Tales from the Valley Podcast

About Tales from the Valley Podcast

Behind every runner there is a story, and we think our local communities deserve to have theirs’ told. The Tales from the Valley Podcast aims to uncover running stories from the South Coast of NSW. Passionate runners Sam Hodges & Katie Mahoney will be catching up on a weekly basis to unravel the running stories from the South Coast and take you on their own personal running journeys.

Publisher

talesfromthevalleypodcast

Category

sports

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

17 Jan 2024

Latest episode

7 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 145 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   7 Oct 2026

   TFTV ft. Georgia Weir (Deadly Runners)

   This week on Tales from the Valley, Sam and Russ are joined by Georgia Weir, founder of Deadly Runners. Georgia takes us through her own running journey, with PBs ranging from 19 minutes for 5km to a 3:23 marathon on the Gold Coast. She shares how Deadly Runners began and its growth across Australia, along with her experience as head coach for Sydney Marathon and helping one of her athletes through this year’s race. We also hear about her long-distance trail adventure in Canada earlier in the year. With Russ and Georgia coming off illness and surgery, Sam runs us through his 95km training week, including a very solid Tuesday track session with all reps well under 3:30/km pace. In Café Kit, ASICS dominates the conversation. Russ is looking forward to trying the Superblast 3 on his first run back, while Georgia is stockpiling as many GT-1000s as she can before they become unavailable. Sam also shares his carb-loading hack: pretzels! We round out the episode with a chat about Reboot Bermagui, which hosted its first 10km and half-marathon events with great success. Find out more about Deadly Runners: deadlyrunners.com.au

2. 

   1 Oct 2026

   TFTV ft. Russell Dessaix-chin

   This week on Tales from the Valley, Sam welcomes back co-founder and familiar voice Russ for a catch-up covering surgery, recovery and the local running scene. Russ opens up about the sciatica that disrupted his running for more than a year, including a painful 2:38 marathon in Valencia, and the spinal fusion surgery that followed. With the nerve pain now gone, he shares the challenges of taking recovery slowly, swapping big training weeks for daily walks and working towards an eventual return to running. Sam recaps an unconventional 5K inside the Canberra Outlet Centre, where hot, stuffy conditions and slippery corners made for a memorable race. There’s also a nostalgic long run around Canberra, training updates, shoe chat and a look ahead to GONG5000. The pair round up the Run Shellharbour results across the marathon, half marathon, 10K and 5K, celebrate local performances, and finish with shout-outs to the Marathon Time Integrity Unit and Athletics NSW. An honest catch-up about setbacks, patience and staying connected to running—even when you’re watching from the sidelines.

3. 

   21 Sept 2026

   TFTV ft. Adam Bezzina

   This week on Tales from the Valley, Sam and Karen are joined by Adam Bezzina — the unofficial president of The Valley Run Club — to chat about his running journey and the growth of one of the Illawarra’s thriving local running communities. Adam shares how the 75 Hard Challenge helped kick-start his running, beginning with 20-second run-walk intervals before progressing to a 50km lap of Lake Illawarra and his first official marathon at the Gold Coast, where he finished in 3:56. He also talks through his PBs, including a 46:51 at Run Shellharbour and a 1:39:38 half marathon, while offering practical advice for beginners looking to build their confidence and distance. The conversation explores the origins of The Valley Run Club, which meets every Thursday morning at 5:45am, and how it has grown from around 10 runners to more than 20 regular attendees through winter. Adam explains the club’s community-first approach, its flexible 6km route, recent collaborations with other local clubs and businesses, and plans to make its successful monthly 10km social run a regular fixture. They also discuss the infamous “Bottlebrush U-turn” Strava segment, the club’s new apparel, an upcoming shop run with Elite Supps and Stone Valley Bakehouse, and the possibility of forming a committee to help guide the club’s continued growth. Karen provides an update on her Melbourne Marathon preparation following a huge 36km long run at Cronulla, averaging 4:38/km. With race day approaching, she breaks down her taper, target pace and nutrition strategy, including Precision Pure and SIS gels alongside Dr. Hydrate electrolytes. Adam talks through his current training routine of Tuesday track sessions, Thursday club runs, Saturday long runs and regular gym work, while Sam recaps a 103km week and the ongoing management of his shin. The group also dives into recovery boots, sauna tents, heart-rate straps, gels, supplements and the added nutritional considerations Adam faces as a runner with coeliac disease. To finish, the crew tackles the important issues: overused race-photo poses, the frustrations of tracking shoes properly on Strava, and whether Adam should line up for a 5km time trial or the Gong 5000. A big shoutout to Jase Quigley, Elite Supps, Bean Roasted Café, Anytime Fitness, Limitless Custom Apparel and everyone helping make The Valley Run Club such a welcoming part of the local running community. 📲 Follow The Valley Run Club on Instagram

Inside a recent episode

TFTV ft. Chris Stone

Published 13 Jan 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] Sorry. Star the sky. Hmm. I was right. A beer of the year, like, you know, Australia. Yeah. They're really good. Yeah. Um, pre -run meal. You're go to pre -run meal. Um, it'd be probably like an English muffin with a bit of peanut butter on it and banana. Nice. Um, your favorite post -run meal. Fogour Cheers. Burgour Chips. Nice. Yeah. Um, all right. What's your favorite workout? I, uh, we're all pretty good. There's star loops being parked. Extarros, yes. I reckon it's the intervals on the Friday. I like doing the, like, oh, the tempo, sorry, the tempo session on the Friday. I look at it and get it some. […]

Who has been a guest on Tales from the Valley Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Bridie Temple
• Riley Kilham
• Mack Hunter
• Carl Ernst
• Fraser King

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

31 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 40 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

52

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

71

Contact Tales from the Valley Podcast

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Tales from the Valley Podcast