The Way of the Runner - conversations on running with Adharanand Finn
Sports
About
Award-winning author Adharanand Finn talks to runners of every kind about the joy and experience of running. Adharanand is the author of three award-winning books, Running with the Kenyans (2012), The Way of the Runner (2014), and the Rise of the Ultra Runners (2019). Follow The Way of the Runner podcast on Instagram at instagram.com/thewayoftherunnerThe podcast is also supported by Adharanand's Patreon page, which is full of original material exclusive to signed-up patrons. To become a patron, visit patreon.com/adharanandfinn
Episodes
- Megan Boxall on running 200 marathons around the coast of Great Britain
Megan Boxhall set off from Suffolk in October 2025 to run 200 marathons in 200 days around the coast of Great Britain. Around day 150, she stopped mid run to talk to Adharanand Finn to explain why she was doing such an epic run, what it ha…
- Damian Hall on the secrets to becoming an ageless runner
Ultra runner, author and green campaigner Damian Hall is still competing as an elite athlete at the very top of his sport at the age of 50. In this episode he shares some of the insights from his new book, Run Forever: The Secrets To Becom…
- 'Nature is my higher power' - author questions with Allie Bailey
Allie Bailey is an ultrarunner, coach, speaker, podcaster and the author of There is No Wall . She has run in some of the most extreme places in the world, such as running 100 miles across frozen Lake Khövsgöl in Mongolia and the full leng…
- 'Exploring feels good, it feels meaningful' - author questions with Alex Hutchinson
Alex Hutchinson is an award-winning journalist who writes about the science of endurance, fitness and health. His books include the New York Times bestseller Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance and, mo…
- 'It was easy to write … I was waiting to tell this story' - author questions with Rebecca Ajulu-Bushell
Rebecca Ajulu-Bushell is the author of These Heavy Black Bones , a prize-winning memoir of her brief but stellar swimming career in which she became the first Black woman ever to swim for Great Britain. In this live online author Q&A she t…
- 'Most of my books, I start off with a plan, then tear it up' - author questions with Richard Askwith
Richard Askwith is the multi-award-winning author of books such as Feet in the Clouds , Running Free ("a runner's journey back to nature"), Today We Die a Little (a biography of the great Emil Zátopek) and The Race Against Time (about runn…
- 'There is a lot of connection between running and dancing' - author questions with Michael Crawley
Michael Crawley is a runner, writer and social anthropologist based in Durham. He has been a runner for over 20 years, and ran a 2:20 marathon in 2018. His first book, Out of Thin Air: Running Wisdom and Magic from Above the Clouds in Ethi…
- 'Being accused of doping was the worst thing I've ever been through' - interview with former marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe
Paula Radcliffe is one of the true legends of running, a former marathon world record holder, multiple world champion over the marathon and cross country, winner of the London marathon (3 times), the New York marathon (3 times) and the Chi…
- 'Ultra running is a rest from writing' - author questions with Damian Hall
Damian Hall is an ultramarathon runner, coach, activist and author. He has represented Great Britain, won the Spine Race and finished fifth at the UTMB, along with breaking several records/FKTs. The Green Runners' co-founder has written tw…
- 'An Olympic medal sets you apart' - interview with Irish running legend John Treacy
Ireland's John Treacy won two world cross country titles and a silver medal in the marathon at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Over breakfast in his house just outside Dublin, he reminisces on a golden era of track and field for Ireland, ta…
- 'For 65 days I was cruising, then it all went wrong' - Adharanand Finn looks back on his 1,400-mile run around Ireland
Author Adharanand Finn chats with the founder of the Sanctuary Runners, Graham Clifford, about the highs and lows of his 10-week run around Ireland, which will form the basis of his next book. Adharanand Finn is the author of three award-w…
- 'For a woman to set a challenge like this is so powerful' - interview with ultra runner Sophie Power
Author Adharanand Finn chats with She Races founder and record-breaking ultra runner Sophie Power about how jam tortillas fuelled a Guinness World Record run across Ireland, the joy of hallucinations, and how there is still much work to do…
- 'I ran in the world champs, then gave it up to start a band' - interview with running punk Jimmy Watkins
Author Adharanand Finn chats with Running Punks founder and viral video sensation Jimmy Watkins about racing his idols in the final of the World Athletics Championships, giving up the sport to form a band, and then rediscovering the joy of…
- From zero to the Olympics in four years - interview with marathon runner Rose Harvey
Author Adharanand Finn chats with Rose Harvey, who has just been selected to run for Great Britain at the Paris Olympics, despite only taking up running seriously in lockdown four years ago. Rose recounts her incredible rise from decent cl…
- 'It's a fantastic freedom' - interview with BBC newsreader and marathon runner Sophie Raworth
Author Adharanand Finn chats with BBC newsreader, Runner's World columnist and marathon runner Sophie Raworth about why she loves running, why a scientist told her she had 'good-looking' knees, and how she made a deal with her dog so it wo…
- 'You need to invest in your own health' - interview with record-breaking ultra runner and movement expert Paul Tierney
Author Adharanand Finn chats with Irish ultra runner, coach and form expert Paul Tierney about running extremely long races, once hallucinating that he was running next to himself, finding the best tasting polenta in the world, and why if…
