Nike Apex Vs Adidas Gear Shift, And Liam Says Sorry | EP 107

[00:00] In The Beginning, episode 107. Hopefully I've got that right, 107. Courtney, how are you? I'm good, Liam Flanagan. I'm very good. I just finished up a 21k run, just knocked out a quick halfer this morning. There is still no better feeling than post-run. I should record this podcast post-run always. I would have come in here whinging, because after I saw you last week and said I was sick, I got hit like a train, like a freight train. Three days off running.

[00:30] It's been a disaster leading into this Nike half marathon next week. Nothing's worked, but this morning I finally got out, did a bit of fartlek, got through a half marathon. So you've got me on a good day. That's great. What about yourself? I want to start today's podcast with a hands-up apology. I think I know where this is gonna go. We have fun here. We have fun.

[01:00] We love running. We are not always right, usually me. I think that's a bit harsh. I've had a few bad calls. Last week's marathon idea of punishing or penalising people who DNF and DNS went down like a sack of shit. Might be my worst take ever on this pod. Like, worse than the 'your lungs are a toilet, they need a flush' concept from way back in the early days. I don't think you had one supporter on this one.

[01:32] Not one. I have been pushing this idea to people in my personal life as well. The difficulty with me is once I get something set in my brain, it's quite difficult to move. And still, after we recorded the episode, after it went out, I saw the comments flooding in, in no way supporting the idea. If this is your first episode, welcome. The concept I pushed last week was that if you DNF a race or DNS a race, there should be a potential penalty.

[02:07] A monetary penalty upfront if you want to enter that same race next year, but you can get the money back if you actually finish. No support. And just by the way, I'll be very clear, I didn't support it. I did not support it at the time. Which is what I want to get to, because even though I saw the comments flooding in, and I'd had no one support me when I was pitching it off air too, in my mind I still thought it was a good idea. And then my wife sat me down. She's like, I've listened to the episode.

[02:38] And she's like, you know you do this. There's a moment in that episode where you pitch the idea, Courtney says it's a bad idea, and you double down. She's like, you know you do this. That was the point you should have stopped. You need to apologise. Okay. So I'm here today. She's right. It was me just thinking out loud. Feedback received, that one goes in. That one goes in. I'm sure there are some listeners out there who appreciate that.

[03:09] I don't think you owe an apology, Liam, because this is the world. You can have an opinion, and that can be your opinion. People can disagree, like me. Yeah. And we can move on. Yeah. I think the point is I've heard what you've got to say. Okay? Yep. And I will leave it there. On to better things, before we get to some running: the Lions. Is that the greatest grand final, the greatest football final ever? We've had a week to marinate on it. Greatest grand final I've watched. As a Port supporter, 2004 was my most memorable.

[03:44] I've been to a couple. I sat at home watching that game. Greatest grand final I've ever watched. Greatest individual five-minute period of football I've ever seen, from Will Ashcroft, to win the game for the Lions late. It had everything. My heart breaks for Fremantle, because they were there. They had a hand on the cup. The three-quarter time siren, and then everything that came after that. It just brought everything. Look, hey, it's a tick for me though.

[04:16] I said the Lions at the start of the year. I said they will go back and do it again. It wasn't as convincing as I thought it might have been, but an amazing grand final, amazing spectacle. AFL, look, NRL's kicking their arse in a lot of parts. The NRL games were just as good over the weekend. They were as good, I agree. But I think the NRL is kicking the AFL's arse in a lot of things at the moment. Peter V'landys is the greatest sports administrator in the game right now.

[04:46] But Kylie was brilliant. Kylie pregame was brilliant. It was great. It was perfect. It matched the mood, it matched the vibe. Melbourne girl, huge star, brought the energy, brought the vibe, perfect entertainment. And now... She was polarising. Yeah. I didn't see the other side of the argument. I mean, like anything, you could put any musician up there and you're gonna get the polarising side of it. There was definitely...

[05:16] Well, now we wait to see what the NRL delivers. Yeah, there was definitely the other side. No one's not loving Kylie, but the choice from the AFL of who their entertainers are before a grand final, and matching up to Melbourne and everything else, yeah, I think there were some polarising ideas about that. But like we said, everyone's got an opinion. Now we wait to see what the NRL can serve up tomorrow, or today if you listen to this on your Sunday long run. Nothing less is good enough. Did you see yesterday, I think it was Andrew Johns, about Silverchair?

[05:53] He said no, but I spoke about this on the radio show the other day. Peter V'landys is the only person capable of pulling it off. Peter V'landys, with the support of Andrew and Matty Johns, is the only thing powerful enough to bring Silverchair back together. It'd be all-time. It would be all-time, and it would make the grand final bigger. It would have won grand final day for the NRL versus the AFL if we put them head to head. Don't think it's going to happen.

[06:24] But I'm looking forward to tomorrow's grand final. Absolutely behind the Knights. You'd love to see them do it, especially with Justin Holbrook, the former coach of the Titans, now in charge of the Knights, taking them from wooden spoon to a grand final. Look, I don't want to turn this into a rugby league podcast. But Justin Holbrook is not the coach of the year? The Dally M awards happened last night as we were recording this. I get Andrew Webster, I love what he did with the Warriors, up the Wahs, respect, and I understand it's a regular season award.

