In some ways, Tony Letts is your average club runner. He trains round his local parks, enjoys parkrun and is a member of his town club, Northampton Road Runners.

Like so many other people, Tony starting running later in life, looking to improve his fitness. Along the way, he found a love of trail running and a desire to run increasingly long distances.

And it's taken him on a journey which is far from average or ordinary. Earlier this year, Tony completed his long-held aim to run the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB), one of the world's toughest races.

UTMB covers 170km (106 miles) around Mont Blanc, starting in Chamonix, France, and traveling through France, Italy, and Switzerland. It has been immortalised by the performances of the likes of Kilian Jornet, Courtney Dauwalter, Jim Walmsley, and Katie Schide.

But UTMB is not the only ultra marathon Tony has conquered, with the Ultra-Trail Snowdonia just one of the other famous races he's completed.

Running Tales spoke to Tony about how he trained and raced UTMB, what made him first start running, and why he loves the sport...

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Further reading:

How Northampton Road Runners is hoping to supercharge its over-50s

Trina Dawkins is a trail and ultra runner - and perhaps more importantly a champion of women in sport.

She is passionate about women's safety in the running world, and recently ran at the Kielder Marathon - despite being injured - on behalf of the She Runs Free initiative.

Operating in partnership with Altra and BOLDI, She Free Runs aims to promote confidence and security for women runners, especially in remote or less trafficked areas.

Tricia also writes her own Substack newsletter, 'Voices from the Trail', where she aims to "amplify voices, break barriers, and celebrate every finish line - visible or not".

Running Tales spoke to Trina about her own running goals - which include taking on a first 100-miler next year, and how we can all work to promote women's safety in the running world...

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Substack: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://runningtales.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Daniel Garner was a sporty child, but his life was turned upside down when his mum sadly died from cancer when he was just eight years old.

His parents had already been in the process of a divorce, and Daniels' father left not long afterwards. Although he was able to grow up in a loving family, with his sister and her partner bringing him up, Daniel's loss changed him.

He felt he was missing part of his identity and that he was different to other children. It was something he took into adulthood, and as he reached his early-40s Daniel had become slightly lost.

Having fallen into something of a rut, he was overweight, drinking too much and spent his time finding any excuse to sit around doing nothing.

That all changed when he found running. Happier and healthier, Daniel has become a parkrun regular, joined a running club and last weekend he took on his second ultra marathon in as many weeks.

Running Tales spoke to Daniel about how the sport has changed his life, why it can be hard to take those first vital steps towards trying something new, and how he hopes his mum is proud of what he has done...

Visit Running Tales on:

Substack: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://runningtales.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/runningtalespod⁠⁠⁠⁠