Dirt Church Radio Trail Running

We’ve had some big weeks in the running world. With some incredible performances and a new normal being established across the board, from 42.2 to 250 miles. Ali, Andrew, and Matt are here for it, and we have some questions as well. Is our sport, and the big tent that it has become, lost some of its sparkle, its unpredictability, its wonder? Now, every elite performance must surely hinge on the 1%ers. When is too much too much? Have accomplishment and performance been superseded by attention? Are races now cults of personality driven by an allegiance to race dir...

Kia ora e te whānau. Who is excited for UTA? Gosh, we certainly are. This week, Join Ali and Matt as they preview the elite fields in the miler, 100km, 50km, and 22km events at Ultra Trail Australia, as well as answer those last-minute questions that athletes have when staring an event like this in the face. This year, we’ve decided to do things a little differently, and Ali speaks with Ian ‘easy’ Meyer- one of the foundations of the course marking team, and event stalwart- to dive into the details of the course, what to expect, and the...

We’re not going to lie, there was a lot on the docket this week, and boy did Ali, Andrew, and Matt rip through it. We, the aforementioned, declare that Tamaki is now the distance-running capital of Aotearoa. And also that it is “mad nice” (Friedland, 2026). We charge that big companies should stop doing things that make them look like dicks, and that the Boston thing was sort of okay, and also we wonder if that dude that Jurek helped across the line at Western States ever got a sympathy cougar. READ THE RULES, PEOPLE.Attendi...

Way back in 2023, when Eugene and Matt first spoke to Matt Bixley (on DCR 228 if you are interested), they were impressed not only by the attention he paid to detail in planning his adventures, the scope of the adventures - 18 Keplers (at the time) , a Barkley Marathons, a million rogaines, and an astounding back story, but the sheer ability of the man to spin a great yarn.  Fast forward a couple of years, and we find out that not much has changed. Settle in for round two with Matt, this time with DCR’s Andrew McDowall. There’s bee...

Goodness me, we got through a bit on the Aidstation this week. From hard choices to boners (Yes, you read correctly). Better mental health and running strategies you can use every day. Paying to pace? yep, we go there too, and yep, Backyards aren't dead. Also, most importantly,  I know, it’s not Mack or Mac, it’s Mc, as in McDowall, but goshdarnit, Andrew is back, and we’re all the better for it. Did we mention boners?  Excellent stuff.Dirt Church Radio – Best Enjoyed Running.​--- --- --- ...

Kia ora e te whānau. This week, Ali Pottinger chats with Annie Hand, fresh off her second-place finish at the Six Foot Track Marathon. Hand, a Blue Mountain stalwart, completed the Ultra Trail Australia Miler in 2025 and is off for a lap of Mount Blanc in 2026. Annie and Ali talk about performance, Annie’s abiding love of the Blue Mountains, and the pleasant surprise of ending up on podiums in this excellent conversation you won’t want to miss. Also, don’t miss out on our Greatest Run Ever this week, a brotherly battle at the Delerious West.  Also, we...

The Tussock Traverse and/or the Ring of Fire is an event that you must do. 100%. We can’t really jazz it up more than that. If you like a unique mountain-running adventure that is both a grassroots event and offers the most incredible scenery, and world-class trails. After a tough couple of years, 2026 saw the event organisers putting it all on the line again. Ali and Matt run through the weekend and all the experiences therein, including a two-part tale of one of the greatest sporting battles of the last two decades.  excellent stuff....

Kia ora e te whānau. Paula Griffin is among the many professional athletes we’ve spoken to over the years who have pivoted from their original sport to trail running. Paula Griffin is the first professional netballer we’ve had on the podcast, so that’s really something. Paula speaks to Ali Pottinger about her life in professional netball (including becoming a Silver Fern), her pivot to MMA (of course), and then, after a circuitous route through motherhood and partnership, onto the trails, where she found her passion for this wonderful sport and inspiration to support other mums who lov...

I don’t know, man. What’s in a name after all? We’re lucky enough that Matt’s youngest daughter isn’t called Skipper or Queenie (both names he went in hard for). Trying to decipher the lore behind a trail name is hard enough, right? This week on the AidStation, Matt and Ali talk about everything. From monetizing gravel  *spoiler alert* Don’t do it! Salomon, we’re looking at you, to the end of the world, headlamps, hot bois, hot girls, trail crushes, and when is it too soon (or too late) to call a course change?? The Ai...

Kia ora e te whānau. In our sport, we often hear stories of when people found trail running. Seldom do we hear of moments where trail running found us. Jack Harris was, as he tells it, going through a bit of a hard time, and one day decided to go for a hike along the Routeburn Track. By happy circumstance, that hike coincided with the running of the annual Routeburn trail run.  It would be neater, if not less fulfilling, to fall back on some trope like “the rest is history”. And whilst it’s true that history is happe...