[06:55] What did Andrew Webster do? Won coach of the year. But if you have taken a team from wooden spoon to the grand final, there's your coach of the year. Yeah. That's your coach of the year. So Justin Holbrook, you are the people's coach of the year. Anyway, that's footy. There'll be another big one this weekend, but that's footy. But the Lions. To move on to some running, you know what happened this week? What? After us talking about the GOAT, Kipchoge, I ended up on a phone call with him.

[07:27] Not just me, by the way. Not just me. On Monday I was getting some shoe tips off the GOAT himself. So Nike, I mean, it's no secret that I've been loving doing my road running in my Nikes at the moment. And today, it was under embargo till today: the Nike Apex. So they dropped the Alphafly 4, the next version, and everyone thought, it's a new Alphafly, everyone was talking about

[08:04] it. I think I mentioned it last week. But then they dropped the big daddy, the Apex. So go back to Eliud. Yeah, so on Monday I got invited to a Teams call with a few other runners, and he was just there. It was him. He was going through his experience with the Apex and giving some tips on how to run Melbourne. But you know what I took out of it... Yeah, absolutely.

[08:37] Yeah, no, I don't think this is a secret one. I could be wrong. I never get invited to these. But what I loved is, I'll talk about the shoe in a minute and what he said about the shoe, but there was a quote. Someone asked him a question. I never got my chance to ask my question. No, do you know why? There were probably eight of us on the call, I reckon, and I joined a little bit late because I was on the road. Brisbane people will understand this. I was on the bloody Gateway. Yeah.

[09:08] Four o'clock call and I'm in the middle of the Gateway going, I gotta get off, I gotta get off, get on the call. Someone wrote in and asked him what he has learnt so far from going to the runs, because he's been to South Africa on this world series of runs. And he said, every person I've gone and had a run with or met with, he goes, running is life. You know what I thought straight away? Have you watched Ted Lasso? Football is life. Dani Rojas. Football is life.

[09:39] I was like, he's ripped this off. Football is life, running is life. So the quote of the day was running is life. And that's it. So I'm going to continue that from now on. But what he said about the marathon, he was talking about people doing their first marathon, and he was saying if Melbourne's your first one, for the first marathon it's all about forgetting your watch. Everyone's so concerned with their pacing and their watch. Get through your first marathon: start, find your rhythm, just run.

[10:10] Just run. Enjoy it. Get to the finish line. Use your rhythm, rhythm, rhythm, is what he was talking about, and then attack a second marathon with a goal. Who have we heard that from? Not just Benita Willis. Benita Willis, yeah. But you're currently in that mode. The Gold Coast Marathon was your first marathon, and then the next marathon is finding something to attack with some purpose and some intent. Benita Willis singing from the... well, I guess Eliud's singing from the Benita Willis songbook, not the other way around.

[10:46] They're both singing from the same songbook. I wonder, yeah, I'm not sure who got there first. Well, Benita's definitely older. Is she? I mean, how old's... no, I know how old Benita is, she's my age, but how old's... Eliud's only... I don't think Eliud's forty yet, is he? I lie, he's 41. He'll be 42 next month. So yeah, Benita was there first. So these Apexes, which I'm not gonna get a chance to run in next week, by the way. Oh no.

[11:17] They're not gonna arrive. I've got some details here. They're not gonna arrive in Australia until January 27th. They are gonna retail for 500 bucks. Not cheap. Not cheap. But I do like... you know how we talked about the other shoe brands having their one-run shoe and you're done? Yes. This is effectively that. They're saying they're only really used for up to fifty miles of racing. And just on that, I like what people will start to see with this.

[11:48] The runners who love their Nikes and their shoes and their gear and all the rest of it might start to see the imaging of Nike's race-day lineup. That's kind of how they're positioning it. Yes. It's like, here are our three shoes. What's your takeaway of it? 'Cause I like the clarity of it, because again, not an elite runner, love running, want to understand what I'm getting. I understand that carbon plates do certain things. Also, I know what I like running in. I like the way they're positioning it.

[12:18] Your Apex, they say, is for runners chasing every possible second. That is the bee's knees. Your Alphafly, and these are their words, helps more runners experience marathon speed. That's your carbon plate. That's for your everyday runner. That's what we understand, it's a carbon plate shoe. And then your Nike Swooshfly offers an invitation to race day. Love that branding. So this is that...

[12:49] What's really interesting with that one, that shoe, the Swooshfly, is it's effectively their entry level into the marathon. Yep. Still with the Air and all of the great stuff. And 240 is what it's gonna drop at. It's a perfect shoe as an entry thing. But this Apex is the interesting one, because it was the one I don't think many people were probably expecting, right? They dropped the Alphafly 4, everyone's like, you know, it's improved, it's better, and everything else. And then they go, bang, here we go.

