© Alexis Berg

Lining up for the 42km BUFF Epic Trail skyrace in July, 24-year-old Swede, Johanna Åström, was a total newcomer. Despite having no skyrunning experience, she pulled off an incredible second-place finish, which she topped a month later by crushing the course record at Tromsø skyrace – arguably the most technical skyrace of the 2019 Migu Run Skyrunner World Series Calendar.

Johanna, who is also part of the Swedish Ski Mountaineering team and has won winter races such as the Romsdal Rando, climbed her way up to 3rd place in the Skyrunner World Series rankings and was in contention for the Series title in Limone last weekend until a hip injury she picked up whilst roller skiing forced her to pull out. In this interview, Johanna chats about her background, her newfound love of skyrunning and what her typical race season training looked like.

© Skyline Scotland

Today’s guest is Keri Wallace, climber, mountain guide and sky/fell runner, who came first V40 female at this year’s Glencoe Skyline. Keri’s love of the mountains has taken her on extreme running challenges (such as running for 10 days non-stop in an attempt to tick off the Bob Graham, Paddy Buckley and Charlie Ramsay rounds in one single go) and has led her to co-found Girls on Hills, a women-only guided trail running and navigation company based in Glencoe, Scotland.

As a mum to two toddlers, Keri has to be innovative and flexible with her training. Here she shares how she does it, her love of technical running and her tips for confident descending.

© James Appleton/Rat Race Adventure Sports

Regular readers will remember I interviewed the brilliant ultrarunner and adventure race test pilot, Allie Bailey about her world-first running exploits earlier in the year. Now, she’s back with a new challenge and she’s taking an all-woman team to do it with her.

In what’s believed to be the first ultrarun of its kind, Allie and a team of intrepid, kickass women will traverse Scotland’s Outer Hebrides – all 185 miles of it – on foot, covering up to 37 miles a day for 5 days. And it’s all kicking off on the Monday 14 October. Naturally, I had to quiz her all about it…

© Zwift Triathlon Academy

Earlier this year, Ironman triathlete Ruth Purbrook earned a place in the prestigious Specialized Zwift Triathlon Academy. The goal: Repeat success of last year’s Ironman World Championship AG (25-29) win with a view to achieving the overall age group World Champion title – this time under the support and tutelage of Zwift Tri Academy mentors, Sarah True and Tim Don. However, 10 weeks ago, life threw a spanner in the works when Ruth was knocked off her bike, breaking her collarbone. Incredibly, she was back racing six weeks after surgery and managed a brilliant 7th AG place at last month’s 70.3 Ironman World Championship!

Ahead of this weekend’s Ironman World Championship in Kona, Ruth took time out to share how she juggles intensive Ironman training with 60-hour weeks working for the Lloyds Banking Group.

Today’s interviewee doesn’t shy away from adventure or endurance sport challenges. Beth Lahr York is a cyclist, competitive skydiver and former world record holder, CVR cycling athlete (virtual cycling platform) and commentator, triathlete and marathon swimmer in her spare time. Phew.

On top of that, the 48-year-old American is a successful, two-time Emmy winning producer and a mum of two. Earlier this year, she completed the 12.5 mile Swim Around Key West race, which is no mean feat considering she only learned to swim four years ago! We dive into this, the 4am starts it took to train, and more, in today’s Q&A.

© Scott Robarts

I’m very excited to have British ultrarunner and coach, Ellie Greenwood, as today’s interviewee! Ellie holds course records on some of the world’s toughest ultra-distance races, including the Western States 100 miler, which she’s won twice. The British athlete, who now lives in Vancouver, Canada has also won the Comrades ultramarathon (89km), the CCC by UTMB (101km, 6100m+), and is a two-time 100K world champion.

Whether she’s racing competitively or escaping to the trails in training, forty-year-old Ellie runs for the love of the sport above everything else. Here, she shares with me (amongst other things) an insight to what got her started in running, what’s helped her stay sane throughout injury, and how she digs deep during racing and training.

© Migu Run Skyrunner World Series/ David Gonthier

When it comes to versatility of racing, you’d be hard to find someone who can switch it up as successfully as Russian skyrunning and ultra trail athlete Katya Mityaeva, who has triumphed in both short but brutal vertical kilometer™ races and long, extremely mountainous ultras. She just came 4th at this year’s 170km UTMB and, although you’ll mostly find her on a mountain trail (sometimes with her successful skyrunning husband, Dimitri Mityaeva), she’s also got a mean road marathon time of 2:36!

I caught up with the successful skyrunner via email to talk skyrunning, training and UTMB.

© Hamish Frost

In January, Polar adventurer and endurance athlete, Jenny Davis, was 19 days into her gruelling mission to be the fastest solo and unsupported person to ski to the South Pole, when she developed peritonitis (infection of the inner lining of the stomach) and a bowl infection which required a medical evacuation, ending her expedition.

Thankfully, she recovered but that still meant coming to terms with the end of her project. The ultrarunner and mountaineer, who has finished a host of extreme ultramarathons (from the Arctic Ultra 250 and Iran Silk Road ultra to the Marathon des Sables and Cape Wrath Ultra) tells me about what she learned from the experience, why she doesn’t fear failure, and the upcoming challenges which are getting her excited now.

© Stefan Voitl / Red Bull

Freeride mountain biker Casey Brown has had her fair share of injuries – from smashed teeth to a lacerated liver – but that comes with pushing boundaries in a sport that can see you soar 50ft into the air on a bike.

The 28-year-old rider, who has also competed successfully in downhill mountain biking and the Enduro World Series, grew-up in remote New Zealand where the next town was an eight-hour hike away. Aged 11, Casey moved with her family to British Columbia where she later honed her MTB skills and would go on to be crowned Queen of Crankworx, the world-wide circuit where riders accumulate points in a variety of MTB disciplines, and Whip-off World Champion multiple times.

This weekend, Casey will take part in the qualifiers for Red Bull Rampage, an event considered the pinnacle of big mountain freeriding, where the world’s best freeride athletes launch themselves down 65-ft high cliffs in Utah following impossible lines and performing insane tricks (yep, it’s as high risk as it sounds). This year sees the first-ever qualifying event and Casey is making history as the first and only woman to be invited. Go, Casey. We’re rooting for you.

Swimmers are known for their relentless training schedules, so what does a typical day look like for medley swimmer, Commonwealth Games champion and Speedo athlete, Siobhan-Marie O’Connor? 23-year-old Siobhan-Marie shares a day in her life with me below.

The Olympic silver medallist, who was the first woman ever to successfully defend their Commonwealth Games 200m IM title during last year’s event in Australia, also reveals her Olympic hopes for Japan 2020. Go, Siobhan-Marie!