- 'I always try to get back to that flow feeling' - interview with all-conquering British trail runner Jon Albon
Author Adharanand Finn chats with world trail running champion, multiple world Skyrunning champion and obstacle racing superstar Jon Albon. Despite hailing from the flatlands of Essex, Albon has won some of the world's biggest mountain rac…
- 'Sometimes I just thank my body' - interview with new British marathon sensation Calli Thackery
Author Adharanand Finn chats with Calli Thackery after she ran the second-fastest marathon ever by a British woman, in her first ever marathon. Calli tells us about her unusual route to the top of the running world, via a scholarship to Ne…
- 'The Kenyans are made of bones and flesh just like me' - interview with Italy's new marathon star Iliass Aouani
Author Adharanand Finn chats with Iliass Aouani, who recently broke the Italian marathon record, running 2:07 in only his third marathon. The former Syracuse University standout talks about his Moroccan heritage, running in super shoes, mi…
- Is ultra running bad for you? Interview with leading exercise scientist Nick Tiller
Author Adharanand Finn speaks to Nick Tiller, exercise scientist at Harbor-UCLA and author of The Skeptics Guide to Sports Science. They examine the value of scientific consensus, the power of the placebo, and take a deep dive into running…
- 'There's no limit to how far you can push yourself' - interview with Grayson Murphy, the World Mountain Running Champion
Author Adharanand Finn chats with the double World Mountain Running Champion Grayson Murphy about how she learned to trail run by playing football, what it feels like to run away from a world class field, and how she deals with the comedow…
- 'I felt I had the key to infinite power' - tales from a six-day race in France, with Bob Hearn
Author Adharanand Finn shares stories from his recent six-day race around a 1km loop in France, including recordings he made during the race. He also talks to the race winner, Bob Hearn, from the US, to get another perspective on the madne…
- 'I did it ... and I had a horrible time' - tales from the Self-Transcendence 3100
Author Adharanand Finn talks to three finishers of the world's longest race: the Self-Transcendence 3100. Kobi Oren, William Sichel and Susan Marshall recall the pain and ecstasy of running 3,100 miles around one block in New York City. Mu…
- 'You can't go into an ultra marathon thinking it will be easy' - interview with Tom Evans
Author Adharanand Finn chats with ultra runner Tom Evans about recovering from injury, finishing third at the UTMB, and how he copes with the pain cave. Music by Starfrosch
- 'Maybe the final life stage of running is to get faster again' - interview with author Richard Askwith
Host Adharanand Finn chats to award-winning author and runner Richard Askwith about his new book The Race Against Time: Adventures in Late-Life Running. Music by Starfrosch
- 'I raced in a stadium in front of 112,000 people' - interview with five-time Olympian Jo Pavey
Author Adharanand Finn chats with five-time Olympian and European 10,000m champion Jo Pavey about training for big races with two kids in tow, racing against drug cheats, and running with kangaroos. Music by Starfrosch
- 'That tough part, that pain, is where success is' - interview with Eliud Kipchoge
Adharanand Finn, author of Running with the Kenyans, chats with the greatest marathon runner in history about his diet, why the East Africans are such strong distance runners, and what goes through his mind while he's running. Music by Sta…
- Talks from the Love Trails festival, and tales from the heart of the CCC
Recorded live from Chamonix in France a week after Adharanand ran the 100km CCC race, this episode also features talks recorded at the Love Trails festival by authors Sabrina Pace-Humphreys and Hannah Phillips. Music by Starfrosch
- Interview with fell running punk and author Boff Whalley
Author Adharanand Finn talks to punk rocker, fell runner and theatre performer Boff Whalley about tumbling down mountains, mass trespassing and his latest book, Faster! Louder! Top ultra runner Damian Hall also joins the show to talk about…
- 'If Kipchoge puts down a break, hopefully I can stay with it' - interview with rising star Jake Smith
Author Adharanand Finn talks to young British half marathon sensation Jake Smith about accidentally running his first marathon, training in Uganda, and gunning for an Olympic medal in the marathon. Music: Starfrosch
- 'The whole of the sky, the whole of nature, had my back' - interview with ultra running legend Dan Lawson
Author Adharanand Finn talks to record-breaking ultra athlete Dan Lawson about running the length of the UK, designing running shoes from the waste scraps of old ones, and embracing the wonderful power of the universe. Music: Starfrosch
- Interview with Zane Robertson
Author Adharanand Finn talks to Olympic athlete and 59-minute half marathon runner Zane Roberston about moving to Kenya age 17, beating the best in the world, and getting one back over his critics. Music: Starfrosch NOTE: In March 2023, Za…
- 'The Self-Transcendence 3100 is my dream race' - interview with record-breaking ultra runner Camille Herron
Adharanand Finn talks to multiple world-record breaking ultra runner Camille Herron, and also to Abichal Sherrington, one of the few British runners ever to complete the world's longest race. Music: Starfrosch
- How Robbie Britton helped me run 24 hours around a track
Host Adharanand Finn has some big news to share about his next book, which leads him to take on a 24-hour track race, with some help from top ultra runner and coach Robbie Britton . Music: Starfrosch
- 'My husband died in my arms, so I ran around the world' - interview with Rosie Swale-Pope MBE
Rosie Swale-Pope MBE talks to Adharanand Finn about her many running adventures, including her record-breaking run around the entire world. Produced by @IAmTheHow. Music: Starfrosch.
