Tales from the Valley Podcast

Join us for two incredible stories from the Ballarat Marathon! Dane Ottesen shares his inspiring marathon debut, clocking a remarkable 2:46, while Greg Frost reflects on his 2:28 finish—achieving a lifelong running goal. Get a feel for the course, the atmosphere, and why this event should be on your radar for 2026. Whether you're chasing a PB or your first marathon finish, this episode will get your heart pumping.

Sam and Katie chat with Sinead MacCana. Sinead is the founder of RISE&RUN Bali, a thriving community running group based in Canggu, Bali. Her running journey began alongside her career in Personal Training in Australia, where she also completed her first marathon. Presented with a unique opportunity, Sinead took on the Bali Hope Ultra — an 84km charity ultramarathon. To prepare, she made the bold decision to move to Bali, start a run club from her home to fundraise, and then complete the event. After the ultra, Sinead chose to keep the run club going, which has since blossomed into a vibrant community of almost 100 expats gathering each week for a group run in Canggu, along with a hill interval session every Thursday. Sinead also shares her best tips for running safely in Bali, including: Being cautious of stray dogs Navigating scooters and traffic Safety tips for female runners Finding a supportive running community upon arrival She also walks us through her typical training week, which during the recent RISE&RUN Bali Retreat, included a full roster of running sessions, strength training, and fun activities across Bali. The retreat capped off with a Sunday Half Marathon — and a 50km long run for Sinead! Meanwhile, Katie faced a rough trip back to Australia, losing a day in transit and battling some knee swelling post-flight. Despite the setback, she pieced together 82km for the week, including some strong threshold work. Sam put in a solid and social 88km week, with his key session — 4 x 8-minute threshold reps — integrated into the Wollongong 10k, navigating through a busy race environment. Café Kit of the Week: MapleRoo Gels LSKD Tights and Shorts Voltaren Cream Hirudoid Cream Round the Club Shoutouts: Cameron Bailey – Four Endurance Reece Nikitaras – Your Local Run Club RISE&RUN Retreat Attendees Find out more about RISE&RUN Bali here: https://www.instagram.com/riserunbali/  

Sam and Katie catch up with Sarah Reiter, Tracksmith athlete and longtime friend of Katie’s from college. Sarah’s resume is stacked with personal bests ranging from 16:21 for 5,000m to 2:31 for the marathon. Most recently, she placed 24th at the Boston Marathon, clocking a solid 2:33 on a course that chewed up many. Sarah gives us an inside look at her peak training week, logging 85 miles (~137km) with plenty of hills and a mix of threshold, marathon pace, and anaerobic sessions. This was one of eight intense weeks during her marathon build. She walks us through her taper, mental approach, and how she pulled off a near-perfect day in Boston—running a controlled, even effort with just a one-minute positive split in the challenging second half. Then, Sam shares the story behind pulling out of the Christchurch Marathon and skipping the New Zealand trip. Instead, he jumped into the Canberra Half Marathon, where he powered through a tough course before bouncing back quickly the following Saturday with a 30-minute tempo, including parkrun. Katie rounds out the episode with her own racing update, taking 4th overall at the Run the River Half and clocking a strong 1:23. She’s stringing together some consistent work and looking sharp. Café Kit of the Week ☕️ Tracksmith Gloves 🧤 Nike Trail Apparel 🏞️ Depop for Secondhand Running Gear ♻️

Myles Gough re-joins the podcast after his 2nd win at Canberra Marathon last weekend in 2:30:08 Myles walks us through his training block as well as his taper and exciting race recap.   It was a tactical day out and an exciting race, this ones a must listen!

With Katie back in the US, she and Sam are taking the next few weeks to catch up with some of our amazing international listeners. This week, they’re joined by Adam Brill, a passionate runner based in Boston, former colleague of Sam’s, and long-time listener of the show. Adam shares his unique running journey, which began after his professional golf career didn’t quite hit the heights he had aimed for. Determined to keep chasing goals, he set out to run the New York Marathon—his debut coming in around 4 hours 20. Since then, Adam has gotten serious, joining track groups and bringing structure to his training. His hard work has paid off: he ran a 3:21 at the 2023 London Marathon and is now laser-focused on a Boston Qualifier (3:10) to earn a start in his hometown race. With 7 weeks to go until London, Adam is putting in his biggest training weeks yet, including a full slate of Yasso 800s and a tough 20-mile long run. 🏃‍♀️ Training Updates Katie kicks off her week flying back to Richland, feeling some tough—but normal—side effects from a recent iron infusion. Despite a shaky track session, she rebounded well with a strong tempo and strung together 100km for the week. Sam drops his volume slightly to 80km, but still clocks a solid, controlled parkrun at 3:37s, one week out from his upcoming half marathon. While he’s struggling to turn the legs over quickly, his aerobic base has him feeling confident to give his PB a crack. Adam matches Sam with 80km, his biggest week in years, highlighted by his Yasso session and a gritty 20-miler. Momentum is building as London looms. ☕ Café Kit of the Week Perene Custom TFTV Race Singlet Bob Baby Stroller Iron Infusion 📣 Round the Club Shoutouts Luke Whiddet – Your Local Run Club Rhys “Lightning” Thorpe – Wollongong Track Club Elizabeth Brill

