Welcome back to the 11th and final “Boom or Bust” Podcast, where we document the incredible journey of four runners to the 2025 Ballarat Marathon! I’ve been eagerly looking forward to this episode, and it’s going to be a blast!

We have so much to celebrate today: a Ballarat Marathon champion among us, the pacemaker of said champion, someone who just snagged a shiny new nine-minute marathon PB, and a surprised 39-year-old dad who thought his best running days were behind him. It’s safe to say we all went "BOOM" this past weekend!

A massive shoutout to the organizers for such a flawlessly executed event! The atmosphere was electric, with so many happy and motivated runners taking on that fast course!

Thank you to Kate, Aaron, Ned, and their families for dedicating so much time to this journey. I’ll forever cherish the experiences and memories made during the 2025 Ballarat Marathon. You all deserve your Monday nights back now!

A big thanks to all the listeners who reached out during the series to let us know they were enjoying the ride or got a kick out of it. Your support truly made it worth the time and effort it takes to produce a podcast!

And a heartfelt thank you to Jess Gasparroni, Riley, and Tate for all your support and encouragement over the past few months. Hitting this goal feels incredible! Now, let’s take a moment to relax and soak it all in.

#BallaratMarathon

Welcome back to Episode 10 of the Boom or Bust podcast! With just six days to go until the 2025 Ballarat Marathon, this is our final episode before the big dance!

Today, Kate, Throbber, Noodles, and Dane discuss how their taper weeks are going. The four of them go over race day goals, plans and predictions!

Plus, don’t miss the fantastic listener question about how they mentally prepare to get the best out of themselves on race day. Tune in for all the insights!

#BoomOrBust #BallaratMarathon2025 #racedayready

Today marks Episode 9 of the ‘Boom or Bust’ podcast, and with just 12 days to go until race day, our four runners are in the 'tapering phase!' Join us as they chat about their training weeks—sharing both the ups and downs. The conversation takes some fun turns, covering everything from 'cask wine to lipstick!' Plus, we have a surprise guest: Riley, Dane’s 3-year-old daughter, who joins us for a special cameo at the end of the episode. Don’t miss next week's episode, where we’ll dive into everyone's Ballarat marathon goals, predicted times, race strategies, and even tackle a listener question about preparing mentally for race day.

Thanks to all those that are listening and for the streams of positive feedback we have been getting for doing this podcast series, very much appreciated!

Not long now @ballaratmarathon !

*Boom or Bust Episode 8 Update*

In today’s episode, we faced a tough moment as Aaron "Throbber" Sim has had a hard time shaking off his sickness and has opted to rest and recuperate, aiming for a strong comeback at the Gold Coast marathon. The bright side? Kate has scored a solid pacemaker to support her on her journey!

Before diving into their training updates, the athletes took a moment to answer a listener question about their strengths and weaknesses as marathon runners. Their insights were both enlightening and inspiring!

Ned, Kate, and Dane all reported stellar training weeks, building excitement as they gear up for the Ballarat marathon—only 19 days to go! The energy is high, and they’re ready to give it their all!

Stay tuned for more updates as we follow their journey! #BoomOrBust #MarathonTraining #Ballarat2025

Last night, we recorded Ep. 7 of the “Boom or Bust- Ballarat” Run Culture miniseries, where four athletes share their journeys as they prepare for the 2025 Ballarat marathon.

With just 4 weeks to go and with our athletes very much in the thick of it, it was a ‘mixed bag’ of a week!

🏃‍♀️ Kate is absolutely crushing it, hitting her stride and feeling ‘marathon-ready’. We’re all cheering her on to ‘wrap herself in cotton wool’ now and make it to that start line!

Ned had a bit of a rollercoaster week with a sore heel at the beginning and needing to pull out of a session mid week because of fatigue. However, he finished the week strong with a confidence-building marathon workout on Sunday! 💪

Dane faced some struggles managing his asthma but ended the week on a high with a couple of great workouts. 🌟

Meanwhile, Aaron is still battling illness and is taking some well-earned rest under coach's orders. We’re all hoping he can bounce back and make the most of the months of training he’s put in for this event🤞

I hope you’re enjoying the show as much as we are! Remember, it’s all about the journey and enjoying your running path. Thanks for following along and for all the lovely feedback we have been getting (particularly from Kate’s niece; Mila!)