[13:21] Double Air. They told us they've been working for a decade on it. The Air Zoom pods obviously work really well in Nike, proprietary. They've double-stacked the Air. So they've got two of the new Air Zoom pods working together in the front of the foot. They've got the full 40 mil stack at the forefoot, so utilising all of that spring right through the forefoot. So there's no real heel-to-toe drop.

[13:52] But obviously because of the softness of the front of the shoe, you will get drop there. And then the other one is, and you know my stance on this with rubbers, I don't understand the science behind the rubbers, but it's a softer foam, a lighter foam, and provides more energy than their previous foam, which is ZoomX. So the new one's a lighter one. Let me ask you this. Do you think this shoe will see Nike back atop the podium at the World Majors, at the big marathons?

[14:23] Because we just saw Berlin last weekend, and again... They dropped, and Adidas dropped their new shoe. Yeah, we'll talk about the plated one, the Gear Shift, in a minute. Do you think this... because that's the way they're... I mean, look, let's call a spade a spade. They want this shoe on top of podiums. So can it get there? When it comes to shoes, and this has nothing to do with the brands themselves, the shoe itself is dictated by who they've got as sponsored runners.

[14:57] So I can't sit here and go, that shoe's now going to be at the top of the podium. No. Because it's dependent on which brand has which runner at the time. Okay. So let's not beat around the bush: top runners are paid runners for brands, and there's a commercial agreement. Let's hope the feel of the shoe, nostalgia and loyalty all go into helping the best runners in the world want to align with a certain brand.

[15:29] But in the end it's still always going to be a commercial decision. And when you look at it right now, we'll use Sabastian Sawe as the example. Whilst Nike's Eliud Kipchoge is the GOAT, name recognition, all of that, he's not the fastest marathoner in the world anymore. Sabastian Sawe is an Adidas runner. So unless Nike finds a runner who is capable of challenging Sawe, you can't say it's... it's not a better shoe.

[16:02] The best athlete right now runs in Adidas. Yeah. What I believe this is gonna do is really excite everyone, because Nike were obviously the pioneers in super shoes, right? When they first came out with a super shoe, no one would ever think about going to another brand, because they had the head start. I think this is the first iteration, not just that one shoe, the Apex, but this whole system of shoes, where they've actually taken their time to get these ones right.

[16:32] Yes. I mean, until I run in the Alphafly 4, which hopefully I will next weekend, then I'll be able to give a bit more. It's really hard just to look at spec sheets or pictures. Basically you're saying you've read the spec sheets and you're saying how they look. Hopefully I can come back after next weekend and go, you know what, I got to run in the 4, and these are my thoughts, and give a real warranted view on it. So it's exciting. Exciting times with all shoes. Staying in this area for a moment, because there's a few other things. I do want to get to Adidas's Gear Shift shoe, which is a thing right now.

[17:06] Just talking about athletes and brands, are you across what happened with Kylian Mbappe and the move from Nike as an athlete? Yes. To On, the Swiss shoe brand. Yes. So he made a huge move, right? Kylian Mbappe, arguably the world's most... Lamine Yamal, yep, Spain. As far as my limited knowledge of soccer players goes, he is one I know. The kids love him. My nephews buy his jersey.

[17:37] Okay. He makes the move from Nike to On, yep. Goes to run out for the first time for Real Madrid, his club, as an On athlete. They don't have his boots ready. They didn't have his boots ready to go. Did he paint them or what happened? Well, his Nikes were strapped up. Yeah. Right. And I believe, did you say, Nike's response was to release that style of boot with that colourway as a viable option?

[18:09] So On stuffed up by not having the boot ready to go in time. Yeah. Kylian's tried to do the right thing as the athlete by covering up the old brand. Nike's gone, oh, that's a good look, that's a chance for a quick kill. A quick opportunity. I love it. It's great. Maybe, but I love the reaction from Nike. But it's also, in a broader conversation, and I don't need to get into this now, but the news, I think last week, was that Nike dropped out of the top five hundred businesses in

[18:44] the US on the stock market. This is a company, this is a behemoth, it's a giant, it's historically the biggest kid in the yard, suddenly needing to become nimble, become agile, start to look at different ways to do things. Which as a runner, as a consumer, as a customer, I'm excited about, because I reckon it means they're gonna do some cool stuff. Do you know? Not Nike necessarily, I'm talking now broader brands, but those core big brands that are your global pinnacle sports brands.

[19:22] I'd even put Red Bull and energy drinks, and Coke, you know, yep, across the board. They're almost your Olympic-level brands. The ones who were the pioneers of industries, right? Originally. And they've always been the biggest. But in every industry now, there's never been so much competition. And it's very easy to become a large corporation and just play it safe. And I think what you're gonna see over the next five to ten years is these brands aren't just gonna lie down.

[19:56] Right? It takes a little bit of time because they're so large. Mm-hmm. The response will be... they were pioneers for a reason. Yeah. I believe they'll work it out. I agree. And look, I know I've started today's episode with an apology about a poorly thought-out concept, but I'm gonna do it again. It's like a whale carcass, right? Or a whale in the ocean. Here we go. Right. Biggest thing in the ocean.

