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David Starley is co-founder of The Green Runners, and was listed in the 2023 Edie 30 under 30 list for young people leading the way in sustainability.
He's just achieved the Fastest Known Time for the Smuggler's Way in Cornwall, and continues to raise awareness about climate change through his activism and running.
David and I discuss what more can be done in the race against climate change, going deep into the issues surrounding big businesses and decision-makers holding all the cards that determine the future of the planet.
I ask whether change can ever come from the top or if we have to rely on future generations to sway policy-makers.
Are we at the mercy of big oil, capitalism and big-bucks seeking millionaires, or is there still hope from those who can make their voices heard through community and mass-participation.
Ultimately, we remain ever-hopeful and David believes that staying positive is the best course of action.
His future plans? To continue making FKTs if it helps the planet!
Follow David on Instagram @fitstarley
Find out more about The Green Runners at www.thegreenrunners.com -
Twenty year's ago, Kate Dunbar was struggling to move - riddled with joint pain and a diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis, she was on heavy medication and life seemed bleak.
But when she started investigating how diet impacted her health, she transformed her condition, becoming not only pain free, but medication free. Cutting out animal products, and then transitioning to a plant-based wholefoods diet, she now runs marathons as a Vegan Runner.
Kate's story is so inspirational that she now advises on the patient board for the Plant-Based Health Professionals, and speaks as an ambassador for Running On Plants and Vegan Runners.
An activist for veganism she takes every opportunity to run and spread awareness of animals and the planet and why plant-based is not only better for welfare, and the earth, but also, her health.
Follow Kate on Instagram at @kate.dunbar -
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Jen Scotney, author of Running Through the Dark, is host of the Resilience Rising podcast, former Human Rights Lawyer and podiuming ultra runner, writer, coach, speaker, yoga teacher and Mountain Leader.
She lives in the Scottish Highlands with husband Marcus and beagle Sherlock. Jen's book is a deeply personal account of her journey through grief and pain while dreaming about setting a record running the Pennine Way. It's a story about resilience, about never giving up, and battling through the night and always believing that there will be a new dawn.
In the first episode of series 4 we explore the themes which underpin her first book; loss, challenges with being diagnosed with chronic fatigue and later arthritis, relationships, becoming vegan, but above all what the Pennine Way means to Jen and how it is intertwined with her life.
Jen's account of learning to live without running is an honest and raw account of coming to terms with losing something you love, and is glorious and uplifting in the way that it's messy and meandering, just like life.
Chatting to Jen her positivity is joyful and it's hard to assimilate the experiences she's lived to the bubbly character I'm speaking to - testament to her own resilience.
Find out more about Jen at www.jenscotney.com
Listen to her podcast Resilience Rising wherever you get your podcasts, and find her husband Marcus's coaching here
Follow Jen on Instagram at @jenscotney
Buy her book Running Through the Dark: The Rise and Fall of An Ultrarunner -
Vanessa Sturman helps people eat their way to great performance, reduced fatigue and a healthy weight by implementing non-restrictive healthy eating, and incorporating the most delicious, anti-inflammatory plant based foods, no matter what your nutritional preference. No dieting, no fads and you still get to eat your favourite foods.
She is a regular on BBC Radio and Sky News, and also featured across Talk TV, LBC, Times Radio, Holland & Barrett magazine and many more.
She works 1:1, in groups and delivers incredible talks and workshops for corporates and universities. She is regularly invited to speak at conferences and events, such as at the University of Cambridge and events with high-profile personalities, such as Henry Dimbleby.
Vanessa has been passionate about food, the environment and healthy eating since she was a teenager, and learned that restrictive dieting brought unhappiness and poor physical health. She is known for her energetic, fun and practical approach; helping people build healthy eating around them and their busy lifestyle, while getting great results. Vanessa is Cambridge University educated in Social and Biological Anthropology to Masters level, ran a plant based recipe website for five years, and freelanced across corporates implementing behaviour change.
