a week after Dead Cow Gully. *Spoiler Alert* the little bastard went and won it with 42 laps. Best Enjoyed Running.

George Murray: How a “Weekend Warrior” became the UTA 100 Champion

Episode 244

mardi 20 juin 2023 • Duration 01:10:15

Kia ora e te whānau. This week Eugene and Matt speak to UTA 100 Champion George Murray. Originally from the South Island town of Blenheim, George has taken a circuitous journey to be at the beginning of an amazing journey, from his first love of mountain biking, pivoting through to road marathons, then onto the trails. George’s approach to training could be considered unconventional due to his week-on-week-off schedule working in the mines. George talks us through the race, his mindset going in, and the simplicity with which he approached the day, and the result that spoke for itself. Best enjoyed whilst running.

Episode Links

George Murray on Instagram