- Interview with Irish track legend Sonia O'Sullivan
Adharanand Finn talks to one of the greatest track runners of all-time, Sonia O'Sullivan, the winner of three world titles and an Olympic silver medal during her glittering career. She is now coaching athletes in the US in preparation for…
- 'When you run through two nights, you go to some weird places in your head' - interview with Damian Hall
Adharanand Finn talks FKTs, being an inspiring parent, the hero complex and writing books about running with one of the world's toughest ultra runners, Damian Hall, who holds the record on the UK's 268-mile Pennine Way and has finished fif…
- Interviews with comedian Eddie Izzard and Feldenkrais form expert Jae Gruenke
Adharanand Finn talks barefoot running, epic challenges and dung beetles with comedian Eddie Izzard, while Jae Gruenke teaches us how Feldenkrais can help you to run better. In January 2021, Eddie Izzard ran 31 marathons on a treadmill in…
- Kenya vs Ethiopia - interview with Out Of Thin Air author Michael Crawley
Michael Crawley is the author of the brilliant new book on Ethiopian running, Out of Thin Air. A 2:20 marathon runner and an anthropologist, Michael spent 15 months embedded with a group of top Ethiopian athletes, running with them, eating…
- 'If you push yourself into that pain cave, you realise you can keep going' - interview with Jasmin Paris
Jasmin Paris shot to global attention in January 2019 when she beat the first male finisher by almost 15 hours in the brutal 268-mile Spine ultramarathon. She has also set records on the Bob Graham Round, The Paddy Buckley Round and the Ra…
- 'I get a weird feeling of withdrawal if I go even a day without running' - interview with bestselling author Jon Ronson
Jon Ronson is the author of numerous bestselling books, and was played by Ewan McGregor in the film of his book The Men Who Stare At Goats. He started running 10 years ago when he saw a picture of himself standing next to George Clooney an…
- 'I have this thought sometimes: I could go faster, I could hurt more. So then I try to hurt more' - interview with ultra runner Zach Miller
Zach Miller is one of the world's best and most exciting ultra runners with a string of impressive victories, but he is most loved for his all-out, no-holds-barred style of running, setting off in ultra marathons like they're 5K burn-ups,…
- 'I never look at my watch. I just start it and that's it. Then you run in freedom' - interview with Abdi Nageeye (part two)
Part two of our conversation with 2:06 marathon runner Abdi Nageeye, in which he talks about the best piece of advice Eliud Kipchoge ever gave him, the reason why doping is such a big problem in Kenya, and his love of blues music. Produced…
- 'I escaped civil war in Somalia. Twice' - interview with Abdi Nageeye (part one)
Abdi Nageeye, born in Mogadishu in Somalia, not once, but twice escaped civil war to seek a new life in the Netherlands. He now lives & trains with the great Eliud Kipchoge in Kenya & is the Dutch record holder in the half marathon and mar…
- 'The appeal of ultra running? I crave those intense moments' - interview with Beth Pascall (part two)
Part two of our conversation with top ultra runner Beth Pascall, in which she talks about the joy of running hundreds of miles at a time, how she accidentally made the British team for the world 24-hour championships, and the amazing resto…
- 'When I first heard about ultra running, I was excited by how crazy it sounded' - interview with Beth Pascall (part one)
Beth Pascall has finished in the top four in both of the world's most prestigious trail ultra marathons, the Western States 100 in the US, and the UTMB in Europe. She is also a doctor, but this year is taking some time out from work to con…
- 'I miss the adulation of being a champion' - interview with 4-time Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington (part two)
Part two of our conversation with four-time world Ironman champion Chrissie Wellington, in which she tells us about life after retirement, missing the intensity and the highs of elite-level sport, and of her recent and intriguing foray int…
- 'In every Ironman I ever did I wanted to quit' - interview with 4-time Ironman world champion Chrissie Wellington (part one)
A genuine legend in the world of endurance sport, Chrissie Wellington became Ironman world champion on her first attempt just eight months after taking up the sport of triathlon. She went on to win every Ironman she ever competed, includin…
- 'I thought, if I miss this shot, I can go running' - interview with snooker legend Ronnie O'Sullivan
Not a lot of people know it, but snooker legend Ronnie 'the Rocket' O'Sullivan is a seriously fast runner. He tells Adharanand about the difference between the buzz from snooker and the buzz from running, about how the running club is his…
- Series lift-off
Adharanand introduces the all-new The Way of the Runner podcast series in a short chat with his producer Dave Clarke on a wet morning in south Devon. He explains how the podcast is an extension of his books, and talks about some of the gue…