Find out more about Vanessa
Join her free community
LinkedIn: Vanessa Sturman
Instagram: Energise and Thrive Plant Based -
Lauren Chiren is an authority on the menopause and having struggled with her own menopause - believing at first that she had dementia, she now works hard to ensure that other people can better understand this stage of life, and thrive through menopause.
She educates both men and women on the topic, travelling the world speaking on the topic as the CEO and founder of Women of A Certain Stage. Lauren trains others to be menopause coaches, and explains how important it is to take time for ourselves.
We talk about running and how menopause affects performance and we cover nutrition and what you should eat, how important rest is, and Lauren even invites me to try giving up caffeine for a week!
Lauren talks about finding what made you happy when you were a child and how to tap back into that joy and simplicity. It might be journalling or mindfulness, but giving yourself time to rest is so important Lauren even advocates locking yourself in the bathroom and sitting there for two minutes and breathing!
A big advocate for supplements, Lauren talks about how she believes they can help and although it's a personal choice would spend money on the supplements over a meal out.
Lauren believes that women can thrive through menopause, and she advocates talking candidly about the topic in the workplace, and to both men and women, educating them more on the subject.
Find out more about Lauren at:
https://www.facebook.com/WomenOfACertainStage
https://www.instagram.com/themenopausecoach/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenchiren/
https://twitter.com/LaurenChiren -
Rohini Bajekal, Nutritionist and Co-Author of Living PCOS Free is a board-certified Lifestyle Medicine professional. Prior to becoming a nutritionist, she studied Theology at Oxford University. Having previously worked in India and Singapore, Rohini is based in London and provides evidence-based nutrition and lifestyle advice and group programmes to her clients around the world. She is also the Communications Lead at Plant-Based Health Professionals UK
Rohini co-authored her first book Living PCOS Free: How to Regain Your Hormonal Health with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome which was published in April 2022. She also wrote the chapter on lifestyle medicine for the book How To Go Plant-Based: A Definitive Guide For You and Your Family by Ella Mills, founder of Deliciously Ella.
Rohini regularly comments in the media with a focus on myth-busting around plant-based nutrition. She has been featured in publications such as The Guardian, Refinery 29, SheerLuxe, Cosmopolitan and Women's Health. She has been following a plant-based diet for almost 20 years.
In this episode I draw on Rohini's personal experiences with hormonal health and we discuss how eating a varied plant-based diet is important for hormonal balance. We discuss REDs and when it's right to stop and rest from training, we also talk about how runners need to take further considerations about their nutrition.Sign up for her free newsletters at www.rohinibajekal.com and follow her on Instagram @rohinibajekal for daily tips on healthy living.
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Dr Clare Day and Dr Daisy Lund are two plant-based health professionals working as NHS GP's in London. They have their own podcast, In A Nutshell, with the aim to improve nutritional education about the benefits of a whole-foods plant based diet for individual and planetary health.
Dr Day has worked as a GP in a range of settings including community and prison healthcare, having qualified as a doctor in 2011.
Prior to studying Graduate Medicine she studied Science Communication and Policy, joined the Civil Service and worked at HM Treasury as a Policy Advisor.
She has been vegan for a number of years and is convinced of the benefits for long term health of eating whole food plant based. Explanations of how dietary change can help long term conditions is something she tries to put at the very centre of consultations with curious patients. She also does plant-based teaching for trainee GPs and colleagues. Like the rest of us she is learning everyday about food and health, and most importantly the barriers to change for individuals.
Dr Lund is a practising GP with over 20 years’ experience of working in the NHS. She is a GP trainer and medical educator at Imperial College in London, UK.
Dr Lund has an interest in preventative medicine and holistic health and incorporates diet and lifestyle into her consultations. She has completed the Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate at the University of Winchester and is passionate about nutrition education for health care professionals. Together with a GP colleague, Dr Claire Day, she co-hosts ‘In a Nutshell’ the Plant Based Health Professionals UK podcast.
