> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.inthebeginningpodcast.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # 160K To Go: Liam's Last Chat Before UTA | EP 86 - URL: https://www.inthebeginningpodcast.com/ep-86-160k-to-go-liams-last-chat-before-uta/ - Published: 2026-05-14T06:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-21T01:31:44.000Z - Description: Courtney Atkinson and Liam Flanagan on Gold Coast Marathon — recorded on the Gold Coast. - Author: Courtney Atkinson - Tags: Episodes, Main Feed, Gold Coast Marathon, #Import 2026-07-28 20:58 *Recorded in the final build-up to Liam's first crack at the UTA 100-Miler (160km), this one runs the gamut. Liam talks through the pre-race nerves and distractions that come with a race this big — and the crewing plan that'll get him through it — before the pair pivot into the running industry's biggest week: Adidas's viral ad landing a real blow on Nike, the sponsorship arms race for football's biggest names, and an imagined Michael Jordan comeback campaign.* *Courtney also debriefs from the Wings for Life World Run on the Sunshine Coast — the Red Bull-backed global race with no finish line, just a "catcher car" that eventually runs every field down — including a chat with the German winner, Claudia. From there: whether the running boom has become a bubble, London Marathon's ballot system, and a pitch for a proper Majors marathon entry-exchange portal. They close with an AFL detour on the Gold Coast Suns' finals chances and a new mental-health-focused running hat brand.* ## In this episode - How does Liam handle the nerves and distractions before a 160km race? - What's it like covering the Wings for Life World Run's "catcher car" format? - Adidas vs. Nike: whose ad campaign actually landed a blow this week? - Is the running boom turning into a bubble? - Could a Majors marathon entry-exchange portal actually work? - Gold Coast Suns finals chances, and a new mental-health running hat brand ## Timestamps - **\[00:00\]** Liam's UTA build-up and race-week nerves - **\[04:07\]** A pacing apology and the crewing plan - **\[08:23\]** Wings for Life World Run: the "catcher car" and interviewing tired runners - **\[12:33\]** Adidas's viral ad and the running shoe market battle - **\[20:59\]** Nike's sponsorship roster and an imagined Michael Jordan comeback - **\[25:08\]** Is the running boom becoming a bubble? - **\[28:45\]** London Marathon's ballot system and a Majors entry-exchange portal pitch - **\[37:07\]** AFL detour: Gold Coast Suns finals chances - **\[41:45\]** A new mental-health-focused running hat brand ## Listen Listen on [Spotify](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/inthebeginningpodcast/episodes/EP-86---160K-TO-GO-LIAMS-LAST-CHAT-BEFORE-UTA-e3jbm7q?ref=inthebeginningpodcast.com). ## Related In The Beginning episodes - [Special Ep: Liam Flanagan — UTA Miler, No Sleep & He Finished The Damn Thing](https://www.inthebeginningpodcast.com/special-ep-liam-flanagan-uta-miler-no-sleep-he-finished-the-damn-thing/) — the race itself - [EP 87 — Gold Coast Marathon 'Experiment' Update](https://www.inthebeginningpodcast.com/ep-87-gold-coast-marathon-experiment-update-six-weeks-out-the-marathon-panic-beg/) — Courtney's side of race-week nerves - [EP 85 — Liam's 100 Miler Is Here](https://www.inthebeginningpodcast.com/ep-85-liams-100-miler-is-here-the-beginner-runner-toolbox/) — the lead-up - [The Gold Coast Marathon guide](https://www.inthebeginningpodcast.com/gold-coast-marathon/) ## Full transcript Auto-generated transcript. Timestamps approximate. Hosts: Courtney Atkinson & Liam Flanagan. **Read the full transcript** \[00:00\] In the beginning episode 86 Courtney. Big week for you, Liam. Well, as people may be listening to this depending on when you listen to this, I know a lot of people use this pod as their Sunday long run. Yep, I'm hopefully done. Yep, everything going well, everything going to plan. I am finished, I am feet up and I'm officially a UTA finisher. Yeah, UTA this week, Yep, big week. I look, I'm going to attempt to try and get. I've had a lot of requests to try and get it out before you run on Friday. \[00:30\] OK. So that people can down our runners or our listeners can download it before that. So I'm going to make my best attempt to get this out Thursday evening all. Right. Well, there you go. There's a special one. I want to ask you a question. Look, we've covered off the training, we've covered off the prep. I did go into Wild Earth this week in Burleigh to get my mandatory gear check done. So it's checked. I've got the gear, I've got the nutrition, the training, what I've done, I've been back and forth in with Nick who's going \[01:00\] to be crewing me. Everything is there. Now, how did you deal