If you love race weekend energy, this episode is for you. Damien Walsh previews a huge double bill — Saturday’s stacked 5K shootout and Sunday’s drama at the London Marathon — breaking down the matchups, the tactics, the shoes, the fueling, and the names you need to know before the gun goes. The 5K field is outrageously deep with Freddie Richardson (13:42), Joseph Tuffin (13:46), Ben Alcock (13:49), Charlie Brisley (13:53), Michael Murphy (13:53), Cosmo Benyan (13:55), Mark Bostock (14:00), Henry Hart (14:04), Ricky Harvie (14:04), Jack Millar (14:05), Flurry Grierson (14:06), Michael Clark (14:08), Ben Robinson (14:18), Alex Lawrence (14:20), Luca Hamblen (14:20), Gavin Taylor (14:21), Max Selby (14:21), Callum Charleston (14:31), and in the women’s race Jade Morgan (15:40), Megan Gadsby (15:52), Millie Jordan-Lee (15:59), Katie Pye (16:11), Molly Smith (16:30), Maddie Jordan-Lee (16:31), Khahisa Mhlanga (16:31), Holly Fisher (16:37), Victoria Hiscox (16:42), Lindsay Skinner (16:55). Damien is also joined by Colchester’s Sam Clayton (15:15 5K, 32:01 10K, 69:30 Half) to talk through how he’s feeling heading into the race, whether the goal is chasing a time or racing the field, and how the depth of the competition influences tactics — plus the unofficial origin story of how the two first met during a chaotic 10K where Damien was on lead bike duty, Sam was leading the race, and a rogue dog walker stepped across the course and nearly derailed the day. Thankfully, both survived to laugh about it. Attention then turns to London’s world-class elite fields: Sabastian Sawe, Jacob Kiplimo, Deresa Geleta, Amos Kipruto, Tamirat Tola, Amanal Petros, Geoffrey Kamworor, Joshua Cheptegei — with British elites Mahamed Mahamed, Philip Sesemann, Patrick Dever, Jake Smith, Alex Milne, Jack Rowe — and on the women’s side Tigst Assefa, Joyciline Jepkosgei, Hellen Obiri, Degitu Azimeraw, Eunice Chumba, Catherine Reline, Balemelay Shumet, plus British stars Rose Harvey, Eilish McColgan, and Jessica Warner-Judd. If you want the full race-weekend lowdown before it all unfolds, this is the one to listen to.