In this episode we debunk a whole heap of vegan myths, marvel at how swimming makes us put on weight, we talk running, and how we get B12, iron and other vital vitamins and minerals.You can listen to all their podcast episodes here :
https://linktr.ee/inanutshellpodcast
And find out more about the work of The Plant- Based Health Professionals UK here :
https://plantbasedhealthprofessionals.com/
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Ahead of her Highland Fling Ultra and looking forward to another Backyard Ultra Challenge, I chat to Kayleigh Webster, author of The Happy Diet cookbook.
We discuss her five-hour daily runs, and how she fuels with "real food", she's got a penchant for porridge and poke bowls, and makes recipes that don't use fancy ingredients like pomegranate molasses!
Running with her Labrador and having the freedom to move around in her campervan, Kayleigh is lucky to be able to explore what beautiful Scotland has in store from an ultrarunnering perspective.
A member of the Green Runners, she's conscious of her footprint, and has a wealth of information for people like me trying to make food with enough calories to get us round the trails.
Kayleigh published her first cookery book, The Happy Diet, to give people the chance to create affordable and simple meals that still taste amazing, and she puts her plant-based diet down to the reason she's now the happiest and healthiest she's ever been.
You can find more about Kayleigh's The Happy Diet cook book at https://thehappydiet.co.uk
And you can follow her on Instagram account at @the_happydiet -
She's made history as the first woman to ever complete the notorious Barkley Marathons. In Frozen Lake State Park, Tennessee, Jasmin Paris completed the 100-mile course with just 99 seconds to spare, and saw supporters quite literally on the edge of their seats willing her to reach the yellow gate at the finish line.
Jasmin is the co-founder of The Green Runners, and she uses her platform to speak out on green issues and help other runners make more sustainable choices, with the races they might choose, or how they train for runs.
We talk about things that helped her complete the Barkleys, including how she trained, what she ate, what kind of support she received and how she mentally prepared.
We cover what it was that helped her complete this year's race over and above other years.
She tells me how she always believed it was possible - and she did it to prove it to herself, but also to show that it could be completed by a woman. We also talk about her biggest moment of doubt.
Although she eats a healthy diet at home, we talk about the kind of calories needed to get through the miles, and Jasmin talks me through what a typical training week might look like.
We talk about how nostalgic Jasmin is now about her training and looking forward to getting back into it ready for new things ahead.
Jasmin touches on the changes race directors could consider to encourage more female participation, including pregnancy deferral and better facilities generally.
Taking action on green issues is something that Jasmin is passionate about, and we talk about her platform and how she has to combat her anxiety about social media to promote what she believes deeply about.
Pledging to fly less, reuse kit, eat less dairy and speak out, we talk about what The Green Runners represents. Jasmin has turned down opportunities to races in Australia and Mexico due to her pledge not to fly.
We discuss how policy change at a higher level is crucial, and although individual responsibility is important, collective change is crucial.
She's ready for her next challenges and May brings more races for Jasmin.
If you're interested in fell running, Jasmin gives her advice on how to get started too.
Listen in to hear first hand from a record breaker and all-round superwoman!
Find out more about The Green Runners at www.thegreenrunners.com
Follow Jasmin on X @JasminKParis -
Dr Minil Patel is not only a doctor, but a vegan bodybuilder, member of Plant-Based Health Professionals, ambassador for Climate Games and Running On Plants, and a runner!
If there's one thing that Minil proves, it's that being vegan does not make you weak.
Owning the term "soy boy", he shows that getting ripped is entirely possible by living on plants alone.
We talk about how education on food and nutrition is key to getting fit on a plant-based diet, and how transitioning to plant-based milk cured his digestive issues.
Vegan for the animals, the health and fitness benefits were a happy side-effect to Minil's vegan diet.
Trying to keep snacks and packaged foods out of the house, he tells me that planning is key for him to stay healthy and having prepped food is a really great idea.
We talk about ignoring the trolls, and how the word "soy boy" is used to try and emasculate vegan men, Minil is reclaiming the term and reminds us that vegan women outnumber men by at least double, and that trolls try and equate eating meat with masculinity and often send homophobic and racist comments to him and other vegans.