with ahead of your big races, right ahead of your Olympics, your Noosas, all that sort of stuff? Not anxiety and nerves, but impatience. The waiting 'cause this last this. Last week in the lead up has been frustrating. Yeah, not because I'm sick of running. The body feels fine, everything's ready. I just want it to be. I want to be able to Fast forward this last week. You need, you need to find \[01:32\] distractions. Yeah. And whatever, whatever makes you happy is the wrong word. Happy. But yeah, you just gotta find me. And I like in my earlier days we used to play a lot of video games. Yeah, right, 'cause it just. You know, your minds 100% concentrating on something else, you're not worried about the race and you're relaxing. Yep. So that was one way. I think later on when I had a family and I was racing overseas, we'd, you know, just go out and do family stuff for the day. So it's just a matter of trying to take, if the worst thing you can do is just sit there and and procrastinate, watch on clock. \[02:03\] Yeah, like when, how long is it gonna take? Cause then obviously your mind starts ticking over. So that's the best advice I can give. OK. A lot of envious, envious runners about your pace, your pacing or your handling set up. Yeah. We've had a few messages and, and look, I, I think it was ER, wrote in the comments about the idea that is this sort of an event race attainable for the everyday runner who, unlike me, doesn't have access to a lot of the things I've been granted. And it's a reasonable point. I read the comments and, and look, I am \[02:36\] completely aware that because of my job, because of this podcast, because of where I am, I've been able to do certain stuff and use certain things and not naive to that. What I will say is there are hundreds of runners who take on events like this every day with less, yeah. And in the more and in the end, you've got to do the training. And in the end, regardless of whatever bells and whistles you take with you, it comes down to whether you put in the time and the and the necessary training and you've prepared properly. \[03:06\] Yep. As to whether or not I'll climb those further steps after 160 kicks? If you've got no legs, those skip holes are gonna do nothing. Yeah, exactly. A pair of Salomon poles are fantastic, but if you haven't got the legs to back them up, they can't carry you through the the UPS of this section. So one question, one not question, but one decision I will be making basically race morning. Yep, a little bit is whether or not, and I'll talk to Nick about this, but whether or not I carry the poles the whole way or get Nick to hand them to me intermittently when is necessary. Have you got? \[03:36\] To cross the course, have you got a sling? For them, I think, no, I don't have a sling, a little quiver, but there's a, there's a section on the, the Salomon pack that I've got. I can store them down the. Bottom down the bottom. But yeah, we're here. I'm really excited. Well, good luck. Thank you. Thank you. All the best. This is as long as I was thinking about this the other day. This is as long as I've trained for anything in my life at 41 years of age. This is as long and as consistently as I've trained for anything. Mm Hmm. So I'm really looking forward to going out there and seeing. Yeah. And I've got and, and we're inevitably gonna get this \[04:07\] question. And I've got an apology. I am an apology for the meeting this week or for the run. Right. Yes. Because we're, we're around the pacing and I'm gonna be completely transparent and honest. I would love to be there. Sure. Even during the week. I, I ran down in Sydney on the weekend and I was with Jen Davis and with Lindsay Lorry, like Lindsay's having around. They're all going to a house and staying together. They said come and stay with us before you run with Liam. The reality is like so many people, when you have other jobs as well, I haven't been home for \[04:39\] a weekend in over a month nearly Sometimes you've got a family. You as as much as we are a family here on the podcast. I actually have a family and. We're a community here and I actually think there's something that people can pull out of that. From a broader perspective, the world of social media, the world of podcasting, the content is everywhere these days. And the message that can get spread by certain people at times and lots of people at times on content is that you should be invested 24 hours a \[05:11\] day all the time, right? The reality, and this is a perfect example of this, you and I do this podcast every week. We see each other at least once a week. And we have done for almost, it's a year and a half now ongoing, right? But the reality is both of us have other things in our lives that matter