[20:27] And then suddenly you've got little sharks taking a peck. For the most part it doesn't matter, right? Yeah. And then suddenly, at some point, the whale has to start paying attention. Okay. Do you know what I mean? Because for the most part, I'm so big that doesn't matter. In fact, taking a peck's not the problem. When you're that size, the little things buzzing around, great, they can come and have a crack.

[20:59] Ultimately, they are not significant enough. But suddenly, when you are being swarmed... By lots of little things. You think, oh, hold on, I've got a bit of a problem here. Yep. Because not only am I starting to feel it, but I have to address them one by one. And now I feel like Nike has been poked to the point where, all right, we've got the resources, we've got the financials, we've got the tech savvy, we've got the fashion. Let's get our you-know-what together.

[21:29] Maybe we were asleep at the wheel. Maybe we weren't paying attention to all these little satellite brands that were popping up out of China, and maybe we haven't been giving Adidas the respect they deserve. But now is the time we need to get it together and show everybody why, when people think sport, when people think running, they think Nike. Yeah. I think we'll wait and see. We're waiting. All I know at the moment is I'm enjoying running with Air again. Can we talk about the other big shoe development that's happened this week? Yes. The Gear Shift. Yeah. Do you know what they're called?

[22:01] Yeah, it's called the Adizero Gear Shift. Okay. I've got a very strong view on this. So quickly, let me give people the background before your strong opinion. If you haven't seen it, Adidas have released the Adizero Gear Shift. Now, it doesn't have a release date or a retail price as yet. Basically, it is a gear-shiftable shoe, in that there is soft and hard. So you can engage a...

[22:32] Yeah, I think the easiest way to explain it in layman's terms would be you can make the shoe stiff through a plate, and you can reach down and turn a dial and slacken that off to be just the rubber. Yep. So disengage the plate. I mean, it's more technical than that, but for these purposes, think of it like it goes from running in your carbon to running in your everyday foam runner. That's in one shoe. Okay. So there's an actual shifter on your shoe.

[23:03] A ratchet on your shoe that you can manually move. But I saw some talk around being able to control it from your smartphone. When I first saw this on the socials, I kind of thought this is AI. I had to double check. I had to dig really deep. And I'm still not... Where are you getting this information from? I saw it on Hypebeast. It's across a lot of legit trade mags. Yeah. There you go. Well, my opinion on it: I think it's great innovation.

[23:34] And I think there's a world on trail where this would make absolute sense, if it worked in a perfect world. And that's the big if. If it worked in a perfect world. Because if you didn't need to change shoes, if you're in trail racing, which is a technical race, and then you're suddenly on fire roads where you want to run fast, I think there's an element there where it would make sense to be able to switch.

[24:05] It's a very niche... it's a very, very, very, very niche problem to have. So I think it's a great innovation, but how it actually carries across... Yeah. I agree. I agree. And I'll give you an example in a moment. Again, on paper and in demonstration, I love it.

[24:40] I think it's really fun. I look at it and go, geez, this is fun. Good on them for creating something that's fun and attention-grabbing. Practicality, I think you summed it up perfectly. No, I agree with everything you just said. I don't think there's a lot of runners out there going, that's what I need. This is not a need development. I'm thinking there might be a couple of ultra courses out there where you switch from trail to fire roads, and if you're at a certain level you may

[25:10] want it. But, you know... But even the... look, I think innovation's great. You know what comes to mind for me? The thing that jumps straight to mind is the Reebok Pump. Yes. Remember the Reebok Pumps? Yep. Where you'd pump it up. It's a gimmick. It sold. Right. It sold. Now, this is the thing with this shifting shoe. The reason the Reebok Pump sold is, I think it was, and I'm looking it up here, Dee Brown.

[25:45] He wore his Reebok Pumps in the 1991 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, right? And he won. You were putting that product... at the time, 1991, the dunk contest back then was a thing. Yeah, yeah. To wear that product and win the event with that on your foot, enormous. Now, if Adidas could get this on the foot of Sabastian Sawe when he runs his next marathon, good luck. Or if they get it on a trail runner, where you think it could be really useful. Utilisable.

[26:17] Amazing. It's not gonna happen. Zero chance of it being of any effect on the road. I just said then, zero chance of it being of any effect on the road. But this is where I think there's a world... it's such a gimmick, but there's a world where you could go, I can buy one shoe and I can warm up, and then, rather than switching my shoes, I can jack it up in the reps and then release it again.

[26:51] I've just looked up, I've just done a quick search of the biggest gimmicks in sports equipment. Oh wow. It's given me the Shake Weight. Remember that one? It looked like you were doing something inappropriate, where you hold the thing and it would just... It's got the Skechers Shape-Ups, which were a curved-sole walking shoe claimed to tone legs and burn extra calories. You need to Google the Shake Weight. Google the Shake Weight, you'll piss yourself. The ThighMaster.

