Off Track | Episode 001 by the Run Down

Episode 2 of Off Track, and a genuinely huge one. We open with training updates — Logan's finding his rhythm again as he builds back from a stress fracture, and Andy's fresh off a massive confidence-boosting long run ahead of his Tekapo 50K in a couple of weeks. The bulk of this episode is a full recap of the UTMB World Finals, the biggest weekend on the global trail calendar. We cover OCC (course-cutting penalties, a stacked field, and a women's race with more live viewers than the men's for the first time in UTMB history), CCC (a first-ever two-time champion, and a huge run from Kiwi Caitlin Fielder marred by a random spectator jumping into her finish chute), and the big one itself — Ben Damon's dominant solo run (stopped for a total of nine minutes across 18 hours of racing) and an emotional, grand-slam-completing win in the women's race. Closer to home, we cover the brutal conditions at Naseby's 200-miler, a strong showing at the Dunstan Trail Marathon, and introduce a new recurring segment — Athlete to Watch — starting with multi-discipline talent Michael "Fossy" Voss. Andy gives a full breakdown of his Tekapo 50K prep (course, gear, nutrition, shoes), we get the confirmed dates for the NZ Mountain Running Championships (Nelson, May 2027), and a first look at the Kea Series' full season two calendar. We close with a listener question on Zone 5 training and finding your max heart rate, and a new "No Free Ads" segment with Logan's running headphone recommendation. This episode covers: Training check-ins UTMB World Finals: OCC, CCC, and the main event NZ results: Naseby, Dunstan Trail Marathon Athlete to Watch: Michael Voss Tekapo 50K full prep breakdown NZ Mountain Running Champs — Nelson, May 2027 Kea Series season 2 calendar Listener Q&A: Zone 5 training, max heart rate No Free Ads: running headphones Got a question for the show? Send it through to our Instagram, or drop a comment on Spotify.