more at different times. Yes. And that's OK. Yeah, that's OK. So. But I'll be there all the way on the tracker. I'll be, I'll be, don't worry. I'll be right behind. That's. OK mate, in. In touch you have done more than \[05:43\] enough in the lead up to this to support me so that I'll be I'll be I'll be thinking of you at times I'm actually something I will I I did want to do for people after the fact I am chunking it. I am the this is a term that Holly introduced us to when we spoke to Holly ranson. The idea of chunking concept of chunking where you break up a big race like this into chunks yes people might want to do it for their marathon as well. Oh for sure. And you break it down into five KS thinking about this person, 5 KS thinking about this person. I am currently chunking up. \[06:13\] Oh. Yeah, so you're saying you've got a chunk for me? I've got a chunk, absolutely. I've got a chunk for you and the in the beginning. Is that like the toilet stop air you're expecting about after 24 hours to need to stop to take? It look seriously, though, I do have I've got obviously my wife and kids, I've got other family members, I've got some mates, I've got different people that have helped me in the lead up to this. And quite seriously, I have a a chunk mapped out within the race \[06:45\] where I am going to be thinking about intentionally thinking about not just you mate, but this podcast. Because when we again, we're about a year and a half into this. Some of the we've talked about this a bit, some of the stuff we've done got to do on these podcasts or just by you and I sitting across talking about running is unbelievable. This UTA will be one of those things. I would not be doing this if we hadn't started this podcast. Yes, so true. We'll be thinking about it at a section of the race. Speaking of tracking things, yes, we need to talk about TV \[07:18\] time. Courtney Atkinson, Wings for Life. Talk to me about how the Wings for Life event went over the last weekend and and your little TV stint. Yeah, like, yeah, it turned into a bigger TV stint than we thought. You were everywhere. Yeah, it's amazing what happens when you keep churning out interviews. Yeah. So Wings for look, we've, we've talked about a little bit over the time we said anyone who could, you know, get in and help out. So Wings for Life World Run is the most simple way I can put it. It's a global run where across multiple, I think it was 70 plus countries or cities this year at \[07:52\] exactly the same time runners started. So they had 300,000 plus runners at one time. The way it works is pretty much you run with an app on your phone and you run as far as you can before a virtual or like an imaginary car chases you down as a finish line. Now we were down in Sydney at Royal Randwick Racecourse, which is kind of was unique at that time of night because when I first walked in, obviously about four hours before the event started, I just started walking around where they parade the horses. Yeah, it was all, you know, all the digital, all the digital boards and everything was just \[08:23\] Wings for Life, World Run and you know, we just had it to ourselves. So they, we didn't run on the horse track itself, but literally using the mounting yards and, and all the roads in between there. So it was a great track because you know, some of the runners on the evening ran 40 like over a marathon, 43 kilometres here in Australia and it was a 1.1 kilometre course. So you can imagine 40, you know, 40 plus laps and I think they got maybe over 2000 people down there on that track. That's a great turn out. Atmosphere was just like when \[08:55\] there's this buzzing and then slowly as it got the, you know, the nutrition of taking down, you know, runner after runner after runner until there was 3 running left at the end. Wow. You know, it's a cool night. But, yeah, I was on effectively, the way the event works, 100% of the proceeds go to finding a cure for spinal cord injury. And now I've. I hear it all the time with charities and you go, all right, OK. Yeah, Well, how much? I mean, this is an event where they got live television. Yeah. You know, obviously hiring Royal and. \[09:25\] No, and not just in Sydney. Not just Sydney, this is. A globe across the globe. Red Bull energy drink covers the cost, covers the full expenses. So that is the, you know, I suppose. That's a donation. And 100% of any of the subscriptions, I suppose all the entry to this event, Yeah, yeah, goes that's great into it. So it's a great event. I got out there chat and the crew over the night beaming that back. I had a camera guy flew out from Germany for me and literally, \[09:58\] yeah, just went out chatting to crew at the night, talked to the winners. At the end we had