Taster Episode

Welcome to Still Running Strong — a new podcast for midlife women who love ultra running. Not the elites, not the podium finishers — the mid-pack, the back-of-the-packers, the ones who are just there for the love of it.

In this taster episode, hosts Becky and Dawn introduce themselves, share the (slightly smelly) story of how they met at an ultra race in Greece, and talk about why midlife might just be the strongest chapter yet — even while their bodies are changing shape around them.

Expect honest conversations about perimenopause and menopause from lived experience (not medical advice — they're very clear on that), the friendships that ultra running builds, and why this podcast is for absolutely anyone who runs, walks, or ultra-walks their way through a race.

In This Episode

●      Who Becky and Dawn are, and what “mid-pack” really means

●      How they met — a running retreat kitchen in the Lakes, and an unforgettable moment in a tent in Greece

●      Why midlife is a new chapter, not a decline

●      What listeners can expect from the show: real stories, practical tips, and guests with their own journeys to tell

●      Why this isn't a professional advice podcast — just two women sharing what's worked for them

Connect With Us

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for updates on new episodes, and get in touch if you've got a story to share — we'd love to have you as a guest.

Still Running Strong is for general interest and entertainment only. We share our own personal experiences, not professional medical, nutritional, or training advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making changes to your training, diet, or health.

Get In Touch

Got a story about a trail friendship, or a question for us? We'd love to hear it — email us at stillrunningstrong@gmail.com, or find us on Instagram and Facebook.

Still Running Strong is for general interest and entertainment only. We share our own personal experiences, not professional medical, nutritional, or training advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making changes to your training, diet, or health.

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

Becky 0:04

Hello and welcome to this, the first edition of Still Running Strong. This is our little taster uh episode. My name's Becky and I'm here with Dawn. Hello, Dawn. Hi everyone. So, Still Running Strong is our new podcast. It's for midlife women who love ultrarunning. Maybe some who are new to it or some who have done loads of them. But those of us who are sort of mid-pack, not at the front, sometimes very near the back, but just have a passion for ultra running.

Dawn 0:38

So a brief introduction about us. I'm Dawn, I'm 57, married with two grown-up sons, love being out on the trails. I'm relatively new to doing many races or and the ultra distance, but I'm exploring that and loving it. I work as a performance mindset coach with Ultra Runners, which gives me a great insight at all different levels, which is I just love it.

Becky 1:06

And you're very good at it. And I'm Becky, I'm uh married, I've got wife, kids, and dogs. I live out in the country, so I'm very lucky to have good access to the trails. Um, I've probably done 15 to 20 races, firmly in the mid-pack, and I'm currently studying a master's in sports psychology.

Dawn 1:29

So in our connection is through ultrarunning, that's how we met. Yeah, yeah. Um, and we've created a lovely friendship as a result of that. And we're both so passionate about this ultra-running community, and it's a huge part of our lives, and we want to keep working along those lines of making sure it stays out there so more people have access to it.

Becky 1:55

And I think we both agreed that um well for for women, midlife is one of the times that we can be stronger than we've ever been. For some of us, we've got a bit more free time, sort of. You know, that doesn't feel like I have at the moment, but I think there's have been so much around now that women are stronger, they've we've got good endurance, our physiology suits well for endurance sports, and you know, we're still learning, entering races, discovering what we can do, being a bit braver. And although we know our bodies are changing, and they certainly are rapidly, yeah, but you know, there's so much about things in a positive way, yeah, as well.

Dawn 2:34

Yeah, it's taking the positivity, yeah.

Becky 2:36

And we don't we don't subscribe to this, oh, 60 or 50 is the new 30 or 40. No, sod it, let's just enjoy being 50 or 60.

Dawn 2:44

Yeah. Well, I don't say so.

Becky 2:45

Why should I say 60? We're not 60.

Dawn 2:47

Yeah, but then firmly 50. Yeah, but but you know, whatever age, you know, I think embrace that age and just realise for me, it's been an awakening of this is a new chapter. Yes, and it's like there's so much more adventure is out there for us.

Becky 3:01

There is, and I think, well, it's probably our Instagram feeds are bombarded with it because that's who we are, but there's just so much about women doing more, being braver, and um just being a bit adventurous, and there is so much community out there, you know. You and I met through Ultrarunning, we've got a few lovely friends lined up to come on this podcast, um, because everyone's got a story to tell.

Dawn 3:26

And that's the one thing, this is not going to be about uh uh elites and podiums, you know, we can all learn from them and they're great things, but we like everybody's story. We want to share people's stories, we want to share the tips that have helped us, you know, uh enjoy our running more, do better at races, and this is like tips from how you fit it in with your life when you've got no time and you don't want to get out the door. All of these things, yeah. So this is a podcast for everyone who just enjoys their running at whatever level you're at, it doesn't matter, or even if you're just new to it and you want to explore it, and is it for you? Or if your ultra running is ultra walking, yeah.

Becky 4:08

It's the same. Absolutely, every race, if it certainly if it involves hills, which they normally do, is going to be a bit of um a bit of walking. And we're not being snobbish about anything underneath an ultraron. An ultraron is anything over a marathon. Um, you know, we'll we'll consider debating and discussing marathons and under. We'll consider it. It's only because we're not very good at them and that you have to run a long way very far. And you can't stop and sit and have picnics. No, exactly. We go there for the uh for the picnics. So we met, Dawn, didn't we, out in Greece when I was really, really looking and indeed smelling my best.