[27:21] Yeah, I remember that. I might have even had a go at that. This is an interesting one, 'cause it's probably comparable: adjustable-weight golf drivers. Brands added heavy sliding screws inside driver heads to alter swing mechanics, which mostly served as a marketing talking point. I thought that was still a... obviously I'm not into my golf as much as you, but I thought that was still a thing. Look, I don't know at the PGA level, but I strongly doubt that there are PGA golfers, and I'm guessing here,

[27:53] so correct me if anybody knows, please slide on in, I don't reckon there are PGA golfers who are getting out there and mid-round changing their drivers, adjusting the weight in the driver. I think by the time they get to the first tee box, they've got their drivers set up the way they want it. Anyway. This delivery guy won't give up. Anyone who's hearing my dog going nuts... Yeah, well, it's your Nike Apex, mate. It's your Nike Apex being delivered, and I missed it.

[28:25] Anyway, a lot of shoe chat to kick off, and it's great 'cause we do love shoe chat. I wanna check in with you, mate, because of the news, for people that might not have seen it. I found out about it 'cause I got an email from the Sport Australia Hall of Fame about the passing of Pat Clohessy. Pat Clohessy, yeah, my junior running coach. Yeah. I mean, I actually didn't know until I saw it on the run sheet. And then I messaged one of my best mates, Al Stevenson, who I grew up running with with Pat.

[28:56] And yeah, this is a funeral I'll go and attend. Pat was, not just to me, instrumental to athletics in Australia, full stop. I've got so many good memories of running around the University of Queensland with Pat, and then after that, watching him with de Castella. He's had so many: Pat had Shaun Creighton, so many of Australia's best runners have gone through Pat. But I remember Pat, and if there's one thing anyone who has been around Pat will remember, it's that if you were a bit sick, sore, not running

[29:33] well, he would just say, just go and jog it out. That was his theory on it. Just keep jogging, jog it out, jog it out, jog it out. Yeah. Just go and jog. Just go and jog. Never stop. Just jog. Yeah. And I hope everybody that had some involvement gets the opportunity to attend. It's probably gonna be the fittest funeral ever attended. Yeah, you think about the legacy and longevity he had in Australian sport, and the amount of people, as we just listed a few of them, it's gonna be a fit crew.

[30:11] Yeah, he had a massive impact. And the way I'd explain that, around jog it out, jog it out: we talk about trainers and coaches, and Pat was a true coach, in the sense that he wasn't overly technical. He had a system. He worked very closely to the Lydiard system, and he had some influence from the Swedish system. There was a whole range of people he learned off as a runner. And then he implemented that system.

[30:41] So he was a systems guy as far as his training goes. He wasn't data-driven necessarily. However, what he was, and why I say he was a coach, is he knew his runners. And that idea of just go and jog it out, or just relax. Just relax. So there were a lot of cues around your running. Or if we were going to the forest, like I ran with his group out at Daisy Hill on a Wednesday and Sunday, religiously, for our long runs for years and years, there was no real prescription, like, okay, here's a run at this heart rate, and Strava and all this bullshit.

[31:13] It was just simply, okay, the group made the feel. And there were hills at the end of Daisy Hill, for those who know it, that come up to Koala Park, the car park at the top. Sometimes we'd be bolt racing those hills by the end, but the group dictated it, and he knew that having the right leaders in the group would dictate the pace right. And yeah, you know, it worked. Yeah. Well, look, I never met him, but you've talked about him enough on this podcast, and reading some of the comments and the emails that

[31:46] I got from the Sport Australia Hall of Fame as well, this is a man whose impact will not soon be forgotten in Australian sport. So thoughts with the family and friends of Pat Clohessy. Let's go to a current-day athlete. I don't know if your mate Matt Hauser ever had any interaction with Pat. Wouldn't say so. Yeah, he was on fire. I did not like that. It was an incredible race. Yeah. Triathlon's having a bit of a moment. I think... well, sorry, let me rephrase that.

[32:16] It feels like, in my algorithm anyway, because of what Matt is doing, triathlon's just kind of... it was great to see Alex Yee back out on course. It's starting to... the fire is returning. Well, it's towards the Olympics, right? So you've got Hayden coming back now. I mean, Hayden had raced how many weeks in a row and then still came in and had a reasonable race. You've got Hayden coming back, you've got Alex Yee, Matt's killing it at the top, and he's stayed on board with triathlon since the last Olympics.

[32:48] You've got the young fellas, all those young Red Bull whippersnappers, who are a new era to me. But they're all flying. So I think what's driving it is close racing. When there's competition... you know, if, for example, Yee was just out the front, blowing off the front and winning everything, the interest goes. But when there's close racing, you know, Matt's winning the sprint finish, he's up against it, those guys, you've got the other two coming on...

[33:18] A hundred percent. And this goes back to something we spoke about the other week. Running, for all its boom, is still niche at the elite level, right? For the boom in popularity of running at the social level, at the elite level it's niche. We spoke the other week about how you drive increased interest in world champs and the Diamond League meets and all that sort of stuff, and I think I used the comparison of WWE. You need narrative, you need competition, you need a face versus a villain.

