Peak2Soon

Ryan Downs is only new to the sport of ultra running, but in a short space of time he's set big goals and hit them. Running his first ultra at BRUTUS last year, Ryan got a taste for what its like to go long. Last year he also completed an incredible run streak, which he took on 10 years since he lost his mother Tereze following a five year battle with cancer. This year Ryan become one of a small handful to secure 30 laps at the GUMBY at Blue Range Hut in the ACT. An achievement so incredible for someone so new to the sport. His next big challenge is Ryan's Long Run 220km+ staged event over three days October 9-11th from Wagga Base Hospital, where Ryan's mum was born to Gungahlin Cemetery, where she is buried. A physical line drawn between beginning and farewell. Everyone who donates goes into the draw to win incredible prizes, and your support will go directly to Rise Above. A charity that financially supports families with loved ones battling cancer. As always thank you for your support.

Edwin Smith's journey into running didn't start with a marathon or a grand race, it began in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. With lockdowns in place and little to do, he decided to run laps around his home in Sydney. What started as a casual pastime quickly turned into a passion that has transformed his life. In this podcast I talk with Edwin about his growth in running, which has seen him go from running newbie to completing a 100K run with friends. But, Edwin is also a specialist in social media working on shows like Survivor and I'm a Celebrity have helped him have a great understanding of how social media works. With his @running_with_edwin page continuing to go from strength to strength on instagram. He is also entering his first backyard ultra, so it was good to talk about how he is preparing for that.

Ultra running is not just about the physical challenge; it’s a profound journey that tests the limits of mental resilience and community spirit. In this episode I dive into the experiences of Tom Curry, a passionate ultra runner, who recently completed the UTA Miler. His journey is not just about crossing the finish line, but about the lessons learned along the way. In this you'll learn that a DNF isn't the end of the world, and see that Tommy’s reflections offer valuable insights for both seasoned and aspiring ultra runners. You can follow Tom on instagram at T0m_Runs. Don't forget if you liked this episode to share and rate so others can also find it.

Amber and Blaine Bourke are incredible siblings and next month they are releasing a book 'To the Limit'. The book is a conversation between the pair about pushing limits and letting go. I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of the book, and after reading it have both Amber and Blaine on the podcast. Amber is a world class free diver, and a former elite sychronised swimmer, she has been at the top of her chosen sports for the past two decades. For Blaine he has been a national 24-hour champion, captured the hearts of the ultra running community recently at Hardcore Harry's King of the Hill, and just last week won the Noosa 100. This is a conversation I deeply enjoyed with two amazing athletes, I hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to look out for the book!

Claudine Chi is a winning mindset coach and 16-time national and international karate champion. In this open conversation Claudine shares her insights on the importance of mindset in achieving personal and athletic goals. She discusses the intrinsic nature of mindset coaching, the common challenges we as humans face, and the significance of self-belief. Claudine emphasises the need for mental training alongside physical preparation, the impact of self-talk, and the invisible barriers that hinder self-belief. Through personal anecdotes and examples from her coaching experiences, this is a conversation I believe will inspire listeners to unlock their potential and embrace the journey of personal growth. If you want to work with Claudine you can at: www.claudinechi.com/journal.

Jonathan Ash shares his journey from a novice runner to a two time winner of backyard ultras, which has also seen him become the second Australian to run 100 loops in a backyard ultra. He discusses the mental and physical challenges of that format, the importance of learning from past experiences, and the dynamics of crew support in races. Jashy highlights the significance of enjoying the process of running and the unique aspects of backyard ultras, including the mental game and recovery. He reflects on his experiences in various races, including his first 100K in the Blue Mountains and Big's Backyard Ultra World Championships, highlighting the camaraderie and community within the ultra running scene. I hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did!

Mario Buchs has had an incredible year, completing UTA 100, before going and running Australia's toughest miler the Elephant Race. Then the adventure of a lifetime going over to Iraq and running 100 miles, in conditions many runners wouldn't be able to comprehend. He then tops it off by adding a second pin to his Akubra by finishing Coast to Kosci. In this podcast Mario shares some amazing perspective, and how he made it to where he is on his journey as an ultra runner, Founder of Healthetica Coaching and also the host of a couple of podcasts, Strides and Vibes, as well as the one Percenters Performance Podcast. One of the most interesting ultra runners you could ever come across, I loved having this chat.