Sam and Katie chat with Pat Miller, a core member of JT Running. Pat got into running a couple of years ago, initially as a lighthearted challenge to beat his business partner in a race. What started as a gag quickly became a valuable routine for his mental well-being, so he committed to it seriously. He later joined Savvy with a friend and hasn’t looked back since—quickly improving from a 21-minute 5K to 19 minutes. Pat now boasts personal bests of 10:24 for 3K, 17:51 for 5K, and 1:29 for the Half Marathon. Despite a demanding, labor-intensive work schedule and a busy family life, Pat has impressively carved out time for consistent training. Pat’s training week kicks off on Tuesday with a JT track session: a 6-minute tempo, 2 minutes of rest, then four sets of (2 minutes on / 1 minute float, repeated twice) with 75 seconds of rest. It was a tough session, but Pat nailed it. On Friday, he dialed into goal race pace for 25 minutes, maintaining a solid 3:45/km. Sam ran the same session as Pat, hitting his tempo at 3:42/km and executing all "on" reps between 3:20 and 3:25/km. However, by Friday, fatigue had set in, so he opted for a 30-minute tempo at 3:58/km instead of the planned progression run. Despite this adjustment, Sam still completed a 90 km week, including three gym sessions. Katie’s week started strong with mile repeats and a fast 400m rep on Tuesday morning, but she battled food poisoning throughout the week. Still, she joined Loz and Michelle for a Friday threshold session, completing 12, 10, and 8-minute intervals while progressing the pace. She capped off the week with a speedy 32 km long run on Sunday, finishing with an impressive 105 km for the week. Café Kit of the Week JT Running x Right Street Loans Shirt Garmin 255 Bonds Tempo Socks White Chocolate Protein Mixed with Coffee Before Runs Round the Club Shoutouts Billy Hudson – Bega Run & Coffee Crew Darcy Hennessy – Wollongong Track Club Jaime Delaney – Wollongong Track Club

This week, Sam, Mitch, and Katie catch up with Harm Schaap, who boasts some blistering PBs, including 3:51 for 1500m, 8:38 for 3000m, 14:58 for 5000m, and 31:12 for 10K. These times were set a few years ago, and Harm shares his long training journey with Hince’s Horses, moving from Mollymook to Wollongong for university. He recently ran a very minor PB for 1500m—less than a second faster—but it was a confidence booster, and he feels his current PBs are under threat this year after consistent training. He also takes us through some fiery training sessions with Luke Hince, a must-listen segment for any running enthusiast. Training Updates: Mitch has been putting together some impressive sessions but senses an illness coming on, making the wise call to dial things back for a 95 km down week. Katie shifts the balance back toward running over Hyrox this week, logging 110 km and racing the Beaton Park 5K on Thursday night, while still keeping a Hyrox workout in the mix on Saturday. Harm recaps a solid week of training with plenty of speed work but takes a few days off to manage some hamstring issues. Sam continues stacking JT Running sessions, hitting 6 x 3 minutes at 3:25 pace on the track and grinding through a tough threshold workout on Friday, followed by a hilly long run with Katie at Stanwell Park. Café Kit of the Week: On Running Hat Oasis Running Kit (Custom WTC) ParrotPal Food Tracker (An AI-driven alternative to MyFitnessPal) Aldi Cupping Device Round-the-Club Shoutouts: William Wei – Kembla Joggers Elijah Hurley – Kembla Joggers Luke Hince – Wollongong Track Club Jemma Wilson – Moruya Tri

