Steve Cushing describes himself as a 75-year-old, retired GP and back of the pack runner with two artificial hips and a pacemaker.

But that only tells half of his story.

He's previously run extreme events including The Ice Marathon, becoming only the ninth person to complete a marathon in the Antarctic, and - at the other end of the heat spectrum - the infamous Marathon des Sables.

Having recently overcome a spate of injuries, Steve is now training to take on the high altitude, multi-day Mustang Trail Race in Nepal.

Running Tales spoke to Steve about why he continues to take on extreme challenges, the incredible charities he is running the Mustang Trail Race for, and how a horse riding accident that nearly killed him was the spark for him to run ultra marathons.

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Sponsor Steve Cushing to run the Mustang Trail Race and find out more about the event:

https://linktr.ee/stevecushMustang

Steve is running the Mustang Trail Race for two fantastic charities:

• ​PARTNERS IN EDUCATION SWAZILAND (PIES)
• ​EVERYBODY COUNTS (Northampton)

This is a repeat of an episode which ran in December 2024; more details below.

As a sickly and frail child, Natalie Crawford avoided exercise at all costs. Poor attendance at school and a constant cough that wore her out led Natalie to be diagnosed with asthma.

She spent time in and out of hospital with chest infections, would cough huge amounts of mucus up, and suffered from frequent bouts of pneumonia.

For years, Natalie just thought that was the way her life was and that there was no particular rhyme or reasons to her bouts of illness.

It was only at the age of 28 that she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF), a chronic condition that causes malnutrition, breathing problems, frequent respiratory infections, and lung disease.

Worse, at the time of her diagnosis, it came with a frightening life-expectancy of 37. And now Natalie was not just fighting for her own health. Her diagnosis had followed swiftly on from that of her son, who was diagnosed with CF while in the womb.

A determined Natalie decided she had to act. Running was to become her weapon of choice.

At first, she joined the gym, walking on the treadmill, and despite the agony in her lungs and constantly being sick afterwards, her fitness started to improve. With the help of her running coach, Aaron, she started to make real progress, learning how to eat, rest and recover like an athlete.

Best of all, she found the exercise loosened the mucus in her lungs, helping her to breathe more easily. With a new diet that saw her take in 5,000 calories a day to help stabilise her weight, she felt healthier than ever before and her infections became fewer and further apart.

A first 5k followed and then a series of half-marathons. The girl who had spent 28 years not exercising was setting new boundaries.

Medical advice around CF said she should be resting, hiding away from the chance of catching bugs, but Natalie was convinced there was another way.

Then, one day, she decided to take on the toughest challenge of her life - running the Birmingham Marathon. Doctors told her not to run a race they said would be "impossible" for her, but Natalie's mantra was to never take no for an answer.

She duly completed the race, becoming one of the first women in the world with cystic fibrosis to run a marathon and inspiring multitudes of others with CF to take up running.

Natalie has gone on to complete more marathons since then, constantly taking on medical orthodoxy and pushing herself to new limits. Throughout her journey, running has become something that will always define her, not cystic fibrosis.

* This podcast first ran in December 2024, when Running Tales was part of the Everyday Athlete Podcast Network. Most of the episodes recorded there were done so live and we do not have access to the original audio, but this episode with Natalie was pre-recorded. We wanted to take this opportunity to share it again and add it to our feed. Of course, all of other episodes on the EAPN still sit on that platform and we'd always recommend people checking them out along with the other pods that sit there.

Stephanie Reents' new novel, 'We Loved To Run', tells the captivating story of a female US college cross-country team, delving into what makes them tick and the external challenges that threaten to pull them apart.

It's a fantastic read that explores everything from why women run and the pressures it brings, to the relationships teammates build and the coaches whose sometimes dubious methods involve weighing them and punishing under-performing runners by making them lead the toughest sessions.

Further, it dives into college life, addressing issues such as sexual consent, disordered eating, and alcoholism. It's a riveting, and ultimately, uplifting read that propels you into a world of sacrifice, pain, confused identity, and female friendships.

Stephanie was a collegiate runner herself, who went on to run the New York Marathon in a little over three hours. 'We Loved To Run' is her latest publication following 'The Kissing List' - a collection of stories that was a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice - and 'I Meant to Kill Ye', a bibliomemoir chronicling her journey into the strange void at the heart of Cormac McCarthy's 'Blood Meridian'.

Running Tales spoke to Stephanie about the power and pain of running, why she wrote 'We Loved To Run', and setting new targets as she comes to terms with not being able to run as quickly as she used to.

Visit Running Tales on:

Substack: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://runningtales.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/runningtalespod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Buy 'We Loved To Run' on Amazon