a German German female Claudia. Oh wow. Won the women's race. Fantastic. Interviewing tired people is a skill unto itself. So well done to you. Well. Interviewing as a Thai person, Liam is also a skill to itself. AT2O. No it was 130\. So what did you run 138 You. Were physically tired. You didn't run though. No, I didn't. No, no, I think you were just. You were physically tired. OK, fair enough. Now it was a great event. It will be back again next year, of course, so get involved. \[10:28\] Let's get stuck into a big topic right now and I am really excited about this. This is amazing. If you haven't seen it, Adidas have just dropped the ad of a lifetime. I mean, give us I, I showed Liam before we got in here about it. So I picked this up. It came out on the weekend. They've cut the main ad of what goes for about I think 4\. It's a story, It's a, it's a, it's a film, it's a short film. Yeah, about four or five minutes \[10:58\] worth. And then they've cut all these shorts down that they're picking up across the time on socials. But this is crazy. The who's who, obviously leading up to the World Cup this year. World Soccer Cup, we're talking about Football Cup. Football World Cup. They've gone all in. So to take it back a step in the world of sport, Nike and Adidas, that is, That is the battle. That's the, that's your state of origin, that's your ultimate rivalry. It's Nike and Adidas, great players, you know, like Reebok. Now Under Armour Newbown. \[11:31\] All these other brands, plenty of new, new kids on the block, but they're the Boil it down, it is Adidas versus Nike and off the back of what we just saw at the London Marathon with Nike. Sorry, Adidas becoming that undeniable fastest shoe out. There they took the mantle off Nike. They own it now right and given what Nike tried to achieve and did achieve with their Eliud Kipchoge and the sub 2 breaking 2 project, Adidas is sitting on top. Yep, not right now and they're \[12:01\] enjoying it. OK, now we step away and and historically, I think people would say Nike is the bigger is the champ right? If you know if Nike is your Michael Jordan, I'm going to go in, I'm going to disappear into analogies, but essentially Nike is your front runner, right? Historically over the years. And I think that's got to do with being American first to market in America too or first to market probably like getting their their foothold in America. Now what Adidas have done, when you when you stack up a result like they did in London on a running perspective with a \[12:33\] running shoot, right? It's like, and these are two brands that operate across the spectrum of sport. Adidas land this huge blow in the running market. Now they come in, come in with this new football ad, which is another massive punch, especially this close to the football World Cup this year. So you've got Timothy Chalamet, who I would argue right now is the most prolific sports fan who is an actor. Yeah, most people would know him from Dune, from Dune. He had that Marty Supreme ping \[13:04\] pong movie that came out this year. Yeah, but Dune is where most people. Dune is where you you would know him from, but also he is prolific when it comes to attending live sport like he is a basketball nut. He is courtside of the New York Knicks. He's he's unashamed in his love of sport. Yeah right. So to use a big tick to to go and get him someone who is, I think he's probably, he's probably 25\. Realistically, he's headlining this story. Right, and he is the narrator, he is the he's sitting in the front seat of this car. Then they've gone and paired him \[13:36\] up and it's basically a story about street soccer. Okay? It's this idea that there's this trio of kids that have dominated this local soccer street soccer game for decades. OK, so Timothy Chalamet assembles this Avengers style Ultimate Team of footballers. Of the new crew. Of the and that's the other key part is right. So gone are the the the legends. He's not this ad. There's a cameo by Lionel Messi towards the end, but it's not using Cristiano Ronaldo. \[14:06\] I get he's from with Nike, so they wouldn't use him, but it's not using those 30 plus stars. It's Jude Bellingham who is the biggest name in English football. It's Trinity Rodman who is arguably one of the biggest name, if not the biggest name in women's football and also daughter of Dennis Rodman. It's Lamine Yamal who is this 18 year old super phenom with Barcelona. So they've they've don't be very intentional with the players and partnering them with Timothy Chalamet. \[14:36\] It is not about your 30 plus market, it is about the kids. Well, it is, but then they bring in the nostalgia with Beckham and. And and and Del Piero. Like it? Yeah. And then not my favourite. OK, this is