S4 Eps 16 Young Hearts, Run Free - 300 Peaks for Polly with Joe Symonds - 21 Jan 2022

OH YOUNG HEARTS RUN FREE NEVER BE HUNG UP, HUNG UP LIKE MY MAN AND ME….. We’ve got a guest!! No hour of John n Steven chewin’ the fat this week, yeh we know some of you lap that up too, so we make sure to have our customary 10 min weekly catch up. Then, joining us in the YHRF studio this week is Joe Symonds. Joe is a not too shabby a runner, in fact we’d say running is laced through his blood.  Named after the King of the Fells Joss Naylor, born and bred in the shadows of the Lake District, inspired by his fell-running father…..yip greatness was written in his stars. Joe has starred both for his country of birth and his adopted homeland, home is now at the foot of the Campsie Hills, in mountain running championships around the globe. A born hill runner maybe, but that hasn’t stopped him from dippin’ his bruised and battered toes into the world of road running! We explore Joe’s remarkable running journey; we unearth most of his greatest achievements and dig into some incredible experiences he’s had along the way. Our focus shifts to what became a quite amazing and emotional 2021. Joe lost a dear dear friend to suicide in springtime of last year. We find out how this tragic event fuelled a personal endeavour that saw him scale 3 local peaks 100 times each during the year. His 300 for Polly challenge saw an eyewatering amount of elevation gained but more importantly a huge sum raised for the Scottish Association for Mental Health (see link at bottom of show note to donate) Joe charms us with his openness and honesty. Running is a huge part of his life and hearing how he describes his favourite place in the world to run is worth the listen alone, ye’ll need to tune in to find out where that is! And 2022 promises to be another big year in the running journey of Joe, all is revealed! He also has the honour of being the first guest ever to submit their one song into the YHRF playlist, and what a choice it is. Enjoy the episode, and remember, RUN FREE!! Joe Symonds SAMH Fundraising LINK HERE YHRF Le BuffBuff Collection Vol. 1 SPOTIFY PLAYLIST Grab a paid of Stonewall Rainbow Laces HERE