Episode 6 of the "Boom or Bust" Podcast is here! Join us as we follow the journeys of our four runners training for the 2025 Ballarat Marathon. With just 5 weeks to go, the training grind is real, and as always, our runners share their ups and downs filled with a bit of a laugh. A huge shoutout to Throbber and his former bandmates from ‘Red Ink’ for letting us use their amazing song ‘Empty Road’ as our opening jingle! This week, we had a surprise guest—Otis, Aaron’s son, who jumped in to perfectly highlight the juggling act of life!

If you’re a running fan or training for a marathon, be sure to tune in.@ballaratmarathon

Welcome to Episode 5 of ‘Boom or Bust’! A podcast documenting the build ups of 4 athletes aiming to run the 2025 Ballarat Marathon! There was a bit happening this week!Aaron and Dane kick things off by sharing their experiences from the Inverloch Half Marathon.

Despite falling ill right after last week’s episode, Aaron took a pragmatic approach, focusing on recovery and lighter training to bounce back. Meanwhile, Kate had quite the adventure at school camp in Dartmoor, facing challenges like 4hrs of sleep most nights, lightning and bushfires! After a lighter week running wise she finished the week with a confidence-boosting marathon-specific session!Ned enjoyed a planned down week as he nervously awaited a 35km progressive run over the weekend around his favorite loop.Even though I’m the host of this podcast I personally enjoy sitting back and listening to everyone’s weeks. It’s great to see everyone adapting and pushing through their unique challenges!And a little teaser for next week— we might just have an Intro for the podcast, possibly featuring a 'B-side' from Aaron’s rockstar past! So stay tuned for that!

Welcome back to Episode 4 of the Run Culture podcast mini-series, “Boom or Bust!” Join us as we track the journey of four athletes gearing up for the 2025 Ballarat Marathon, just under seven weeks away! This week, we have Kate Mason sharing her experience from a tin shed during a storm at school camp in Dartmoor—talk about dedication! While she faces a down week due to camp and a frustrating workout on Friday, her spirit remains unbroken.Ned Verwey updates us on his dietitian appointment and his impressive long run on Sunday, truly living up to our podcast's title! Meanwhile, Aaron ‘Throbber’ Sim continues to crush it with a solid 3 by 5k workout at goal marathon pace, preparing for a head-to-head showdown with Dane at the Inverloch half marathon next weekend.Dane Verwey wraps up the episode with details of his consistent week, including a double threshold session and a marathon workout with Pete on the bike. While he’s pleased with his endurance, he’s working on finding that extra speed.We hope you're enjoying the show! We’d love to hear your thoughts or any listener questions for next week's episode! #RunCulture #BoomOrBust #BallaratMarathon2025

Kate, Ned, Aaron, and Dane not only recorded episode 3 of the "Boom or Bust" podcast—locking in its new name and thanking listeners for their suggestions and questions—but also powered through another eventful week of training for the 2025 Ballarat Marathon.

Ned notched up a couple of big sessions (including one in heavies as he forgot his trainers and one with the Geelong River Run) whilst suspiciously getting lost around the chocolate factory on a run, go figure?!

Kate hit another impressive 100-mile week, enjoyed the Kooks concert, rocked an outrageous shoe and sock combo on Friday, whilst the boys marvelled at her incredible ability in a 5am easy run to hit low 4 min/km out of the gate.

Aaron enjoyed his new Vomeros, checked off both a quality track workout and a marathon-specific session, whilst locking in the nickname "Throbber" on his Ballarat Bib.

While Dane recovered from minor niggles and maintained a solid training week, reinforcing his focus on recovery.

If there are any listener questions, please reach out to the Run Culture Instagram or any of us on socials. @ballaratmarathon

Guess what? It’s time for Episode Two of “Ballarat Marathon Buildups!” I’m excited to have Aaron, Kate, and Ned back on the show. This episode starts with our favorite training sessions and workouts that help us gauge our fitness.

Ned and Aaron then detail their first marathon-specific workouts, while ‘Kate 5am Mason’ shares the crazy things she sees during her early runs (I still can’t believe what she saw in the ocean?!) She also shares a powerful lesson from her Gold Coast marathon experience when she faced ‘heat stroke.’

Unfortunately we lost the last 10 minutes of the recording due to a software glitch (one technologically savvy person had so many podcast recordings saved to their computer that their storage reached capacity, sorry all!)

Nonetheless, Dane, jumps back on and wraps it up with details of another motivating training week! We cover a lot in this episode, and I hope you find it entertaining!

All 4 of us would love to hear your thoughts! Drop your listener questions or name suggestions in the comments below.

Today and over the next couple of months I've got something a bit different for you all!

