The Back Straight Podcast

Plenty more than what the episode title suggests! Michael and Dan are back to recap results from the Craic 10k, Dunboyne 10k, Coleraine Campus 5k, Portadown Half Marathon and the World Masters Indoor…

Join us (Gladys, Stephen and Dan) as we enter another week of the marathon block for Belfast Marathon! This week we chat to our runners about their experiences in the SPAR Craic 10km, their training …

Gladys, Stephen and Dan are back for episode 2 of the Road to Belfast! After a great response to the first episode we thought we had better put out another so here we are. It is the same format this …

Episode 39 is a BEAST! This a two-parter with all the local results in part 1 and then a brilliant interview with the up-and-coming Frank McGrath. Results in the first half focus on the win by the NI…

Welcome one, welcome all! This is a very special podcast series brought to you by The Back Straight Podcast! Join us as we follow two local sub-elite runners in their journey towards the Belfast Mara…

It's a top-shelf two-parter this week! In part 1 we recap the Senior Cross Country that happened in Lurgan Park, Armagh 5k, Irwin Spiers XC, The League, some indoors results and a brief mention of th…

For the second part of this bonus episode on the Armagh International Road Races we are joined by the 3rd placed man in the 5k, Sebastian Lörstad. Sebastian amazed everyone when he basically ran a ti…

Off the back of a brilliant iteration of the Armagh International Road Races for 2025 we were lucky enough to be joined by the women's 3k winner, Verity Ockenden. Verity talks us through her set-up i…

The title basically says it all for episode 37! We have tonnes of results from a plethora of different races that happened recently as well as a few previews of some exciting events on the horizon. R…

For episode 36 we are joined by two legends of the local running scene. First up is Vincent Bradley who is a local at the Queen's Parkrun alongside his daughter Meabh. Meabh and Vincent have been tur…

We are joined by none other than Ciara Mageean for our first episode of 2025! Ciara is a true local legend and international running superstar. She is a 5-time Irish record holder and has won multipl…

East Down and now one of Providence's finest athletes, Anna Gardiner, joins us for episode 34 of the Back Straight! Anna is fresh off a bronze medal team result at the prestigious NCAA Cross Country …

Big recap episode this one! We brought in well-known running nerd, Conor Curran, to help us properly analyse an assortment of recent races. We get chatting on the Seeley 10k, European Cross. Country,…

The title says it all! For this week's episode we are joined by a legend of Northern Irish running, and the Seeley especially, Ben Branagh! Ben has won the event 3 times during his prestigious runnin…

It was a brilliant day in Irvinestown for the National Cross Country Championships, and who better to help us recap the races than the winners themselves! We are delighted to be joined by the 2024 ch…

Big interview this week as we are joined by the current king of Parkrun, Nick Griggs! In part 1 of the episode we chat about the results of the Novice Cross Country in Finn Valley. From there we tran…

It is marathon season y'all! In this episode we are delighted to be joined by Caitlyn Harvey of Roadrunners AC. First up, Michael and Dan recap the Dublin Marathon and Valencia Half and then in part …

Big Back Straight Bonus Episode! This one is very road-running forward with hints of fast PBs. We are stoked to welcome Welsh marathoner, Natasha Wilson, to the podcast alongside Candour Athletes Ton…

You read that right, Gerard Heaney of the Runner Beans Podcast agreed to join us on the episode this week and geez did it take some time to edit the audio! Super grateful to have Gerard on the pod th…

The masterminds behind Tafelta AC, Cathaoir and Francis Purvis join us from Mid-Ulster/Font Romeu for episode 27 of the Back Straight! It was a real pleasure chatting to these two and hearing the sto…