[33:49] That's what you need. And triathlon is seeing that right now. The other thing with triathlon is it's still small enough. If you actually compare participation numbers worldwide in triathlon versus running, I don't know the stats, but I'm thinking it's probably one hundredth of the number of participants. Or probably even one thousandth. You know, it's a very niche sport still in the big scheme of things. And I think what you'd find in general is there would be more triathletes who participate who know and follow the elites at, say, Hawaii and the world champs, than there are runners who participate who would then follow the elites in that sport.

[34:29] Totally agree. Speaking of Kona, while I think of it, I'm just gonna give an early shout-out, because how far away is Kona? Two weeks? I don't know. No, it'll be next weekend. Okay. Just a shout-out to friend of the pod Liam Ryan from Gold Coast Physio, who's gonna be racing over there. So best of luck, Liam. And man, we can't forget Jan on the weekend. 2:22, 2:23. He's definitely enjoying the fitness he's earned. Yeah, I've had sprint finishes against Jan

[35:04] plenty of times, raced against Jan. He's a big man for a triathlete. He's a tall guy. I would say he's a big guy. He's a tall guy. Yeah, according to his Wiki he's six-four. Yep. That's very tall. But he's punched out a, what was it, 2:23 marathon. Not downplaying it, I think he's just having fun with it. That's a fun time for Jan. What do you mean? Meaning he's finished up as a professional.

[35:37] He hasn't been away from it long enough to have lost his engine. Sounds like someone else I know. Who? You. No, that's the problem. I think I've been away long enough now to have lost the engine. I've got other challenges going on. If I'd been in that situation, say two to three years out of finishing up professional racing, you still had all of that resilience, that engine. So you could get away with a lot that I can't get away with now. But look, I'm not comparing myself with Jan, let me not do that.

[36:10] No, no, no. Be honest, when you see him do that time, does that make you think, can I get to that time? Actually, what I just said is probably exactly how I think. I think he's having fun. When I say fun, he's enjoying his endurance racing at the moment. But he's, what, two to three years out from being the world Ironman champion and doing that. I'm a long way from there. But what I will say, 'cause he's run...

[36:44] He's done Cape to Cape mountain biking since he finished the Cape Epic in South Africa. I love seeing him out there having a go at all these different events. And like I said, he's run a 2:23, a 2:23, which is, you know, crazy. I think that's fun for him. Okay. Yeah. All right. Speaking of... I sent you a bit of audio, Courtney. Have you managed to load that into our system? Okay, that's all right. No, no, that's okay, 'cause I can do this out of my phone today.

[37:16] So basically, just for background: look, Berlin last weekend, Sydney a bit earlier, Melbourne coming up. Unofficial Official. Yep, our favourite. Fact checker. We love it. Increasingly I think it is becoming a sore point for a lot of people when they're getting called out by this. This is, for those that might not know, the Instagram account that basically fact-checks people's marathon times. Of course it's a sore point, because... Yeah.

[37:49] They're getting called out. And we talked a bit about it a couple of episodes ago, the idea that we don't want this to descend into something nasty. No, it's not nasty. And I've spoken to the guys at Unofficial Official just on message. Their mission, or what they say they're about, is to make sure that when influencers and people get these free entries into races, or race on behalf of brands, or have large-scale audiences that they are essentially trying to coach or preach to, or anything like that, that they're being transparent, that they're being honest about what

[38:28] they are achieving in these races. I support that. I support that mission. I like that mission. Yeah, I agree with you. I've talked about this before: if you're not involved in a scene, the scene doesn't affect you. And I think this is a very good case of that. There's an element of social-media-led running, and they're operating within that scene. So they're getting a polarising view from people who are very involved day to day on social media.

[39:00] Yeah. Ninety percent of people don't even realise. This has popped up here because... and Reedy, another friend of the pod, always used to say to me, oh, post the faster time. Whatever the faster time was, you go with that. So if that's your Strava time, go with your Strava time. If that's your chip time, go with your chip time. What's happening a lot at the moment is that a lot of people are racing these races and then posting their Strava time. I've seen this on Instagram and I think it is genius.

[39:30] I wanna give her credit, her name is Georgia Hillis. Okay. Georgia Hillis has shared this idea on Instagram and I think it's perfect. 'This video is for Strava, and if you're not Strava, you can keep on scrolling. But I have a solution to the Unofficial Official race time problem, where people are posting inaccurate race times by using their Strava overlay. Now, I think people want to show that they've got a better time, sure. But I think people also like the look of the Strava one that says PR with their time.

[40:05] This is where, Strava, I think you guys can fix this problem. All you have to do is create an option where you can link your official race time to your Strava, and it shows up with a different icon. So it'll have the PR icon, but maybe it's a different colour to show that it's a verified PR. So all you have to do is plug in the race. Obviously, there are so many races that are available online. So Strava, I'm sure you guys can work this out.