where they they lost me just this little bit. Not my favourite guy. I'm pretty sure that's that Bunny Doo Doo. Bad Bunny, he's in there. Bad Bunny, but again, but. He's he's on trend bad. Bunny Audience. No no, no, not in certain audiences. Bad Bunny is the biggest artist on the planet. He has 32 songs with over a billion streams on Spotify. \[15:08\] Whether you like him or not, it's like you. It is inarguable that he is the biggest 100% planet. And you, when you talk about like Latin culture and span, like think about where football is strongest and most prevalent. Yeah, you know the the the pairing is under 9\. There's something in it for everyone. So from you got community base of this great story, yes, and it's a storytelling piece. That's what's so unique and of what why I that got me straight in story. \[15:39\] The new, the old and the celebrity all in one. Here's the bit that struck me, 'cause there's a 41 year old. Do you remember Nike's secret tournament AD? Vague. Vaguely. When you mentioned it, it rang a bell, but no. So this was, I believe, and I'm doing a bit of Googling on the fly, but this was released in advance of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Again, it's all about timing, \[16:10\] right? And they said that was the one that was held in Korea and Japan. They released this about the same time of that year that added us to release this. And that was, to me, that's the most unforgettable secret tournament campaign because that's when they had David Beckham and Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane and Edgar Davids. But hang on, they were they were they weren't right? Were they? Were they Nike at the time? Gosh, I might have. I reckon you've stuffed that up. They can't. \[16:41\] They wouldn't. I'm. Maybe Bex wasn't in. It was always. Maybe Bex wasn't in. I'm forgetting 1\. Hold on, I've got to do. Let me do a. Little bit while you do it while you're while you're Googling, I'll keep going on this because what excites me and why we're bringing this up and we're talking a lot about soccer or football at the moment is I just can't wait. This is a boxing match. We talked about the two giants of sports, not just sports shoes, sports apparel, sports marketing. Yes, what is Nike and I and I've \[17:14\] heard the rumblings I've heard rumblings from reasonably reasonable sources that no, I can't just sit them back at the moment going we've got nothing. No, I think that I can't wait to see what's this. And it's not going to be a reply in the sense of we've got to react to this. They've already been planning stuff. They've just been beaten to the punch. So now it's gonna be what's the next shoe? OK, what's the next shoe and what is their lead up to the soccer World Cup? To to backtrack slightly before \[17:47\] we go forward thinking David Beckham was a misstep for me, this for people that might remember, go and look it up. It was done to the remember, you know, the Elvis Presley song, a little less conversation, a little less conversation and the music, the music brings you back there. They were on a boat. It was a tournament that Eric Cantona was the event organiser for it. And you had it was a knockout bracket style three on three. And that's where I think I, I saw this Adidas ad and I went, Oh my God, this is, there's elements of this that are stolen \[18:20\] straight from Nike. Well, nothing this is marketing right though. Nothings ever new, nothing it it's always taking great ideas. Yeah, and and polishing. And so this was back in this ad, this secret cage played on the boat. You had Thierry Henry, Francesco Totti and Nakata as a team. Then you had Patrick Vieira, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Paul Scholes. He had Luis Figo, Roberto Carlos. Ronaldo is who I was thinking of at the time. So you had 24 of the biggest names in football back then. Yeah. Playing in this underground \[18:52\] secret tournament. And it was I, it was the first time a lot of people would have heard Elvis Presley's A Little Less Conversation. That's the one thing that this Adidas ad is missing for mine is music. Well, yeah. And then I'm going to ask a question. I have to go back and watch the Nike 1 Is does did Nike at that time kind of did they get, did they resonate or did they get it right with that like community? Because I think this is what's so important about this storytelling from Adidas. Is it actually the hero? \[19:25\] Is you? The whole point of this, this story or AD, is that the hero in all of it isn't about the players. The hero is these three kids who could be anyone. So you the whole idea is to have a kid, you know, like a 13 year old boy sitting there going, that could be me and all the superstars are watching me. So I think if to jump