It was a brilliant day in Irvinestown for the National Cross Country Championships, and who better to help us recap the races than the winners themselves! We are delighted to be joined by the 2024 champions Keelan Kilrehill and Anne-Marie McGlynn for this very special episode. We hope you enjoy it! Hooroo.

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Big interview this week as we are joined by the current king of Parkrun, Nick Griggs! In part 1 of the episode we chat about the results of the Novice Cross Country in Finn Valley. From there we transition to a preview of the British and Irish Masters Cross Country and National Cross Country which are both happening this coming weekend! Stacked weekend of racing in the muck, lots to look forward to! Part 2 of the episode we catch-up with Nick after his stunning 13:44 at Victoria Park Parkrun. We recap Nick's impressive year where he set a number of PBs across a range of distances. Nick gives us the lowdown on the Puma running line up and how he is going to approach the National Cross as well as the coming 12 months. Plenty to wrap your earbuds around in this episode, we hope you enjoy! Hooroo!

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It is marathon season y'all! In this episode we are delighted to be joined by Caitlyn Harvey of Roadrunners AC. First up, Michael and Dan recap the Dublin Marathon and Valencia Half and then in part 2 we have a special interview with Caitlyn after she once again rewrote her marathon PB in Dublin by posting a brilliant 2:42. Caitlyn talks to us about how she trained for it, what it was like to experience the race as an elite entry and how it all unfolded on the day! Not an episode to be missed! Thanks Caitlyn for joining us and congratulations to everyone that ran in a marathon or half over the weekend. Hooroo!

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Big Back Straight Bonus Episode! This one is very road-running forward with hints of fast PBs. We are stoked to welcome Welsh marathoner, Natasha Wilson, to the podcast alongside Candour Athletes Tony McCambridge and Conall McClean who recently ran sub 30 min at the Leeds Abbey Dash 10k. For those of you that don't know who Natasha is, she is a former national record holder in the marathon for Wales, ASICS sponsored athlete and winner of the recent Belfast Half Marathon! Tony and Conall on the other hand are well known for their prowess over the shorter distances and are now proving they can hang with the best in the UK over 10k and beyond. We hope you enjoy this bonus content, feel free to share it with a running friend! Hooroo.

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You read that right, Gerard Heaney of the Runner Beans Podcast agreed to join us on the episode this week and geez did it take some time to edit the audio! Super grateful to have Gerard on the pod this week as we discussed the local cross country action such as the NI Masters XC trials, Comber Cup, Autumn Open, Leeds Abbey Dash and altitude training, and last but not least, the matter of a sub 2:10 women's marathon world record! Astonishing! Let the nostalgia flow this week as we go back and forth with some questionable commentary, and someone check on Mark Malone for crying out loud! Stay tuned for a special bonus episode drop in the next week and join our club on Strava for all of the segment challenge details for this fortnight! Hooroo, see you soon!

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The masterminds behind Tafelta AC, Cathaoir and Francis Purvis join us from Mid-Ulster/Font Romeu for episode 27 of the Back Straight! It was a real pleasure chatting to these two and hearing the story of Tafelta as well as Cathaoir's solid streak of PBs the past little while. We wish both them and the club all the best for the future! Plenty has happened since the last release with the Armagh XC, Belfast Half Marathon and Bangor 10k all getting a feature this week! The results and battles across the local racing scene have been all-time so don't miss this one! The Strava Wars is back for a second iteration with the segment for this coming fortnight being the famous City Hall in the centre of Belfast. Thanks for joining us again for another episode and we look forward to being back again in 2 weeks time to do it all again! Hooroo!

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It is a busy time to be a runner with events popping off all over the place! In this episode we recap the Victoria Park Road Relays and Michael gives us the inside line from the back straight at the Brussels Diamond League. Jakob did something pretty spectacular over in Copenhagen and Efrem Gidey smashes the Irish Record. In part 2 of the episode we get stuck into some previews for the opening clash of the XC season in Armagh as well as the Belfast Half Marathon taking place this coming weekend. The field is bigger than ever and more stacked than ever, who is going to be victorious? Stay tuned to the end of the episode for a new segment we are calling 'Strava Wars' - have a listen and see if you can record a fast time on the segment we are targeting this fortnight. Until next time, Hooroo!

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It was race week for Dan and in this episode we do a before and after his 108-mile epic around the Mont Blanc massif. Spoiler alert, he survives, but at what cost? Episode 25 is also jam-packed with race results from the Antrim Coast Half Marathon, Laganside 10k, Derry Half, Diamond Leagues and much more! We end the episode with a preview of the NI & Ulster Road Relays at Victoria Park which are shaping up to be very fast with entries having increased by 70% this year. The Back Straight boys will be there on the weekend spectating and commentating, hope to catch you there! Hooroo!

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Twitter: @thebackstraight

Show Notes:

Dan's UTMB Result

Laganside 10k

Antrim Coast Half