Tales from the Valley Podcast

Sam catches up with Angela Jebb and Liam Mahoney 🎙️

Angela’s been building quietly into something serious — 17:14 (5k), 37:43 (10k) — and at Ballarat she stepped up for her half marathon debut, running 1:22:12. Despite getting caught behind the staggered start and losing her group early, she ran solo for most of the day and held strong when the legs started to go around 14–15k. No specific half marathon block either — just consist...

Sam catches up with Harm Schaap and Jessica Burke 🎙️

Jess has made the move from Sydney to Wollongong (and picked up a fiancé along the way 💍). After getting her start at Pace Athletic surrounded by names like Ben St Lawrence, Katie St Lawrence and Sam Hopper, she’s built into a serious runner — 10:28 (3k), 18:10 (5k), 38:09 (10k). Fresh off Ballarat Marathon, Jess ran 41 minutes in tough conditions, soaking up the rare chance to...

Sam catches up with Sam Jones & Stefan Deane-Smith ahead of the Ballarat Marathon weekend, where both are lining up in the Half Marathon with similar goals — and likely to push each other all the way.

Sam Jones is coming in hot off a strong start to the season, clocking two big PBs: dropping his 1500m from 4:03 to 3:56, and running 14:44 for 5000m at State Champs. His preparation for Ballarat has been very targeted, with plenty...

Sam catches up with Dane Ottesen and Liam Manton just two weeks out from the Ballarat Marathon.

The last time we spoke with Dane was after his 2:46 marathon debut at Ballarat last year. Since then, he’s settled into a new routine with JT Running and built into this block while balancing a new job and fresh Sydney Park routes. Dane talks us through his latest week, featuring a session of 6 minutes, 7 x 600m, 6 minutes, and a big Sun...

Ballarat is getting closer and the marathon builds are starting to peak 🏃‍♂️

Sam catches up with Mitch Ryan & Josh Engel to break down their training ahead of Ballarat.

Mitch Ryan Mitch reflects on his Valencia Marathon build from last year where Achilles issues made things challenging. Since then he’s been patiently building back up and getting consist...

TFTV Rat Race – Ballarat Build (5 Weeks Out) 🎙️

Sam catches up with past guests Mel Jefferis & Pete Naseby as the Ballarat Marathon edges closer.

Mel is gearing up for the Half Marathon and building strong after overcoming hamstring issues. She takes us through her recent block, including an 86km week featuring sessions like 6 x 1k + 4 x 400, 3 x 10 mins, and a 2-hour long run. She’s lining up with confidence and chasing a PB ...

Sam chats with Jarrod Boyd and Greg ‘Frosty’ Frost as both line up for Ballarat in five weeks.

Jarrod makes his first appearance on the podcast, bringing some serious credentials with PBs of 16:44 (5k), 33:38 (10k) and 1:16 (half). Coming from a high-level rugby background, Jarrod transitioned into triathlon and reached peak fitness around 2017. After stepping away from running during COVID while starting a family, he returned in 2...

Sam & Katie catch up after a couple of weeks off while Sam welcomes his daughter Elena into the world 👶

Katie shares an update on her injury and the expected timeline for surgery. In the meantime she’s making the most of the situation by getting fully set up on Zwift and learning the ropes with the full home setup.

Sam talks about the early days of balancing newborn life with marathon training, and how the two are already star...

Sam catches up with Luke Hince, 12 months after he was last on the podcast — and for the same reason. Luke takes out the NSW 5000m Championships in 14:00, agonisingly close to cracking sub-14.

They kick things off by discussing Luke’s strong run of form, including his impressive 29:03 over 10,000m at the Melbourne Track Classic (part of the Athletics Grand Prix Series) last year.

Luke recaps his taper week leading into the race and...

Sam & Katie catch up on their training this week with no guest on the mic, and also dive into some listener ChatGPT Q’s along the way. 🤖🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️

Katie continues her cycling block, hits squat PB’s, and keeps the running load sensible — while also unpacking Sam’s incredibly inconvenient offer to “help” her through one of her track sessions. 😅

Sam bounces back from a bit of a lull with a strong week featuring speedy 400s, shar...

Sam & Katie catch up with Charl Jansen Van Rensburg, who makes his return to the podcast with plenty of updates since last time.

Charl has rewritten his Half Marathon PB, clocking a 1:15 at the Gold Coast Half Marathon last year. Alongside his running, Charl has also launched his business Mileage Mate, and walks us through the product—designed to help runners stay warm, dry, and clean before and after training and racing.

Sam and Katie are joined by Ethan Spears and Cody Bramich from the 360 South Project.

Ethan and Cody are relatively new to running but are passionate about building a movement in the Illawarra through community, challenge, and shared suffering. Their flagship event is a unique 360 km relay from Wollongong to Huskisson and back, completed by teams of six over a 30-hour window, with legs split however teams choose.

Despite being earl...

Sam and Katie are joined by Chris Stone, who shares his running journey—from early runs with his dad, to a long hiatus through university, and then a spark moment after lining up at City2Surf that reignited his love (and natural knack) for running.

Since returning to the sport, Chris has clocked some impressive road PBs:

• 5km: 19:32
• 10km: 39:56
• Half Marathon: 1:29
• Marathon: 3:21 at the Sydney Marathon

More recently, Chris...

On this episode of Café Kit of the Month, Sam sits down with Isaac Shaw.

Isaac breaks down his outstanding performance, finishing 2nd in the State 3000m, and walks us through his summer of training. He also shares his experience with precision gels, gives an early review of the up-and-coming NVR running apparel—with a focus on the Ghost Singlet—and chats about the Puma MagMax.

To round things out, Isaac gives us the inside word on ...

Sam chats with Tim Manuel, a huge part of the KJ’s community. Tim rediscovered his love of running during the Covid lockdowns after first lacing up in his junior years—and he’s been flying ever since.

From a 2:11 PB over 800m through to an agonisingly close sub-3 marathon attempt at last year’s Sydney Marathon (3:00:50), Tim’s range is seriously impressive. A standout Masters athlete, he’s won multiple Cross Country and Track title...

This week, Katie takes over hosting duties and puts Sam in the hot seat for a change. Sam runs through his personal bests — including a 9:57 3 km time trial where a shoelace came undone mid-run, a gritty 1:18 half marathon at the Western Sydney Half, where he came third after running through the field and picking off competitors throughout the second half, and his 2:56 marathon, which capped off his original ambition of breaking th...

Sam and Katie sit down with Rene Collins, a familiar face in the Illawarra running scene who wears many hats — from coaching local ultra-marathon athletes, to pacing at major city marathons, and most recently leading the run sessions for SAVVY.

Rene’s running journey began with the Canberra Marathon, an initiation he describes as brutally tough, famously hitting the wall around 32km. From there, things escalated quickly. He tackled...