On this week’s AidStation, we have a most excellent conversation about the LoopHer relay in Riverhead, a 3, 6, or 12-hour female-only relay. We talk about the upcoming Tussock Traverse and Ring of Fire, and our unreasonable excitement to be involved. We discuss the chase for the Western States Endurance Run and whether the field should be deeper. Is there a place for a Sportiv-style event? Or should we leave it exactly how it is? We talk about how much is too much to tell your coach, and Matt shares an epic tale of woe that spanned 32 hours, time in th...

Kia ora e te whānau. This episode has been a long time coming. DCR has been wanting to get down to the mighty Old Ghost Ultra for years, and this year, Ali P made it happen. The stoke is evident in her retelling of the event. If that isn’t enough, we’ve got interviews with Race Founder and 2026 participant Phil Rossiter, Mr. Original Ben Kepes, Third-place runner Sarah Kearns, and iRunFar founder Mr. Bryon Powell. Brilliant Stuff.   Dirt Church Radio—Best Enjoyed Running.--- --- --- Epis...

Kia ora e te whānau. Holy Hecka, what a weekend with the filth, fury, and triumph of Tarawera Ultra Trail New Zealand by UTMB. Join Ali Pottinger and Matt Rayment for a wonderful conversation with some of the leading lights in our sport for our annual live show—amazing insights from Ruth Croft, Beth McKenzie, Dan Jones, Petter Engdhal, Sam Harvey, Hannah McCrae, Liam Mierow, and Emily Hawgood. We run down the results, dive into the DNF rates, stumble through our long weekends on the mic, and share what we took from this experience and the best things we...

On this week’s AidStation, we have the distinct pleasure of speaking with Race Director Tom Heath about the exciting new event on the calendar, Ultra Wanaka. Ali and Matt also speak to the most powerful returning champion, L. Bartholomew of Diamond Creek, Victoria, about her go-to Rotorua trails, Race week self-care, and the update on her Dad, Ash, after his recent stroke. Matt has been accused of many things, being discursive, even downright circumstantial, but one thing he has never been in the 8 years of DCR is speechless. Thanks, Lucy. Really.   Excellent Stuff.D...

Kia ora e te whānau. What a way to kick off 2026 with this awesome conversation with Goat Tongariro winner Jackson Cole. Jackson spoke with Matt from his base in Missoula, Montana. We touched on the usual topics like training and racing. Still, the conversation primarily centered on Jackson’s history and ethos—from Wellington to Colorado and beyond —rooted in adventure, the joy of experience, and a love for wild mountain terrain. He spoke about valuing the simplicity of running over gadget obsession, preferring to listen to his body and embrace what the day brings, and his love of a we...

On this week’s AidStation, we bring you an excellent chat Ali P had with Michael Sutton at The Goat Tongariro. Michael, if you will remember, has represented New Zealand multiple times at the World Mountain Running Championships, and has recently launched The Kea Mountain Running Series to bring the shorter, harder, vertier stuff to the people. You may also be familiar with Michael from his excellent conversation on episode 349 with Matt. Ali also catches up with 261 Fearless’ Kate Southern on the start line for her first Goat adventure.  In excellent news, we celebrate Andrew McDowall’s selection for the 202...

Kia ora e te whānau. We’re back again for the third annual DCR Tarawera Ultra Trail by UTMB special. Joining Ali and Matt at the helm is a special guest, two-time Tarawera champion, and running coach extraordinaire, Mr Kerry Suter. What a treat you have in store for yourselves this episode, as we dive deep into the history of the event and its impact on the global running scene. We also talk about our own histories with the event and how something as elementally simple as a run through the woods has changed our lives in meaningful way...

Maybe we were all a bit too hopeful that 2025’s madness would not continue into 2026. Maybe these first two weeks are a post-credit scene, or maybe, just maybe, this is 2026 saying “hold my beer” in response to last year’s antics. Anyway you cut it, it’s probably best to get yourself out for a run. It’ll probably help. The WTF?! quality of early ‘26 hasn’t stopped at the door of the ultrasphere, so for our first AidStation of the year, Ali and Matt run down (see what we did there) all the hot takes, from green screens and...

Kia ora e te whānau. Welcome to the second of our DCR Summer Series episodes, where we’ll be bringing you our most popular conversations from 2025. This week, we’ve got a double header, throwing it back to July when Sam Harvey made his DCR three-peat and spoke to Andrew McDowall about (literally) running himself to a standstill as the assist in the world-record-breaking 118-hour/790 km knock at Dead Cow Gully. Then, we bring you Andrew’s conversation with Stephen Redfern. Stephen is notable for several reasons, including his ongoing feud with Andrew (Which is odd, as they are gre...

Kia ora e te whānau. Welcome to the first of our DCR Summer Series episodes, where we’ll be bringing you our most popular conversations from 2025. Kickin' it off this week, we are taking it back to March, and episode 318, when Ali and Matt spoke to the one and only Jasmin Paris. Jasmin Paris entered the wider public consciousness when she became the first woman to finish the Barkley Marathons, with just 99 seconds to spare. Ironically, for a race that eschewed publicity for so long, the photos of her sprinting the final 100 metres to the yellow gate are now...