[40:37] And you just put in your official race time, whether that is a link to the race time or whatever it might be, and then it shows the official one. And it'll be a different colour. So when people start sharing their race times, it will be different, and everyone will know whether that's the official one, or whether it says Strava time.' Perfect. Can I translate that? Yeah. So effectively, if you were to race and share the Strava now, it'll say 42K PR. Yep.

[41:07] It's orange. Yep. You'd have some mechanism where you can input your actual official time, and then in the post it pops up in blue as your official time, and that's what you're sharing. So it still gives you the ability to share from Strava if it is the correct time. What I love about this is it's simple. I've just talked a bit about why people like to put the faster time, but I think it also acknowledges the reality of what running is at the moment, which is that people want to share what they've done. Yeah. And this gives you a way to share what you've done whilst adhering to the unwritten rules of running, which is just be honest about how fast you've run.

[41:45] It's a great idea. I love it. It's a great idea. Well done, Georgia. Off the back of Bridge to Brisbane, did I talk about how the automatic segment for the race was sponsored? Yes. I mean, effectively it's doing that, but you still have to input the official time, because that race-sponsored segment, let's say, is still off your GPS. So it's not gonna be right. Do you know what I mean? Either way, it's gotta be a manual way of doing it. Yep. I sort of soft-launched this segment the other week, Athlete Attitude.

[42:21] Because I want to get your attitude as an athlete to this news story. Stawell Gift runner Olufemi Komolafe, who won the men's Stawell Gift earlier this year, has been stripped of the $40,000 prize and banned for twelve months after he recorded a positive drug test. This is a 21-year-old from Adelaide who won it earlier this year off a five-metre handicap, and he's now been suspended after he tested positive to an illegal substance found in his ADHD medication.

[42:52] His coach, Paul Young, gave a quote to CODE Sports saying that he was struggling with his studies. His parents are doctors, his sister and brother are doctors, so he was feeling the pressure. His sister gave him this medication to help him focus on his studies. He was upfront from the start. He told the testers that he was taking it. All the literature he's seen about the drug confirms there are no performance-enhancing qualities for sprinting. It doesn't make you faster, it doesn't make you fitter, it doesn't make you stronger. It's purely designed to help him focus on his studies.

[43:23] But it is a medication which is in breach of Sport Integrity Australia's rules. So he is out for twelve months and he's had to give back the $40,000. What I can't see here is, not that it changes anything, but was the drug test done at the Stawell Gift? When was the test actually conducted? I can give you a really clear answer here. Yep. I'm assuming, from the fact he's being drug tested, that he's in the WADA system. Either one, he understands that he's at a level where he could be drug

[44:01] tested, or two, he's on the whereabouts system, which most of our elite athletes are on, where they have to provide a place every day where they can get drug tested. Now, with all of the education you get as an athlete, there is a portal where, anytime you get a medication, you can go and type it in, press enter, and it says yes or no. There is no excuse. That's literally it, no excuse. And I'm not even gonna give an opinion either way, because it is so black and white.

[44:38] It's the same with, you know, it's ingrained in us through the government sports system around protein powders and everything. Certain powders, certain supplements are batch-tested, so that you can then be confident that it's free of any illegal substances. If you go and choose a peptide stack, or whatever else you want to do on the side, you are at risk of being banned.

[45:10] So if you get caught, and you say, well, I didn't know I was taking it, well, you might not have known, but you could have checked. The thing that jumped out to me: if I'm a 21-year-old who's just been given $40,000... he won the Stawell Gift, it's around Easter every year, so that's what, back in April? That's six months ago. I've spent that money. That money's gone. Okay, look, I reckon he's driving around in a new secondhand M1 Beamer.

[45:45] 21-year-old me would have spent that money quick, right? He sounds like a sharp kid, studying medicine, all the rest of it. Maybe he was a little bit more restrained, but I would have spent that money quick. And if I then get a knock on the door saying, hey, you're suspended for 12 months and we need the 40 grand back, that's the part that's worrying me. That's the part where I'm going, Mum, Dad, can I please have $40,000? Because I spent it. It's gone.

[46:15] If it is an honest mistake... and we've seen enough drug stories in sport over the years, and, like anything, you never really know, and you can feel sorry, but there is a very clear process. Yeah. He's made a mistake. I think the ban was actually meant to be a four-year ban, but it was reduced because of the circumstances around it. So look, 21 years of age, young enough to still come back and have a future. Hopefully he'll learn from a pretty tough mistake that he's had to make.

[46:46] And hopefully Mum and Dad are there to help him out financially. Yeah, yeah. That money is gone. Last week we started the Local Legends. Local Legends? Yep. And I think it was probably pitched as local... we're Gold Coasters, so probably pitched as Local Legends, Gold Coast. But no. Thank you to everyone who sent in, and over time we'll sift through and get to them. But one a week was what we promised. And the one I'm gonna go to this week, we're gonna head down to Melbourne. Convenient, appropriate given the Melbourne Marathon is coming up.

[47:20] This one's come in from Dan Ferguson, and the local legend this week is Amy Robinson. So a road runner. I should read the message, but I won't, the message that Dan sent to me. But pretty much exactly like what we said last week around Desi: a local runner doing great things, very, very fast. Now, Amy is a single mum.