Sam and Mitch catch up with Matt Johnsen, an impressive runner who grew up in Broulee. After winning numerous national medals in the steeplechase, Matt made the choice to move down to Melbourne to pursue running. Once in Melbourne, Matt's teammates began going to college, and he felt he had the potential to do the same. He achieved remarkable personal bests, including 14:14 for the 5000m and 29:25 for the 10,000m. After college, Matt returned to Melbourne and was coached by Brad Croker, achieving times of 1:05 for the half marathon and 2:23 for the marathon. Shortly after these successes, he moved back to Broulee, coinciding with the onset of the COVID lockdown, which made it challenging to stay competitive without races. Since then, Matt has shifted his focus to enjoying running and has adjusted his goals while still believing he can shave a couple of minutes off his marathon time. Additionally, he coaches local kids once a week and participates in community running groups to promote the sport in the area. In training, Sam tackles chaotic K repetitions in the Bali heat, contending with scooters and dogs on the roads of Canggu, but soon falls victim to Bali Belly. Meanwhile, Mitch takes his session from lane 8 to the Unanderra criterium track, logging 24km on Tuesday and setting up for a 129km week. Matt reintroduces sessions into his training, including 8 x 3 minutes on Wednesday, and pushes through a hot, hungover long run over hills on Sunday, totaling 87km for the week. Café Kit of the Week: Trigger Point Ball Nike Air Zoom 5’s Winners Gels Coles Perform Gels Round the Club Shoutouts: Sam Sprowles – Culburra Beach Trotters Monty Lloyd-Jones – Bankstown Athletics Club Liam Henderson – Wollongong Track Club

Sam, Katie, and Mitch chat with Paul Gallina and Andrew Kyrie. Paul is currently training for his first marathon in Wollongong at the end of April, while Andrew is an accomplished runner with a personal best of 19:01 in the 5k. Together, Paul and Andrew are the founders and owner-operators of Traak Hats, which offers a unique running hat designed to meet the needs of runners. This hat features a zipper, allowing for a pocket to hold gels during long runs. The idea originated from Andrew's frustration with carrying his car key while running a few years ago. Andrew and Paul share insights into the manufacturing and design process, emphasizing their commitment to creating products that align with market trends while maintaining a unique brand identity. Katie discusses her recent victory in the Open Ladies Hyrox competition in Brisbane, completing the event in 1:04. She follows this up the next week with 98 km of jogging and additional Hyrox workouts. Andrew plays tennis with Josh Shoveller, who is humorously house-sitting for Sam, and manages to squeeze in some jogging and hiking. Paul logs solid mileage and uses a stationary bike to support his aerobic training after experiencing some ankle issues. Mitch completes more reverse lane 8 workouts, benefiting from Josh's expertise, and impressively racks up 128 km this week. Sam runs some fast sessions before heading off to Bali, including two 15-minute tempo/threshold sessions at paces of 3:51 and 3:38 per km, and surprisingly completes his 2-hour long run in Kuta, dodging barking dogs and scooters. Definitely check out the running hats and socks at TRAAK via the links below: Traak Running Traak Running on Instagram Round the Club Shoutouts: Josh Shoveller – Culburra Beach Trotters Erin Sonnier – Running Heroes Julian Fitzpatrick – Wollongong Track Club Michelle Rennie – Seacliff Coasters

Laura had a stellar 2023, setting impressive PBs, including 18:15 for 5K, 38:50 for 10K, and a 1:26 half marathon—winning the Wollongong Running Festival in the process. She ran her first half marathon in 2016 but didn’t fully commit to running at the time. It wasn’t until recently, after having her two boys, Thomas and William, that she found the consistency to train seriously. Past guest and friend Renae Placek played a key role in encouraging Laura to take up running more competitively. Now, she’s a regular at Kembla Joggers' Thursday night track meets, balancing training with a busy work and parenting schedule. Laura currently runs 3-4 times a week, hits the gym, and stays active at home while looking after the kids. This year, she’s focused on gradually chipping away at her PBs and making up for the half-marathon build she had to abandon due to injury late last year. Training & Racing Updates Sam logs his biggest week in months, covering 94km and sharpening up with some faster track sessions. Meanwhile, Laura is gaining momentum, rolling through her long run at 4:30/km pace. She also put in two impressive performances at KJ’s track night, clocking 5:36 for the mile and 12:30 for the two-mile race. Café Kit of the Week Nike: Invincible 3, Alphafly 3 Mizuno: Neovista ASICS: Novablast 5, Superblast 2, Metaspeed Sky Round the Club Shoutouts Renae Placek – Kembla Joggers Trevor Whiddet – Your Local Run Club Mitch Grasa – Your Local Run Club