Josh (Berlari) Fothergill on Running a 2:29 Marathon Off Minimal Training, Running Marathons in Costumes and Huge Social Media Growth

Episode Summary Runner and content creator Josh Berlari (Josh "Josh Berlari") breaks down the training behind his 2:29 London Marathon (2025) and a near-sub-15 5K, pushing back on rumors of "minimal training." He shares that his peak was about 100 km per week, with a focused 4-5 week speed block before a marathon block that overlapped with fasting during Ramadan. Based in Bali for five years, Josh explains how he built a 140K+ Indonesian-language Instagram following by running in costumes (including a suit and a Go-Jek helmet), while trying to balance entertainment with a serious pursuit of elite performance. He also discusses his full-time e-commerce and digital marketing role selling hearing aids into the US, managing global operations after scaling to seven figures per month. Now coached by Mark Scott, Josh details his build toward Tokyo up to roughly 140 km per week before an ankle injury from stepping into a pothole in heavy rain. He outlines how he's using bike and treadmill cross-training, and why he's keeping Tokyo conservative (around 2:24-2:25), while targeting sub-2:20 this year and longer-term goals that include London, Gold Coast, and Berlin. Links Josh Fothergill Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshberlari/ Be coached by Matt: https://www.sweatelitecoaching.com/coaching-2026 Join the Shareholders Club / Private Podcast Feed: https://www.sweatelite.co/shareholders Matt Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattinglisfox/ Matt Training Log - Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/6248359/ Contact Matt: [email protected] Topics 00:00 - Minimal Marathon Build 00:31 - Speed Block Before London 01:47 - Fasting Through Training 02:26 - Meet The Runner 04:35 - Costumes And Content 07:20 - Going Global With YouTube 09:38 - Day Job And Hustle 11:58 - Full Time Running Dreams 16:06 - Coached By Mark Scott 18:47 - Tokyo Injury Setback 22:03 - Tokyo Goals And Potential 23:53 - Marathon Time Goals 25:17 - Instagram Origins 26:26 - Back To Back Racing 28:15 - Upgrading Content Gear 29:50 - Costumes Versus Speed 31:39 - Helmet And Suit Lessons 33:38 - Future Content Direction 37:51 - Tokyo Injury And Plan 41:01 - Where To Follow Josh 42:29 - Faith And Online Stereotypes