Run Spesh Podcast by Frontrunner Colombo

The tables are turned this week. Last time, Oska interviewed Alex from Don Greig Racing Stables — this time, Alex has spent weeks sourcing anonymous questions from runners all over Christchurch, and Oska has no idea what's coming.
It makes for a genuinely honest hour. We cover childhood — including the four teachers who changed the direction of his life at a point when things weren't easy at home — his approach to brutal honesty (and where it actually comes from), and why having a coach, a psychologist, and a trusted small circle matters as much as any training plan. He's candid about where he's at right now: working through an injury, and for the first time in his life, genuinely not enjoying running. We also get into his half marathon record (eight national titles, undefeated in Christchurch), what's realistic for him in the marathon, and a properly interesting section on the business side of running shoes — how he ranks the major brands as a retailer, what he thinks about the wave of new Chinese running shoe brands, and the four-pillar framework (chemistry, geometry, aesthetics, accessibility) he wrote about for Tempo Journal on what actually makes a "perfect" shoe. We close with his real shoe rotation philosophy and a run of genuinely ridiculous rapid-fire questions.
This episode covers:
Hayden Wilde's 70.3 World Championship win
Childhood, and the four teachers who changed everything
Honesty, coaching, and mental health
Currently not enjoying running, and working through injury
Half marathon record, and marathon ambitions
Ranking shoe brands as a retailer
Chinese running shoe brands and the "perfect shoe" framework
Shoe rotation philosophy and barefoot running
Rapid-fire round

This week Oska sits down with Connor Melton and Will Little — training partners, close friends, and the two Kiwis heading to Copenhagen to race the half marathon at the World Road Running Championships. Both come from very different starting points: Will battled undiagnosed gluten intolerance and low iron for years before finding real consistency, while Connor spent a decade in Maria Hesson's development squad before moving to coach Sam McLean when he outgrew it heading into the senior ranks.
We get into some genuinely big topics — why New Zealand's national titles have lost some of their shine as the global marathon calendar pulls athletes elsewhere, and why there's no incentive (or funding) to bring New Zealand's overseas-based stars home to race domestically the way Australia does. Connor tells the full story of his 2023 World Cross Country race in Tallahassee — brutal heat and humidity, a genuine hands-and-knees crawl through the final stretch, and being pulled by medical staff 200m from the finish. We also get into his PhD in mechanical engineering, which is genuinely relevant to this podcast: his thesis was on an accessible way to 3D-print custom, graded-stiffness heel pad cushioning for plantar heel pain.
From there it's training structure, balancing full-time work and postgrad study with elite mileage, a fun rapid-fire round, and a proper, heartfelt tribute to their 82-year-old coach Sam McLean — who coaches for free, turns up on his bike in all weather, and can still recall race splits from over 50 years ago. Sam even wrote in his own tribute to both athletes, which gets read out in full.
This episode covers:
Will and Connor's very different paths into running
Why NZ's national titles don't carry the weight they used to
Connor's brutal World Cross Country collapse in Tallahassee
Connor's PhD: 3D-printed heel pad cushioning
Balancing full-time work and postgrad study with elite training
Training structure and how the pair work together
Racing shoes: both in the ASICS Metaspeed Edge
Tribute to coach Sam McLean
What success looks like in Copenhagen

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
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A different kind of episode this week. Oska sits down with his good mate Macca from Tempo — recorded in two halves, the first at the ASICS house in Sydney on Saturday night before the race, the second a few days later once both were home — to properly debrief the Sydney Marathon.
Neither of them raced it. Oska's still working back from injury and ran a relaxed, deeply enjoyable 2:50-something with a genuine negative split; Oska stepped out of his usual elite-adjacent world to run as one of "the masses" for the first time in his career, and came away with a completely different appreciation for what a major marathon actually is. Between them they cover the Harbour Bridge, a 100-plus person choir that stopped Macca in his tracks around the 11K mark, the noise of Oxford Street's Pride corner, and a chance elevator conversation with a man running his 101st career marathon — his 25th Boston. There's a genuinely good discussion in here about what separates a "major" from every other marathon: not the course, but the fact that for one weekend, an entire city's worth of strangers are speaking the same language.
We also get an update on what's next for Oska — chasing a 5000m PB on the track, working the hamstring and Achilles back to full health, and eyeing a crack at his own Christchurch Marathon course record next April — plus a first tease of Race the Pro 5 After Dark, easily the biggest event Frontrunner's put together.
This episode covers:
Sydney Marathon race day, run relaxed rather than raced
Course highlights: the Harbour Bridge, the choir, Oxford Street
Meeting a 101-marathon veteran in a hotel elevator
Local names who had big days: Tommy Richards and Jared both breaking 2:30
What actually makes a "major" marathon different
What's next for Oska: a 5000m PB attempt, then a Christchurch Marathon course record tilt in April
First look at Race the Pro 5 After Dark

A genuinely huge eight days packed into one episode. Oska's fighting off being sick and Anna's just days from six-plus weeks in Europe with Henry, but between them they cover a lot: a Melbourne trip getting an early look at upcoming Hoka and Saucony product, three national-level events happening the same weekend (NZ Road & Race Walk Champs in New Plymouth, Governors Bay to Lyttelton, and Sydney Marathon), and a half marathon world record from Yomif Kejelcha that puts their own Tuesday club session into brutal perspective.
The big one this episode: the full reveal of Race the Pro 5, The Chasedown — Frontrunner's biggest event yet, teaming up with Adidas to launch the Adizero Adios Pro 5 with a mixed-relay race against an elite pro team, taking over the entire Sydenham Underpass on 8 October. We also get a great World Masters Championships update (Sally Gibbs' double gold including a sub-20 5000m at 60 years old deserves way more attention than it's getting), a listener question on burning forefoot pain, a full technical deep dive on the New Balance SuperComp Elite v6, and a Sydney Marathon preview with both reigning World Champions on the same start line for the first time in the race's history. We close with a recap of three community events in eight days (500 people total!) and a look at the genuinely hectic few weeks ahead.
This episode covers:
Melbourne trip recap: Hoka and Saucony
NZ Road & Race Walk Championships preview
World Masters Championships results
Yomif Kejelcha's half marathon world record
Race the Pro 5, The Chasedown — full event reveal
Listener Q: burning forefoot
Deep dive: New Balance SuperComp Elite v6
Sydney Marathon preview
Christchurch Marathon course update
Recap: 500 people, 3 events, 8 days
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