Welcome to episode 269 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

Apols to all for a slightly scatalogical start to the pod, but I’m a tiny bit traumatised by my plumbing (not a euphemism), so you’ll have to bear with.

Eventually I get into my race report – I ran the Trail Escape Bristol to Bath marathon at the weekend and I have a LOT of thoughts about it. It was absolutely brilliant!

One thing I fail to mention in my report is a podsquadder I met at the finish line – so a quick shout out to the lovely Rosie, thank you for coming to say hello. She was a total hero who had signed up to the event, had become ill, and decided to volunteer for it instead – the best kind of person.

And Holly is off on her travels next week, on a very exciting trip indeed. She talks about training with Olympians and bikini-shopping. We’ll find out more in a couple of pods’ time.

Before I forget, do please vote for us in the Running Industry Awards – there are lots of categories and lots of brilliant people to vote for, including us, so it’s worth hopping on to the site to register your vote for everyone you love (not just us). But if you *did* find yourself there and wanted to vote for us, we would be thrilled, honoured, and would hug you all. (um, that’s the Running Industry Awards, link in the show notes, or just a swift google should bring up the page, google fans).

• PLEASE vote for us in the Running Industry Awards
• I ran the Trail Escape Bristol to Bath. Sign up for next year!
• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can save 50%
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at wrpodcast@anthem.co.uk with any questions or running stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to episode 268 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

I’ve come back from the Circuit of Bath, which is organised by Bath homelessness charity Julian House. This was 20 miles circumnavigating the city, taking in all the beautiful sights, and let this be a lesson to us all: 20 miles at a slow trot is WAY easier than 13 miles in a race!

But speaking of races, we get on to our 2026 goals – what on EARTH is Hol going to do? That’s the question on everyone’s lips.

I talk about a couple of bizarre perimenopausal symptoms that I’ve been experiencing, one of which has completely blown my mind as I would never have realised it was anything to do with menopause without deciding to google it. Ugh. Please let me know your weirdest menopausal symptoms.

If you aren’t a patron yet do join us on Patreon for just £2 a month, through which you can join Discord, our forum just for you, our gorgeous Pod Squad, to meet up, chat about running, TV, books, menopause, and anything else you like. You also get to come along to our Live Pods (we've got one next week)! To get access to Discord, all you need to do is head to patreon.com/womensrunning and join us for just £2 a month.

· I ran the Circuit of Bath for Julian House

· I’m also going to be running the Trail Escape Bristol to Bath

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can save 50%
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at wrpodcast@anthem.co.uk with any questions or running stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to episode 267 of the Women’s Running podcast. I’m your host Esther Newman and she’s your other host Holly Taylor. On this podcast we talk about health, politics, stuff on TV and what we ate last night. Occasionally, we talk about running.

Today we’re talking about university life, and how it has changed from when we were there. We talk about empty nesting, and the heartache as well as the small blessings that it affords. Lots of love to all of you going through this right now.

Hol has been doing a sterling job at the Take the Baton conference interviewing the legendary Kathrine Switzer and getting lots of behind the scenes knowledge about that day in Boston.

We get back on to the thorny subject of when we stop our Garmins / Strava when we’re racing – do let us know your thoughts. What I’m trying to say is that I feel like I’m somehow cheating if I stop before the finish line, but also that I want to show off about the distance – so if I stop at 26.2 but run 27.2, did that final mile even count?

If you aren’t a patron yet do join us on Patreon for just £2 a month, through which you can join Discord, our forum just for you, our gorgeous Pod Squad, to meet up, chat about running, TV, books, menopause, and anything else you like. You also get to come along to our Live Pods! To get access to Discord, all you need to do is head to patreon.com/womensrunning and join us for just £2 a month.

· I’m going to be running the Circuit of Bath for Julian House

· I’m also going to be running the Trail Escape Bristol to Bath

• Subscribe to Women’s Running – and you can save 50%
• Get tickets to our live event ahead of the Bath Half 2026!
• Setting up your own podcast? Try Zencastr – we’ve been using it for ages and LOVE IT
• Do join us on Patreon so you can come and chat in our new Pod Squad community on Discord! Go to patreon.co.uk/womensrunning
• Email us at wrpodcast@anthem.co.uk with any questions or running stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.