Anthony Cribbes' story is one that will inspire many, but his young daughter Tallulah, who earlier this year fought for her life, has her incredible dad covered. Despite Anthony's incredible feats in the Grampians, and at a number of Victoria's toughest ultras, Tallulah was forced to fight for her life at just two weeks old. She was diagnosed with Supraventricular Tachycardia, a condition where the heart beats too fast because of abnormal electrical signals in the upper chambers of the heart, and for little Tallulah it was life threatening. It saw Anthony go on to run at the Grampians 100 Mile Trail event again. But, as you'll find out, he went there with a new perspective on life, a chance to give back. In the process Anthony has already raised more than $11,000, but if you feel inspired after this episode you can donate here. An inspiring story, of an inspiring family, get the tissues ready because this one is an emotional rollercoaster.

The 20th edition of the great race promises to be an absolute classic. It will be hard to top last year's heart stopping finish between Ben Coubrough and Allie Corripio, but 2025 has that feel about it. A huge field will start on Friday, with a great mix of newcomers and experienced campaigners. Two time women's champion Maree Connor joins me for a bit of fun to talk about this year's race, we both love it, and I hope you enjoy it. If you're travelling to this year's race be safe, and most of all I hope you love the magic that this race brings.

The final episode in this series in the lead up to 2025's edition of the Great Race. Zed Zlotnick finished the race in 2022, joining the Coast to Kosci family with a determined finished, spending more than 45 hours out on course. Growing up in South Africa, Zed has completed the Two Oceans Marathon five times, and the Comrades Marathon (Down) twice. But, after moving to Australia and connected with an incredible group of endurance runners, Zed himself has completed some amazing feats, including 14 Six Foot Track finishes, multiple 48 hour track races, backyard ultras and he is also part of the 100 Marathon Club. It's not just his finish at Coast to Kosci though that links him to Australia's great race. He was part of the legendary Jane Trumper's crew for her 10th finish, helped Adrian Whatmore put a crew together in 2023 and this year will be back crewing his mate Ben Munro in his first attempt at the race. Throughout this chat Zed speaks with humour and shares some insights into a life time of running. I loved this one and I hope you do too!

Sophie Geraghty was this year unveiled as a 'Feel Good Ambassador' for the Surf Coast Century, and it's not hard to see why. But when you scratch under the surface of this bubbly, incredibly strong, self described mediocre ultra runner, you get a deeper story. As Sophie tells in her bio to Rapid Ascent: "𝐴𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝐼 𝑤𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑟. 𝑅𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑗𝑜𝑦, 𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦. 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ. 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑚𝑒, 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝐼 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑑𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑝. 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 five 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛. 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑛." Sophie is now such a powerful voice in ultra running, and is incredibly passionate about women's representation in the sport She became part of the Coast to Kosci family last year, completed her first edition, and proudly earning her Akubra. But, her events list is like a greatest hits of Australian ultra running. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did!

Liv Compton is coming back for her third attempt at Coast to Kosci, with two really good finishes to her name already. The Norwegian Born Queenslander is no stranger to the warm weather and looked at home in last year's sweltering conditions. Her running career has seen her run in some of the country's most interesting Backyard Ultras, including Phil Gore's win at Dead Cow Gully in 2022. Earlier this year she ran a Norwegian Women's Backyard Ultra Record, with 40 loops at Sydney's Backyard Ultra, which will see Liv invited onto the Norwegian team for next year's Satellite World Championships. She's also such a versatile runner, winning a number of recent marathons in the sunshine state, and pushing runners have her age each weekend at the Airlie Beach parkrun, Liv brings her humour to this chat, and I can't wait to see how she goes at this year's edition of the great race.

Matt Pilley is coming back to Coast to Kosci for the third year in a row, and he's already had incredible success in his two starts at the race being on the male podium in year one, and then finishing as the second male behind Benn Coubrough. Now, a father to Hugo, this year's lead up is a completely different ball game for Matt, who as you'll find out in this podcast will be bringing another experienced team to Coast to Kosci. With nothing to hide Matt shares a number of his tips and tricks for the race, so if you're a first timer to the race this is a must listen.

Lisa Richards earlier this year completed a multi-year dream of running in the Atacama Stage Race. An incredible 250 kilometre journey that takes place in the Atacama Desert in Chile. But, not only did Lisa run in the stage race, she finished as the fifth female, completing an incredible transformation, from someone who grew up avoiding school athletic's carnival, and only took up running in 2018 through parkrun, to becoming a finisher of one of the world's toughest stage races. In this podcast Lisa talks about her incredible journey, and in my opinion it will leave you putting a world class stage race on their running bucket list.