As a doctor people tend to take Minil more seriously where his veganism is concerned, and his bodybuilding success shows how shredded you can get on a plant-based diet.
He tells me that a beetroot juice needs to be made with cooked beets, not raw ones - that can get messy!!
Minil only started running last June with the Running On Plants 5K Challenge, and he quickly caught the bug. He'll be doing it again this June to see if he can beat his PB.
We talk about whether the strength training can complement running, and Minil gives us a run down of what a typical day might look like for someone so busy, who manages to fit in his strength and running.
Minil is on Instagram - @drironjunkie and on Facebook, he's also an ambassador for Running On Plants
He's an ambassador for Climate Games
Minil is also on the Plant-Based Health Professionals Network -
Paul Youd: Octogenarian, animal activist, and ultra runner.
At age 86, Paul is currently on a mission to complete a million push-ups between the age of 80-90, Paul is up for a challenge and uses his fitness to promote veganism and stand up for the animals.
When we recorded, Paul had briefly put a halt on running as he was healing from a broken leg – now I’m pleased to report he’s back running again.Since becoming a vegan Paul has reversed the symptoms of his osteoarthritis and takes on challenges now to fundraise for local animal shelters, and Viva! charity.
Inspired by the likes of Rich Roll, David Goggins, Dr Michael Gregor, he can knock out 1,000 press ups in one hour, and claims he is so full of energy that sometimes he just skips along the canal path because he feels so well.
A member of Vegan Runners, Paul says that activism for animal rights is now his default position and that his motivation is to be fit enough to play with his grandchildren.
Paul is an ambassador for Running On Plants - www.runningonplants.org
Find out more about Vegan Runners at www.veganrunners.org.uk
He fundraises regularly for Viva! www.viva.org.uk
You can follow Paul on Instagram @youdpaul and on Facebook.
Read his blog at https: www.nobreadisanisland.blogspot.com -
Filmmaker Tom Pickering is founder of the Running On Plants initiative, which encourages people to move while maintaining a plant-based diet - the idea is to promote a compassionate and cruelty-free lifestyle, which also benefits our own health.
As a lifelong vegetarian and vegan, Tom has never eaten meat, and in his latest film I Could Never Go Vegan, which premiers this spring (2024), he explores the reasons behind people's reluctance to go vegan. He talks to some of the most influential vegans and athletes, and goes undercover to witness the truth behind where our meat comes from.
It will be the longest cinema run of any vegan film as far as Tom is aware, with dates to be announced shortly.
The Running On Plants Campaign holds monthly challenges to motivate people to get moving, and you can get free resources, recipes and training plans through www.runningonplants.org and on socials Instagram and Facebook, while also joining the Running on Plants Strava Group.
You can find out more about I Could Never Go Vegan at https://icouldnevergovegan.co.uk/ -
Content creator, runner, vegan and mum, Fiona Brennan celebrates being a "slow" runner and we talk about life at the back of the pack.
We discuss how a DNA test revealed that she is built more for endurance than speed and how that revelation has completely changed her outlook.
From the community of Park Run, to finding a run that suits your style, we talk about how running can be an escape from the day to day drudgery, or a place to just have a laugh with friends.
We also talk about how since becoming a vegan Fiona has never felt healthier, and how she has her sights set on a marathon in France where drinking wine is obligatory.
Main message from Fiona - anyone who wants to try running should get out there and try it. -
Holly Johnson is the editor of the UK's only in-print vegan magazine and host of the Simply Vegan podcast.
In this episode we talk about what the turning points are to going vegan, how to talk about veganism with children and how finding a job that aligns with your values is important.
Holly is a great cook too and we talk about favourite things to eat and the joys of an air fryer - she really does love an air fryer! Running is a big part of Holly's life and she is a member of the Vegan Runners.
You can find out more about Holly's work at www.veganfoodandliving.com and The Simply Vegan Podcast on your favourite players. Follow both on Instagram at @veganfoodandliving and @simplyveganpodcast
Find Holly on Instagram at @holly_anne_johnson -
Long-distance athlete and evolutionary biologist Professor Ben Garrod is fresh off tour and takes the time to chat to me about our time on the Dragon's Back Race and the science behind running.
