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Interesting Conversations with Interesting Runners. A podcast about trail running from Aoteraoa/New

16/06/2026

Kia ora e te whānau. This week, we bring you a double header of epic proportions. First, you’ll hear the 2026 Ultra Trail Australia Women in Trail panel. This episode features elite trail runners Beth McKenzie, Charlie Simpson, Lydia O’Donnell, and Olympian triathlete Sophie Linn. Next, Ali speaks to Dr. Pelle Kempe, a specialist Obstetrician and Gynaecologist based in Palmerston North. He is the Medical Lead for the Obstetrics and Gynaecology service at Palmerston North Hospital. Dr. Kempe also serves as Chair of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. A passionate trail runner, Pelle is dedicated to improving women’s health. This conversation explores the intersection of trails and health, the changes and challenges for female athletes, and possible ways forward. (Note for the fellas: Women’s health affects everyone. Stick around, learn something, and enjoy the chat.)

Dirt Church Radio—Best Enjoyed Running.

12/06/2026

Denny’s Marathon | DCR AidStation 054
This week is a tribute to togetherness that running can bring us. Ali, Andrew, and Matt celebrate the experience of heading out for a run with your mates, be it a marathon relay, a Denny’s Marathon, or a Coast to Coast to Coast. We explore (literally) some of the cool places you can get to in a city on foot. We salute and welcome Freden, Auckland’s new maunga-based running activity, and reveal our fondness for the ephemera collected post-race, and the memories they hold. We get sub-niche, learn that Fela Kuti’s mum was tough as all get out, and pay our fondest respects to Matua Ken. All this and more, at the DCR AidStation

Dirt Church Radio – Best Enjoyed Running.

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# ultramarathon

03/06/2026

Kia ora e te whānau. Ian Sharman is a straight-up Legend in the sport of ultramarathon running. A Coach and Athlete hailing from the Golden Age, before 4K cameras in everyone’s pockets and when fans had to pass around a pirated copy of Unbreakable, Sharman and his kin were like legends, foreshadowing and inspiring the current crop of stars and doing things us regular people could only imagine, and we had to, because it was before the great trailrunning media bubble formed. Starting DCR 8 years ago after growing up in the sport, listening to Shaman on Trail Runner Nation and the like, and having him on the podcast is like a dream come true. The four-time Leadville winner and Grand Slam of Ultra Running record holder joins Ali and Andrew for a long overdue catch-up about life on the trails, his amazing achievements in racing and coaching, and the why behind his new book, The Art of Ultrarunning: Tried & Tested Strategies for Long Distance Runners.

Dirt Church Radio—Best Enjoyed Running.🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲

29/05/2026

APEX PREDATOR | DCR AidStation 053
This week, Ali, Matt, and Andrew get philosophical: if an influencer were to influence the woods and no one were around, would anyone GRWM? We take a shot at amateur doping (and why this sucks), and share our undying admiration for the NZ 24-hour championship team. We address some of the curliest issues afflicting trail running in the 21st century. While we are at it, why is Andrew so calm? It worries us when he goes all Zen. Should you date runners, even if you are one? Is this a slippery slope? Does time count in the airport lounge? How does one confuse terrain with talent, and we circle (pit) back to the debacle in the desert. All this and more, at the DCR AidStation

Dirt Church Radio – Best Enjoyed Running.

15/05/2026

Cult Of Personality | DCR AidStation 052We’ve had some big weeks in the running world. With some incredible performances and a new normal being established across the board, from 42.2 to 250 miles. Ali, Andrew, and Matt are here for it, and we have some questions as well. Is our sport, and the big tent that it has become, lost some of its sparkle, its unpredictability, its wonder? Now, every elite performance must surely hinge on the 1%ers.