Dawn 4:44

Yes. We did meet briefly before that.

Becky 4:46

We did. We did. Sorry, yes.

Dawn 4:48

Yeah, we did meet at a running retreat in um the kitchen of this gorgeous running retreat.

Becky 4:54

That sounds fancier than it was before. But shout out to Hannah Walsh, it was really nice. But it was We're not talking champneys.

Dawn 5:01

No, no, it wasn't. It was a running retreat where in the lakes, and we met in the kitchen chatting, and basically we haven't stopped chatting since. Yeah, although the experience of chatting with her in Greece when I would pop my head into her tent was not pleasant because it absolutely strong.

Becky 5:13

It wasn't, can I just caveat that? It wasn't just me in the tent, the others know who you were. Yeah. And the point was this was a multi-day race in Greece where it's 250k in the heat and in the wet. I think we all got trenched foot. So there was one time at the end of the race when on the last stop when Dawn popped ahead in and literally I think you gagged.

Dawn 5:34

I did gag, I couldn't stay.

Becky 5:36

No. So that as I say, that wasn't me, that was mainly the others, actually. I'm sure it was not you, you raised. Anyway, we're we're getting off the topic. So yes, we met raising the planet.

Dawn 5:45

I was volunteering actually.

Becky 5:46

And I was I've written here Becky was racing. Yeah. Let's just leave it at that. Becky was racing. Becky was drunk. That's another thing.

Dawn 5:53

Racing. None of us actually go and race, do we? Or in my mind, we don't race.

Becky 5:58

No, we don't.

Dawn 5:59

One of my a lady that I know recently said to me, Dawn, I want to set my world on fire, not the world on fire. Love it. And that is one thing. When we go to these things, we're not going to race other people. Well, some people do with the elites, or you know, we like to overtake them.

Becky 6:13

I've got my eyebrows raised very high. Right.

unknown 6:17

Yeah.

Dawn 6:18

But anyway, that's me. It's like I'm racing myself and charging myself all this time. Absolutely. Anyway, again, and often another tangent.

Becky 6:25

And and it and it isn't, yes, and that's the whole the whole point. I I I've often thought of ultrarunning a bit like something like rock climbing or surfing. Not that I've done surfing, but I can imagine that a surfer sees another surfer out there and is just as delighted for them that they've caught a brilliant wave as they would be if they'd been on it. And with ultra running, everybody is there to get everybody over the line. You know, okay, if you're going to be right at the front and you're Courtney Dell Water or or Rachel Enterkin, you know, you're there to win it. Well, I'm not, you know, and I am there. I I've had people who one lady probably will come onto this podcast who'd finished a race literally three hours before me, Leafa, this is you, and she went back to hotel, showered, got ready. She was, you know, could have gone to sleep, husband was there, she bothered to get out of that hotel and come back down to the finish to cheer me in at 1 a.m. in the morning. Yeah. I mean, you don't get that in triathlons.

Dawn 7:16

Um but that's the community, isn't it? It was really lovely. And that's why we love it. Really, really lovely. Yeah, so magic.

Becky 7:23

Uh, challenges, I've written here, challenges into lasting friendships, Dawn.

Dawn 7:27

Well, it's true. And I think when you've had to put up with other people's low times during a race or lit their smells and all these various things, and you you go through the highs and the lows together, and you do create these lasting friendships. I've created such lovely friendships through Ultra Running.

Becky 7:44

Absolutely, absolutely. Okay So we are we're talking about um a certain period of time in our lives, and over the course of the next few weeks, you know, we'll be talking from our experience about perimenopause and menopause, and we thought it was important to just say here that we are talking from our own lived experience. We do not pretend to certainly have any physiological um exper um evidence or what am I saying, professionalism knowledge.

Dawn 8:14

We're not medically that's you know, we're not medically trained. We will look we all learn from qualified practitioners, and then we encourage everybody obviously to get medical advice and you know, yeah, dietitians and things like that. We can only give you our lived experience.

Becky 8:29

It's experience, we're not giving advice. You know, what what worked for us might not work for others. Um and you know, there'll be plenty of funny stories along the way, and plenty of things that we've done to to help our bodies get through these ultra marathons and the mental game as well, Dawn, which you're totally, yeah, which is something I'm very, very passionate about.

Dawn 8:50

You know, we want people like Becky always wants people to feel understood, supported. Yes, I always see that. Anywhere I've been with you. Yes, you'll you'll you do that. I think you do that naturally, yeah. Notice that, yeah. So, yeah, and it's about people being part of it. We want to create a community where we feel part of it, and you you can send us your messages and do all those things, and you know, everyone's important in this game.

Becky 9:17

Absolutely, and thank you to everyone who's followed us on Instagram and the old-fashioned Facebook, still it's our generation. Um, continue to do that. We'll post our um podcasts as each episode as they come out. Yeah. And obviously, over the course of the next few weeks, we'd love it if people sent us stories or things you wanted us to talk about. And, you know, if you've got a really good story to tell, um we're gonna have guests on, so you could be one of them.

Dawn 9:43

And we're new to this whole thing. This whole podcast thing is new to us. Yes. And we're growing with it, and we want you to grow with it, and uh you know, we just excited to see how it goes and uh explore what's next.

Becky 9:57

And please tune in.

Dawn 9:58

Okay, let's so thank you very much for listening, and hopefully you'll tune in to the next episode.

Becky 10:04

Thanks very much.

Dawn 10:07

Thank you.