Haftu Strintzos spent the first years of his life as a shepherd in mountainous Tigray in northern Ethiopia. He cared for sheep and cows and played hopscotch (the Tigrayan version) with the other shepherds.

Now an Asics-sponsored athlete, with his sights on representing Australia in the marathon, Haftu has the most incredible story brimming with resilience and perspective. But to understand how he got from A to B, you’ll just have to listen to this episode.

Haftu talks about some defining moments of his athletic career so far, including running for Villanova University in the US, finishing first Australian across the line at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Serbia, winning the 10,000m at the 2024 Oceania Athletics Championships and achieving silver in the 5,000m. After his half marathon debut in Melbourne last year (62:24), Haftu followed up with a blinder in Marugame in Japan, where he ran 60:36 and asserted himself as a real contender on the roads.

Unfortunately, Haftu’s marathon debut was foiled by an injury that popped up just before Hamburg Marathon earlier this year. We discuss how he’s dealing with that injury setback, how training has changed since he transitioned to Adam Didyk’s Team Tempo and what Haftu’s big goals for the future look like.

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Intro/outro music by Dan Beacom

Graphic design by Kate Scheer

In this episode of Sole Sisters, Alice and Elise share the latest happenings, laden with innuendo and a few existential musings. The conversation kicks off with Alice’s new bangs (fringe) and some brutally honest family reactions to her new hairdo. EB and AB engage in some tattoo “show and tell” (terrible radio), and Alice announces signing up for an ultra-marathon, which is the final piece of the puzzle in her early onset mid-life crisis (tattoo, fringe & ultra as the telling triad).

For their main topic, Alice shares some deeper insights into Boston and London as World Marathon Majors. Alice has developed a traffic light rating system for each event – green for good, amber for average and red for could be improved. They touch on everything from the pre-race activations, to logistics, excellent homemade signage, and portaloos. The ep rounds out with news and some recommendations as usual.

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Follow us on Instagram:

@runwithit.pod

@alicebaquie

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Intro/outro music by Dan Beacom

Graphic design by Kate Scheer

Kate Mason was found dancing with tambourines and maracas in a Ballarat carpark just hours after she won the marathon there. And with a win, a course record and a PB of 2:33:55, why wouldn’t you?!

In this episode of Run With It, Kate recaps her race, including some critical changes she made to her fuelling this time around, and the post marathon carpark DJ set with her training mates. The full-time secondary school teacher (Outdoor and Environmental Studies & PE) trains with her beloved Ninch Track Club (NTC), based on the Mornington Peninsula, just outside of Melbourne.

Kate takes us through her transition from an enthusiastic and passionate “jogger” who debuted at Melbourne Marathon in 3:06 in 2014, to winning Ballarat a decade later. She also shares some terrifying experiences of getting the “wobbles” and collapsing during marathons, recounting a particularly scary instance on the Gold Coast.

Despite not yet seeing herself as “elite”, Kate continues to improve. She thinks some of her success comes from not taking the sport too seriously. Kate is self-coached, with guidance from her partner Ben and her training crew. The ep closes out with some pencilled in plans for the rest of the year and what motivates her to keep rocking up every day in the dark at 5am for a run.

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Run With It: @runwithit.pod

Intro/outro music by Dan Beacom

Graphic design by Kate Scheer