Lottie Banks was a keen runner at school, finishing 81st in the Mini London Marathon and winning a bucketload of medals.
But when life and work came calling, running took a back seat.
It was only in her late-40s that Lottie returned to the sport, taking part in races including the London Marathon, Great Eastern Run, and the Big Half.
That last event in London, which was held as recently as September this year, was actually Lottie's 'Retirement Run'.
A chronic back condition had become increasingly worse, and she has recently taken the decision to start a new stage of her athletic journey - as a wheelchair racer.
In this episode of Running Tales, we spoke to Lottie about her early love of running, the joy of movement in whatever form in takes, and the cost of disability...
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Lottie is currently fundraising for a racing chair. You can donate here: https://gofund.me/4148aaf7d
Andre Cardin's big running goal is fast approaching.
Next week (November 2, 2025), he will take on theNew York City Marathon, one of the most famous road races in the world.
But if Andre's New York adventure is inspiring, it is nothing compared to how he get here.
Unfit, overweight and unhappy, Andre took a decision to dedicate his life to becoming a healthier, fitter and happier version of himself.
His tool of choice was running, and it has helped him achieve that goal and more.
Andre has tracked his journey through his increasingly popular Instagram account, @andrerunz, a platform which proved integral to his entry into New York.
In this episode of Running Tales, we spoke to Andre about his running journey, how the sport has changed his life and the big races he now has on the agenda...
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From crossing paths with farm dogs to shimmying over logs, ultra runner Kim Levinsky faced a plethora of physical, mental and altogether unexpected challenges as she set a new Fastest Known Time (FKT) across New York State’s 358-mile Long Path.
Now, a brilliant new feature film, 'The Long Path: A journey of becoming' has been released. It tracks the physical and mental struggle's Kim encountered during her epic run, as well as taking a deeper look at how society treats mental health issues.
During the documentary, Kim reveals her journey from reluctantly starting therapy to becoming a mental health advocate in her community.
In this episode of Running Tales, we spoke to Kim and filmmaker Shai Ben-Dor about the idea behind the film and how they were able to capture her experiences of the trails...
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Andy Goldsby's life was spiralling out of control. Overweight, he was drinking and smoking too much, and it was starting to effect his mental as well as physical health.
It was a chance moment that changed his life. Desperate to make a change, he entered the London Marathon on a whim, never expecting to get in.
The marathon lottery Gods were smiling on him, and to Andy's shock he was - at 20 stone and struggling to climb the stairs - on course to run one of the world's most famous running events.
Buoyed by the chance to reverse a fitness journey that was heading in the wrong direction, he started training and clocking up the miles.
Since then, Andy has become a regular runner, taking on distances from parkrun 5ks to marathons.
Along the way, he has become a run director at Arrow Valley parkrun and more recently joined forces with YouTuber Tim Stent, aka The Middle Aged Running Man, to become one half of the Marmcast pod.
In this episode of Running Tales, we spoke to Andy about how running has changed his life...
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Listen to Marmcast on Apple Podcasts
There isn’t much Sarah Lavender Smith hasn’t done in the world of running.
The Colorado resident has run more than 100 ultras and marathons, winning several at the 50k distance and clocking up many thousands of miles during more than 30 years in the sport.
In 2019, she won the Grand to Grand Ultra, widely celebrated as one of the toughest races in the world.
But Sarah had a ten year itch she needed to scratch: an event as hard to get into as it is to run.
It is a race which features 102.5 miles (165km) and 33,000 feet (10,000 m) of climb through an area of such spiritual significance to her that she can track her family roots there back to 1880.
Sarah’s date with destiny arrived on July 11, 2025 in Silverton, Colorado.
At 6am on that day, she toed the start line of one of ultra running’s most famous races: The Hardrock 100.
In this episode of Running Tales, we spoke to Sarah to find out how her Hardrock adventure turned out...
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Visit Sarah's Mountain Running & Living Substack: https://sarahrunning.substack.com/
Donato, aka Twitter's Poet With Pace, hasn't always been a runner. Indeed, he didn't even start running until he was in his mid-50s and only took to the sport to raise money for charity.
But once he started, there was no stopping him.
Since completing the Birmingham Half-Marathon in 2015, Donato has gone on to break a Guinness World Record for running the fastest marathon dressed as a hospital patient, completed five marathon majors and raced for England at Master's level.
Along the way he has amassed a YouTube following of close 5,500 subscribers to his 'Chatty Adventures' channel, where he posts race videos.
Running Tales spoke to Donato about how he first started running, finding out he was both good at it and that it brought him joy, and why it took him so long to discover the sport in the first place...
nb.. Donato has requested we only use his first name. We are happy to comply with that request.
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Jason Bahamundi is an ultra runner who lives by the motto 'all gas, no brakes,' but he only started running when he was 'voluntold' he would be doing a half-marathon for charity.
His first training run left him gasping for breath, but Jason was hooked. Running became a habit that led him to longer and longer races and ever bigger challenges, including completing Western States, the Rocky Racoon 100-miler several times, and Cocodona 250.
Along the way, he has finished a host of Ironman triathlons - not bad for someone who saw running as a punishment at school.
Jason is also the founder of Run, Tri, Bike magazine, which is devoted to celebrating the endurance lifestyle while expanding diversity and inclusion in sport.
Running Tales talked to Jason about championing women in running, sleeping during ultra races, and how running has helped him with his business...
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Read Run, Tri, Bike magazine at https://runtrimag.com/
Rohan Kallicharan, a sub-three hour marathoner, is on the verge of something extraordinary.
With more than 80 marathons - including 10 in 10 days - already behind him, the man dubbed by friends as 'Ro Farah' is aiming to reach 100 marathons before he turns 50 next June.
But that achievement will barely touch the surface of Rohan's story.
Over a 15 year period, starting when he was a teenager, he struggled with his mental health, attempting suicide three times before eventually being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
With a lot of hard work, Rohan was able to move forward with his life, but in confronting his mental demons he began to neglect his physical wellbeing, ballooning up to 19 stone.
It was only when he visited the London Olympic Games in 2012 that Rohan realised it was time to do something about his weight. Shortly afterwards he started running - and he's barely stopped since.
Running Tales talked to Rohan about the mental health benefits of running - and how when he became too focused on times he briefly fell out of love with the sport, his 100 marathon goal, and raising tens of thousands of pounds for Mind, the mental health charity...
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Visit Rohan's website, Run With Perseverance, at https://run-with-perseverance.co.uk/
Sponsor Rohan in his efforts to run 100 marathons before he reaches 50 - all monies go to Mind: https://www.justgiving.com/page/ro-fun-before-fifty
Christopher McDougall wasn't even a runner when he came across the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico.
He'd been told he was too big. He'd be better off guarding the President or riding a bike than running.
But what he found not only changed his life, but those of thousands of runners across the globe.
In 2009, Christopher published his now famous book on the Tarahumara, 'Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen'.
Not only did it uncover the secrets of the Tarahumara, who could run incredible distances in super fast times, it opened up his eyes to a whole new way of running.
Christopher has gone on to write two more masterpieces on running, 'Natural Born Heroes' and 'Running With Sherman'.But Running Tales wanted to find out a little bit more about the man behind the books that have inspired so many runners all over the world - and caused headaches among those in the big shoe companies.
We spoke to Christopher about how his father both embarrassed and inspired him by running laps round his school and going on to run three hour 30 marathons while in his 60s, his life as a war correspondent, and what is it like running with donkeys...
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Visit Christopher's website at https://www.chrismcdougall.com/ to find out more about his work and writing.