Ben Bailey is heading back to Coast to Kosci in the hopes of claiming his third pin on the Akubra from his fourth attempt. The last few years have seen Ben complete some mind bending races including the Unreasonable East 200 Miler, Bigfoot 200 Endurance Run, Tahoe 200 Mile Endurance Run and earlier this year the Arizona Monster 300. It's an incredible resume that also includes a handful of finishes at UTA 100 as well. Ben shares his wisdom, including the great pride that he has at recently becoming a grandfather. This episode kicks off this year's Road to Coast to Kosci series, where I'll chat to some experienced campaigners, and first timers, and as always your support is very much appreciated.

Seven years ago, I wrote about my friend Courtney Chapman as she prepared to take on one of the most grueling endurance challenges in riding: the Shahzada 400, held in St Albans in the Hawkesbury region. At the time, doctors had told Courtney she shouldn’t compete due to her autoimmune condition, Crohn’s disease. But she did it anyway. Now, seven years later, Courtney joins me to reflect on that experience, and to explore how trauma can lead us to take on extraordinary feats of endurance. Courtney is now a mental health advocate and educator who understands the importance of feeling safe, seen, and supported. Through her work with Mental Illness Education ACT, she shares her lived experience to break stigma and spark honest conversations. In her role within the Australian Public Service, she helps build trauma-aware environments where people can thrive, blending personal resilience with a deep commitment to community connection and hope-led change. If you enjoyed this episode (or any others), please consider leaving a review, and if you’re able to support the show, you can do so for just $2 a month via the Peak2Soon Patreon: 👉 https://www.patreon.com/c/ThePeak2SoonPodcast If you or someone you know is struggling, you’re not alone — support is always available: 📞 Medicare Mental Health Centre Canberra - 1800 595 212 📞 Lifeline – 13 11 14 (24/7 crisis support) 📞 Beyond Blue – 1300 22 4636 or https:www.beyondblue.org.au

Jordan Nukunuku suffered a heart break which kicked off his running journey, and it's been a journey of incredible ups and downs. The young Kiwi from Rotorua recently won The Guzzler Ultra, after the first placed finisher was handed a time penalty, but it's a win at Brisbane Trail Ultra 110 kilometre race in 2023, after suffering an ACL injury in the months prior that shows how tough Jordan truly is. A self described 'amateur dirt vert surfer' Jordan flashed onto the major scene with an impressive run at Tarawera 100 miler this year, only fuelling the fire in wanting to win his home major. Jordan also took part in for what is now considered the last Down Under 135, an incredible endurance event that attracts the toughest long distance runners in Australia. It's already a serious resume for the Spring Energy and Trainade Athlete, and I guarantee this won't be the last you hear of him.

Katie Dall is ultra endurance athlete, personal trainer, and founder of Club KT, Brisbane's biggest run community empowering runners of all levels. With an impressive racing resume that includes 100 kilometre and 160 kilometre trail finishes, backyard ultras, and podium spots across Australia, Katie opens up about how she got to where she is today. We also talk about the power of community through her run club, the give and take of being a single parent and the steps she’s taking to support the mental wellbeing of her community. Katie also recently came back from crewing her partner Toby at Cocodona250, and like me is running in the Race of the Decade at Dead Cow Gully next week. I greatly admire what she's been able to do in Brisbane, so it was great to have a chat.

Chris Wilder won what could be the last edition of Australia's toughest ultra, it was redemption after a DNF in the race back in 2022. It is the cream on what is already a pretty impressive resume which includes a win in the BRUTUS, GUMBY, and AIS 24-Hour Track Invitational. Throughout those victories has been a number of different adventures, including an incredible run along the GNW 250, and being part of Joe Ward's team when Joe won Coast to Kosci. Combine that with an impressive run streak, his job as a doctor and being part of Ultra Mediocre Run Club and it's quite an impressive story. It was great to chat with a runner I admire greatly!

On the 19th of July 2025, Simon Dent and Todd Liubinskas will run from Brisbane to Sydney as part of the Lions’ Tour Down Under to raise money for Dallaglio RugbyWorks and The British & Irish Lions Trust. Joe Ward who previously held the fastest known time for the route is currently coaching the lads, and showing them what it takes to run one thousand kilometres in 14 days. You can help the lads of reaching their fundrasing goal by hitting this link. You can support the Podcast for as little as $2 via the Peak2Soon Patreon.