Ben has spent six years in Africa, Madagascar, the Caribbean and even been a tour guide in The Arctic, but he still loves running around his hometown of Bristol.
We discuss night running and how it differs for men and women, the camaraderie you get from a multi-day event, and what drives us to challenge ourselves.
He talks about how saving the life of a Nile monitor lizard stopped him wanting to eat his goat curry, and how vegetarianism followed.
Our serious chat inevitably spirals into chaos and topics on farting, swearing, and strange dreams about "float running" are all covered.
Key messages from Ben - "yes you can", "yes you are a runner" and "turns out we're really mean".
Extra points if you can spot the moment where the dogs start barking!
Enjoy this one on your long run - it should inspire you to have a go at that next thing you were considering putting your name down for.
Find out more about Ben and his work at www.bengarrod.co.uk
Follow him on Instagram @ben_garrod
Follow him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DrBenGarrod -
Cathryn Scott, aka Cardiff Mummy Says, is a successful mummy blogger who loves running and has recently been bitten by the ultra bug.
Noticing a lack of female-only running groups in her city, Cathryn was instrumental in setting up the club She Runs: Cardiff, where women can feel safe and find enjoyment running together.
She's been a vegan for five years, about the same time she got into running, and with three children of her own she's smashing it by juggling family time with her passion for running.
Cathryn talks to me about how important it is for mums to find their own time and demonstrate to our children that it's ok to take on challenges, why she found vegan to be the best way for her, and how she manages a successful blog as a mummy influencer and still finds time to run.
You can find out more about Cathryn through her channels www.cardiffmummysays.com
www.sherunscardiff.org - and follow her on Instagram @cardiffmummysays -
Jay Grady, one half of the Trail and Error podcast, is a vegan ultra runner and 2023 Hatchling.
Enticed into running ultras following a walking pilgrimage with his wife, Jay has competed in the likes of UTMB Mont-Blanc and the Arc of Attrition and is already plotting future challenges.
We talk about our shared Hatchling experience in a heatwave, and how his Trail and Error counterpart Tris Stephenson (fourth overall in the Dragon's Back Race) approaches running so differently.
Veganism is a huge part of Jay's life, and complements his running and his ethics.
With the Cornish coast on his doorstep, Jay gets to run on trails most days, and for his day job he's a clinical sports massage therapist and body mechanic.
Follow him on Instagram at @vegan_runner_in_kernow -
She's an elite marathon and ultra-marathon runner, but Fiona Oakes finds time to look after more than 500 animals at Towerhill Stables Animal Sanctuary over and above everything else.
Running is a way to promote veganism and for Fiona, who eats just one meal a day, her opportunities to toe the starting lines with other elite runners, only serves as an opportunity to shout louder about her passion for looking after animals and living a vegan life.
She's starred in the film Running for Good, and sat next to the likes of running royalty Rich Roll, but Fiona remains humble and passionate for the things that matter most to her. An extraordinary runner and ambassador for animals, Fiona continues to push the boundaries on what she can achieve and shows us that anything is possible. -
Lisa Marley is a vegan chef and trains other chefs how to cook some of the best plant based recipes. She's a ProVeg Chef Trainer and her recipes have appeared in some of the most popular publications.
She can knock up a vegan feast like no other, and she shows others how easy it can be too on her easy to follow videos on social media.
In this episode Lisa tells me how to make the best calorie packed snacks for on the run, plus some great ideas for puddings and cheese alternatives.
We also discuss Delia Smith's stance on vegans......
Link to Lisa's School Plates recipes: https://proveg.com/uk/ -
Damian Hall, Green Runner, author of We Can't Run Away From This, winter Spine Race winner 2023, Barkley Marathon's four-looper.
This ultra-hero continues to compete in the world's most top level events, and all while flying the flag for the environment and saving the planet. - Vis mere