back to that question of what does Nike \[19:56\] do next? Yep, it can't be. It can't be too broad in general. Like it has to be specific enough to to really target and hit. It can't be. It's got to be. It's got to be. Emotional. And when I say emotional, not emotional in the sense of making you cry, emotional. It's just got to have emotion. It's gotta have inspiration, emotion, but it's gotta move. And maybe that's the right word. \[20:26\] It's gotta move here. So like, you get these ads, this sports ads are just ads. And then sports ads, you walk away from going. I actually really feel something. And that could be, I can feel, I, I feel, you know, it's it, it could be feeling humour, could be feeling like I'm now, I mean, the real goal of sports ads should be I'm feeling like I'm gonna go out there and do this myself. But you've got to feel something from them. Look, it's it won't be it won't be through lack of, you know, talent. \[20:59\] Essentially, you know, when you look down the list of footballers currently sponsored by Nike, it's Ronaldo, it's Mbappe, it's Neymar Junior, it's De Bruyne, it's Lewandowski, it's Hazard. They've. Both got they've both got the rosters. The mistake they could fall into, given the World Cup's location in America and Canada, is, is to go to American. I don't think that would resonate. But look, I'm I'm fascinated to see what the next punch is thrown, what it looks like. This is This is. \[21:31\] I mean, it's like anything when you have to a 2A2 horse fight, I think each end up, you know, Nikes. There's no, it's no secret at the moment that you know, Nikes trying to, you know, they're never going to reinvent. That is exactly the wrong word. But they're trying to find their feet to go in the right direction. And it's, you know, this is this year and now this fight with Adidas is do. You know what it's really going to be? This is a reign to pull. Yeah, right. And I don't know how you go \[22:02\] about doing this as a reign to surely you can find a way to make it happen. When was the last time you saw Jordan active in something for Nike? And that'll be next level. Would I imagine like, because that's the other thing if you want to do, if you want to talk about the idea of lineage and legacy and all that sort of stuff. Imagine I'm just thinking out \[22:32\] loud here. One of the greatest sporting campaigns of all time was if I could be like Mike, I think it was Gatorade. Potentially Nike could find a way to lean into Michael Jordan with a child, a kid next to him, incorporating Cristiano Ronaldo with a kid next to him and that kind of mini me type vibe and through the years sort of thing. We we, I mean, they can't copy the ad, but you could literally take this ad and then just, you know, the same thing. \[23:05\] This the the the singers, they they obviously have on the books or friends of you know, it could it could be Jordan sitting there watching, turning up to watch the soccer game. You could just you can use the same. All right, you're ready. I've got it. I've got. It the same talent could be just like put into that. Ad now now what it's hard to put what I will say is I've got a Liam scheme coming up coming up running related OK yeah but this is a this is an A blue sky \[23:36\] thinking off the cuff Nike's next ad campaign send her around Michael Jordan right. If you can get the great man back involved and prepared to do this just show him his bank account and say come on come do us a solid right. Imagine the idea of Michael Jordan walking through the cavalcade, the stable of Nike's talent doing their thing on their field. And it is that idea of he's like watching Cristiano Ronaldo and now do some insane trick and rolling \[24:06\] again, rolling through the the talent of Nike stars and seemingly being fairly unimpressed. Right as you walk through this and you again, you're highlighting these stars and the incredible things they're doing. Michael Jordan is going wandering along. And then you arrive at a scene where it is, it's kids, it's kids playing. It's kids. It's that going back, bringing it right back around to the play, taking away from the elite, taking away from the competitive and bringing it back to that emotion you're talking about. And it's like, and he's like that this is what I want to watch. \[24:38\] This is what I want to watch. I want to watch kids figuring out how to play whatever the sport is. Yeah, it's a good one. We'll leave that there. We'll leave that there. You might get a call. Liam Scheme agency. Again, if anybody can figure out how to start this consultancy firm for me, I'm all for it. I just, it's the bells and whistles, it's the Atns and all that sort of stuff I can't figure out. OK, let's bring it back to running. Let's