What happens when running becomes more than something you do, and starts becoming part of who you are?

Oli Jones has spent much of his life around running. He's founded a run group, coached runners, worked with young athletes and spent five years telling other people's stories through the Local Legends in Running podcast.

But after years of consistent running, the last three have brought injuries, a marathon DNF and the possibility that his fastest days may already be behind him. Along the way, Oli has had to reconsider what consistency, success and even being a runner actually mean.

This is a conversation about what remains when you strip away the PBs, coaching, podcasts and everything else we've built around running... and ask why we'd still choose to run.

In this episode:

• Growing up with running and walking away from it
• Endless injuries after almost a decade injury-free
• Accepting that another PB may never come
• Why consistency sometimes means doing less
• Finding community through running
• What five years interviewing runners has taught Oli
• Balancing running with coaching, teaching and family

🌏 Episodes, community, and all things Runbelievable:

http://runbelievable.au

🎧 New episodes drop every Wednesday; hit follow so you don't miss a lap!

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About Runbelievable

Runbelievable is the podcast for every runner. From your first parkrun to your 100th marathon, from walk-run intervals to dabbling in trail running, every runner has a story worth telling. Through honest conversations with runners from all walks of life, Runbelievable explores the challenges, achievements, setbacks, and experiences that connect us through running and shape who we become.

What if the person most intimidated by a run club is exactly the person it should be built for?

Cam Smit wasn't always a runner. He started in his late twenties, hated his first 2.7km and was too intimidated to join a run club himself. Years later, he created Cam's Run Club... the kind of running community he wishes had existed when he started.

The first session, literally nobody showed up. Today, 20–40 runners regularly join a community built around one simple idea: nobody runs alone.

If you've ever worried you're too slow, too inexperienced or simply not “runner enough” to join a run club, this conversation might change how you think about belonging in running.

Follow Cam's Run Club: https://www.instagram.com/camsrunclub/

In this episode:

• Why nobody came to Cam's first run-club session
• Building a club specifically for slower and newer runners
• Why nobody at Cam's Run Club runs alone
• The importance of finding a “third space” as an adult
• Cam's own journey from struggling beginner to sub-3:30 marathoner
• Why the term “only a 5K” should disappear from runners' vocabulary
• What Cam would tell someone who's still too nervous to show up

🌏 Episodes, community, and all things Runbelievable:

http://runbelievable.au

🎧 New episodes drop every Wednesday; hit follow so you don't miss a lap!

☕ Enjoying Runbelievable?

If the show has kept you company on a run, you can help keep the stories coming:

https://buymeacoffee.com/runbelievable

About Runbelievable

Runbelievable is the podcast for every runner. From your first parkrun to your 100th marathon, from walk-run intervals to dabbling in trail running, every runner has a story worth telling. Through honest conversations with runners from all walks of life, Runbelievable explores the challenges, achievements, setbacks, and experiences that connect us through running and shape who we become.

Can running make a new city feel like home?

When Alex Narang moved from Manchester to Sydney, she knew very few people. Less than 12 hours after landing, she joined Coogee Run Club; and within weeks, running had given her friends, community and the beginnings of a new life.

Six months later, Alex badly broke her jaw in three places on the way to run club. Suddenly, the people she'd only recently met were taking her to hospital, organising her care and making sure she never had to recover alone. Eleven weeks later, she somehow made it to the Sydney Marathon start line... and the result was even more staggering!

If you've ever found friendship, belonging or something completely unexpected through running, Alex's story is a reminder that sometimes the people we meet along the way matter far more than the kilometres.

Follow Alex's journey: https://www.instagram.com/justalexercising/

In this episode:

• Moving to Sydney and finding a run club within 12 hours
• Breaking her jaw in three places on the way to training
• How Alex's new running community rallied around her
• Fighting her way to the Sydney Marathon start line
• Learning to experience a race instead of chasing the clock
• The moment Alex realised running had built her life in Sydney

🌏 Episodes, community, and all things Runbelievable:

http://runbelievable.au

🎧 New episodes drop every Wednesday; hit follow so you don't miss a lap!

☕ Enjoying Runbelievable?

If the show has kept you company on a run, you can help keep the stories coming:

https://buymeacoffee.com/runbelievable

About Runbelievable

Runbelievable is the podcast for every runner. From your first parkrun to your 100th marathon, from walk-run intervals to dabbling in trail running, every runner has a story worth telling. Through honest conversations with runners from all walks of life, Runbelievable explores the challenges, achievements, setbacks, and experiences that connect us through running and shape who we become.