Each week I am going to catch up with my brother; Ned Verwey and good friends from down here on the 'Ninch'; Kate Mason and Aaron Sim, as we all train towards the 2025 Ballarat Marathon in just under 10 weeks time.

We will catch up weekly to chat about the inevitable ups/downs and life hurdles typically encountered in a marathon build. I hope this podcast can inspire, entertain and/or influence other runners in some way. I also hope it highlights the fact that we can all come at the marathon from different angles and different approaches. That we all have similar challenges and different challenges, and that no one is perfect and that's ok! We aim to have a lot of fun:)

More about the Guests:

Aaron Sim is a 35 year old father of two, who only picked up running during COVID (2021). In the space of 3 years he has dropped his marathon time from 2:50 to 2:25:32! From 2008-2013 he travelled far and wide playing drums for an Indie band. Prior to finding running, he was an avid golfer! He's now a music teacher at Woodleigh Secondary.

Kate Mason is one of the most infectiously bubbly and positive people you will meet. Her and her partner, Ben Griffith (Griffo) with their fur baby Nala in tow, intentionally make their whole life 'not' about running. If they aren't caravanning in NZ, they are always doing something interesting be it: mountain biking, going to a gig, catching up with friends or house renos etc...Kate's an incredibly talented runner with amazing grit and endurance, coming 3rd in 2:34:08 at the Melbourne Marathon in 2024.

My brother Ned Verwey is 32 years old and lives in Anglesea and works in Prosthetics and Orthotics at Ballarat Hospital. He was a super talented junior track runner over 1500m-3,000m medaling Nationally! During University years he enjoyed himself and running fell by the way side. He then had several years plagued by injury. However, with patience, persistence and the helpful encouragement of his lovely wife Simone McInnes (also a runner) he has slowly got himself back to the strongest and fittest he has ever been. He's learnt a lot through the process and loves going out for a run everyday!

And, then there is myself; Dane, a 39 year old father of two, I have been immersed in running my whole life; as a runner, physiotherapist and coach. This will be my 19th marathon and there is certainly a deep seated motivation to turn back the clock a little, show myself that I can still do it and nail a 'dad PB'!

Listen in if you want :)

For the first few months of 2025 I am going to re-release some of the most listened to Run Culture Podcast Episodes over the past 5 years!

We live in a fast paced, information dense world, attention spans are fleeting. Sometimes we ‘look’ but do we ‘see?’

Lately, I have loved slowing down and re-listening to past podcasts, allowing them to marinate better. It's incredible how each podcast can mean something different to me today than they did 5 years ago!

In 2020, I chatted to Dr. Keith Livingstone- It was an amazing insight into the Principles of Arthur Lydiard.“Champions are everywhere....they just need to be trained correctly." -Arthur Lydiard

If you want to hear a fantastic insight into the history, training and coaching philosophies of Arthur Lydiard and his pupils, then there is no better man to chat to than Keith Livingstone and that's who we have on the show today.

This is a lengthy one, Keith's a fantastic story teller, I was spell bound, ideal for your next long run!

Dr. Keith Livingstone not only was a high level distance runner himself in his day running; 14:04 for 5000m and 29:19 for 10,000m but was also a highly sought after chiropractor, running coach and now author of three books!

These include; 1.) Healthy Intelligent Training- the proven principles of Arthur Lydiard, 2.) Champions are Everywhere-The Schedules (A practical user friendly summary of Healthy Intelligent Training) and 3.) Staring down the Beast- A book recounting Keith's survival journey after being diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor (glioblastoma multiforme) in 2007.

Keith also has a fantastic blog at; www.drkeith.com.au, where he has a number of fantastic interviews, blogs and If you are interested you can also purchase his books.

Today on the Run Culture Podcast I had the privilege to chat with Scott Simmons a professional running coach of the American Distance Project, the US Army World Class Athlete Program and Team India, based in Colorado Springs, USA. Scott has over 30 years of coaching experience! He shared so many incredible stories and insights about training and coaching Olympians, Olympic Medalists and collegiate athletes. It felt like having a casual chat on my couch, asking all the questions I've always wanted to know! I can't wait for you all to listen and learn from his wisdom and stories.

Topics covered include:

-The importance of Speed development and always developing the aerobic house.

-Non linear periodisation.

-The myth of peaking/tapering.

-Key training principles: Specificity, overload, recovery, adaptation, progression.

-‘Harambee’- Swahili for ‘all pull together’ This is the official motto of Kenya, appearing on its coat of arms.