When is too much too much? Have accomplishment and performance been superseded by attention? Are races now cults of personality driven by an allegiance to race directors? When a brand’s identity overshadows the identity of its runners, is that a good thing? And we’re doping now? sorta? And surely in today’s day and age, should we be encouraging elite road runners who have podcasts to shut the F*&k up as much as possible? especially when it comes to gender*

Dirt Church Radio – Best Enjoyed Running.

*I think we can all agree on this one.🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲

05/05/2026

Kia ora e te whānau. Who is excited for UTA? Gosh, we certainly are. This week, Join Ali and Matt as they preview the elite fields in the miler, 100km, 50km, and 22km events at Ultra Trail Australia, as well as answer those last-minute questions that athletes have when staring an event like this in the face. This year, we’ve decided to do things a little differently, and Ali speaks with Ian ‘easy’ Meyer- one of the foundations of the course marking team, and event stalwart, to dive into the details of the course, what to expect, and the level of detail that goes into planning this incredible event.
Dirt Church Radio—Best Enjoyed Running. 🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲📷

02/05/2026

We’re not going to lie, there was a lot on the docket this week, and boy did Ali, Andrew, and Matt rip through it.

We, the aforementioned, declare that Tamaki is now the distance-running capital of Aotearoa. And also that it is “mad nice” (Friedland, 2026). We charge that big companies should stop doing things that make them look like dicks, and that the Boston thing was sort of okay, and also we wonder if that dude that Jurek helped across the line at Western States ever got a sympathy cougar. READ THE RULES, PEOPLE.

Attending to point 1. We salute Messers McLean, Wadams, Steel, Steel, & Steel for their spectacular efforts at the Faultline Miler.

Andrew McDowall formally and unreservedly apologizes to Shaun Collins for his complete disregard for Trail Nav events in the North Island. We also discussed the little race in London over the weekend and the Wanaka Ultra. Mad Nice indeed. 🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲

21/04/2026

Matt Bixley. Barkley and Beyond | DIRT CHURCH RADIO 369
Way back in 2023, when Eugene and Matt first spoke to Matt Bixley (on DCR 228 if you are interested), they were impressed not only by the attention he paid to detail in planning his adventures, the scope of the adventures - 18 Keplers (at the time) , a Barkley Marathons, a million rogaines, and an astounding back story, but the sheer ability of the man to spin a great yarn.

Fast forward a couple of years, and we find out that not much has changed. Settle in for round two with Matt, this time with DCR’s Andrew McDowall. There’s been more Keplers, More Barkley Marathons, and even more adventures with a compass in hand, maybe even a broken rib in there too. I apologize in advance for the test cricket chat. Fun, free-wheeling, and always entertaining, we are stoked to bring you this conversation with the man who literally wrote the crib notes on the Kepler. Dirt Church Radio—Best Enjoyed Running.🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲

18/04/2026

Return Of The M(A)C(K) | DCR AidStation 050
Goodness me, we got through a bit on the Aidstation this week. From hard choices to bo**rs (Yes, you read correctly). Better mental health and running strategies you can use every day. Paying to pace? yep, we go there too, and yep, Backyards aren’t dead. Also, most importantly, I know, it’s not Mack or Mac, it’s Mc, as in McDowall, but goshdarnit, Andrew is back, and we’re all the better for it. Did we mention bo**rs? Excellent stuff.

Dirt Church Radio – Best Enjoyed Running.
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08/04/2026

Annie Hand. Blasting in the Blueys | Dirt Church Radio 367. Kia ora e te whānau. This week, Ali Pottinger chats with Annie Hand, fresh off her second-place finish at the Six Foot Track Marathon. Hand, a Blue Mountain stalwart, completed the Ultra Trail Australia Miler in 2025 and is off for a lap of Mount Blanc in 2026. Annie and Ali talk about performance, Annie’s abiding love of the Blue Mountains, and the pleasant surprise of ending up on podiums in this excellent conversation you won’t want to miss. Also, don’t miss out on our Greatest Run Ever this week, a brotherly battle at the Delerious West. Dirt Church Radio—Best Enjoyed Running. 🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲

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