[47:50] Now, when I say going very fast... Yeah. Oh, I'm just having a look at Amy. Well, I think Amy might be nearly pro. So apologies. Look, if she's running, you know, if she's really fast, I'm thinking the 5K's got a sixteen at the start. Mm-hmm. Sorry, so 15:22 5K. Yep. I've just brought up her page now. A 33 10K and a 73 half mara. Yes. She's proper. Fast.

[48:20] So yeah, a mum getting out there doing great things. It makes me think she hasn't actually raced a marathon before. Maybe she's running... her half mara time's 73, so she's gonna give me a good flogging. Incredible. So, Amy Robinson. Okay. First local legend, we're gonna head down south, and we've got a few coming in. So as long as you keep sending them in, we'll keep shouting them out. And each week I'll make sure I put their Instagram or their best contact page, if you wanna go and give them a follow and keep following them along.

[48:55] Yeah, and here's the other thing I would say, just having a look at Amy's Insta. If you are a runner listening to this and you're a mum or a single mum, I reckon Amy's probably gonna provide you some fuel for your running fire. Just having a bit of a glance, I think you're gonna be motivated for whatever race you might have coming up if you jump on and give Amy Robinson a follow. So well done, Amy. And good shout-out. Who gave the shout-out? Dan. Dan Ferguson.

[49:26] Thank you for the shout-out, Dan. Well done to you. Well done to Amy. Amy, I'm just reading, also looks like she's right on that cusp of getting to go pro. So very similar to Desi last week, hitting all the goals and trying to make that next step. Just nibbling around it. Nibbling around it. What else? What have you got running-wise coming up? How do things look? Because next weekend it will be the Melbourne Marathon. You've got a week to go. How are you feeling ahead of your half? We know you've been through the illness and you got a good run in today.

[49:58] How are you feeling about it all? What's the goal? Is it still intact with all the prep in mind? Honestly, I'm pretty pissed off about it all. Okay. Because everyone goes through this, right? We're all the same. And this is what we talk about. We've talked a lot in the last few weeks about full-time pros versus everyday runners. And I'm probably in that box now, where I'm still trying to get there and run, but you're still dealing with family holidays, this weekend's a long weekend, I'm down to Sydney for the day tomorrow, so I won't get to run.

[50:29] You know, you're facing all the different life pressures. But I'm just peeved that I got sick and I haven't been able to tick off those boxes, but I've just had to be smart about it. So I've been running and I'm just waiting, but that means I've probably had to readjust some goals. So you're always trying to get times out of me for each race, and for the half marathon, at this stage, I always say this, but I really don't have too great an indication. I might even do it in a way where I run out at kind of like... do the first half of the marathon.

[51:02] Sorry, do the first half of the half at kind of that marathon pace, and skip through halfway, and then try and really build on the back of it, 'cause it's a building race, right? To try and get to a marathon. Do we have any more information on that? Now, when you say no, and I respect that you like to have things locked away before you announce anything, when you say no, do you mean no as in I don't know what I'm doing, or no as in I know what I'm doing, but I'm not gonna tell you yet because I don't want anything to go wrong?

[51:41] No, I have an idea of what I would like to do. Okay. But I also like to keep things fluid, because, like we're talking about, life is fluid, things happen. So realistically, there is the marathon that I want to do in November. Mm-hmm. And that's only four weeks after this half marathon this weekend. And the reason I want to run that marathon was to go in with a better build-up than I did for Gold Coast. Yep.

[52:11] So if I get through this half marathon next weekend and go, well, in four weeks' time I'm really just doing it for the sake of it, I've got two decisions. I can still go and have a run and knock it out. Or the flip side is I go, okay, let's reassess, give myself another month, and pick a new one to go and do, and have a little bit more time. So that's why I don't like to just throw it out before committing to something. Yeah. I know this about you and I'm not surprised, but it's funny the way...

[52:47] 'Cause when I'm running, I'm still of the notion that I'm not going to events just for the fun of it. Yeah, yeah. Completion is not what you're about. Not about completion. Sorry, because I know there are a lot of people out there who run for that reason. Yeah. Completion is zero. It's zero. I've got no interest in going to an event just to be part of it. I'd much rather go and run in the bush by myself. Sorry.

[53:18] Everybody leave me alone, I'm going running. All right, very nice. Well, have you got anything else you wanted to hit? No, that's a cracking day. Lots going on. Lots of innovation happening in the running world at the moment. That's right. It was an innovation-heavy chat here off the top, which is good. Feel like we've been a bit light on with the shoe chat, so it's good to get back into it. And yeah, beware the wounded Nike at the moment, I think, is the underlying message. And I think a nice way to finish today's ep, in honour of your old coach Pat Clohessy: if you're on your run at the moment, or you're struggling through

[53:55] your training or anything like that, just keep those words in mind: jog it out. Jog it out, jog it out. Jog it out. Beautiful. Put it on a t-shirt. Jog it out. We'll see you next week. See you next week.