-Take a step back from time to time and reflect if running is making you a ‘Better human’?

-The importance of Self belief and taking a bet on yourself.

-How the environment, people, traditions, culture and embedded beliefs can influence performance.

-Training is as much about training one’s ability/skill to cope with pain as it is about improving one’s fitness.

-What’s a Hammer rep or Predator Tempo?

-Improving as a coach/athlete requires time and space to make mistakes to learn. These are the required steps to grow to get better.

Thanks once again Scott. Merry Christmas everyone, I hope you enjoy this listen and the festive season!

Today on the Run Culture Podcast, I chatted to one of the most ‘well read, knowledgeable and innovative’ coaching minds in current day distance running; Brad Hudson.

The interview was quite high level, it covered a lot of territory and did bounce around a fair bit, many times I didn’t know what direction it was going to go which made it fun. Since starting the Run Culture podcast some 5yrs ago, I’ve had some interviews I’ve really cherished and this one ranks right up there as one of my favorites, I had a blast trying to keep up with this running genius.

Brad is a well-known running coach (who’s currently living in LA, USA) and was a former elite (2:13 marathoner) distance runner himself.

He is recognized for coaching many top-level athletes, including; Dathan Ritzenhein, Shayne Culpepper, Jason Hartman, Parker Stinson, Benita Johnson, Allie Kieffer, Jorge Torres, amongst many others….

There were many take home messages, including:

- How Modern elite training has changed in 2024?

- Why we should all be 'Experimenting, Innovating and Evolving' our training?

- Some of Brad’s key Endurance Training principles.

- The importance of customized and responsive training plans.

- The Importance of Sleep, Psychology, Nutrition, Stress management.

- His many coaching influences (too many to list, he’s a lifelong learner and learns from anyone if he feels it could be useful). Some mentioned, include; Mark Wetmore, Bill Dellinger, Renate Canova, Arthur Lydiard, Percy Cerutty, Antonio Cabral, Jack Daniels, Nick Bideau and Pat Clohessy.

- And many other pearls of coaching wisdom, including his two book recommendations- Ryan Holliday’s ‘Daily Stoic’ and Marc Bubb’s book; ‘Peak: The New Science of Athletic Performance That is Revolutionizing Sports’

If anyone wanted to reach out to Brad for ‘Online Running Coaching’ Brad’s email is: ⁠hudsoncoachingmarathon@yahoo.com⁠

Thanks once again Brad, you were a joy to listen to and have certainly got me excited about my own coaching!

Today on the Run Culture podcast I was extremely fortunate to chat to Andy Jones. As a sport scientist he has worked with many elite athletes over the years. Including, the former womans Marathon World Record Holder; Paula Radcliffe, along with also being employed by Nike to help Eluid Kipchoge in the Breaking 2 Marathon Project.

I thoroughly enjoyed this chat, Andy is a fountain of knowledge, he has devoted his whole professional life to attempting to improve our understanding of the physiology of endurance performance.

We start the podcast, going over his own running career and what he learnt from his own childhood hero; Steve Jones.

We then define and discuss the ins/outs of 'Running Economy' and 'Physiological Resiliency' at length, using Andy's experiences with Paula and the Nike Breaking 2 Project.

Links to two of Andy's articles I refer to in this chat are below: -The 15 yr long longitudinal study on Paula Radcliff, 'The Physiology of the World Record Holder for the Woman's Marathon (2006).' Link: ⁠⁠SS 1-2-01-Jones⁠⁠

- ⁠⁠The fourth dimension: physiological resilience as an independent determinant of endurance exercise performance - Jones - 2024 - The Journal of Physiology - Wiley Online Library⁠

Today, I had an amazing chat with Peter Rae, the head coach of ZAP Endurance! We explored the history of ZAP and its mission to boost US distance running since the 90s. It was so interesting to hear his thoughts on why US distance running has made such great strides in the last 8 years and how ZAP performed in 2024! I really enjoyed learning about his coaching philosophy and how it has changed over the past 23 years. What’s he doing now that he didn’t do back then? Hearing about his mentors, like Bill Squires, Pete Pfitzinger, and Bill Rodgers, was truly enlightening! Peter also emphasized the importance of soft skills in coaching, which often doesn’t get enough attention. We wrapped up by discussing Hurricane Helene and what the future holds for ZAP Endurance. If you're curious about ZAP Endurance—whether it’s their running camps, coaching services, or insightful blogs—check out their website: www.zapendurance.com