bring it back to running. I was talking to someone about this the other week, running. We keep talking about the surge \[25:08\] of running, the popularity of running and and the bubble. It's get it there's, it's like the property market when you think you're at the top and you've bought at the top, it's going again. Yeah, well. Which I wanted to busty as we're speaking tonight, it's actually budget I I heard you on the radio this morning. Oh, thanks for tuning in. It's only taken you. Yeah, you're taking. A while and you were you were talking to the motley. Scott Phillips from The Motley Fool. Good speaker. Scott's amazing. Wow, Scott. \[25:38\] When I was a radio producer back in Sydney, Scott from The Motley Fool and another fella, Andrew started. They wanted to start doing a podcast and offering it up and I was their first producer. I taught Scott and Andrew at the time about podcasting and and how to bring their expertise to the world of podcasting, how to structure it and how to set it up. So is that their main thing podcast? No, no, no. So they're, they're a financial, yeah. There's you know, they you can subscribe to their services and \[26:09\] they advise you on shares and stocks to buy. That's what I thought. That's what I thought. Their services, yeah. But Scott is an incredible media presenter, does a lot of TV, he does a lot of podcasting, radio. So, yeah, I enjoyed. I was driving back from the trail this morning and I thought, oh, gonna be seeing Liam Lay this morning. I see what he's actually talking about today. Yeah. Hey. Let me Speaking of things that I'm good at, schemes, schemes. It's time for one Liam. Schemes hit the opener. We don't we don't have an opener. No, we're not there. No, no I'm not. I've got an idea, OK, And I really like this one. I like this. \[26:40\] I should jump on and and buy the domain meep.com. Yeah, so this in the notes, you can explain me dot. COM let me actually type it in to see if it's available. Meep. Well, it no longer is COM. It's it's, it's, it's there. Give it to us. What's MEEP? MEEP is the marathon entry exchange portal. Ah yes, this is a good. Idea the marathon entry exchange. Portal. OK. \[27:11\] Now what is one of the biggest issues marathons are facing or or or marathon runners are facing right now trying. To get trying to get. Trying to get in what is something that is unavoidable? Injury, injuries. What is the last thing we want to happen to marathon entries? To go to waste. To go unused now the marathon entry exchange portal is a platform where if you have a paid for entry anywhere around the world instead of just on \[27:41\] selling it because there's also I feel like there's something of a guilt factor at times about charging your friends. Yeah, yeah, Especially if it's super close to the time, the full freight for the marathon, right, because essentially what you're trying to do is I'm not going to be able to physically run it. I. Can't do it anyway. So, so the marathon entry exchange portal proposes that the moment you become, you make that decision. I'm not going to be able to run this marathon whether it's four weeks out, three weeks out, six weeks out, six months out. You can list it, right? \[28:14\] And instead of the awkward money thing, you can make an exchange with somebody that holds a marathon entry potentially for another race anywhere in the world. Yeah, there's now that don't get me wrong, they're they're teething pro teething issues with this concept. But I think as this world of running grows and grows and grows and grows, but also becomes smaller and smaller because of just the world becoming smaller and more connected over the years. When you look at things like the \[28:45\] ballot system for London Marathon and the popularity of that and the growing PUP, I think if we could create a world where runners can safely and with confidence and the running community like targeted runners. I don't want to live in a world where suddenly like concert ticket scalpers are trying to snatch up these things. But you start to because it's not a for profit thing. You're not trying to sell these things at a profit. You're trying to pass them on, trade them for a marathon experience somewhere. Else. So do you see this as you're \[29:16\] literally putting it up there, the exchange is someone you know, or it's like, not necessarily, I just have a ticket, so we're going Not necessarily. So in a nutshell, you're trying you you, you're offering an outsourcing service to all the marathons so they don't have to deal with this. Exactly exactly marathon rather than and look again teething process because I understand marathons then have wait lists for people. Yes, but this is finding a way to allow the marathons to be connected with one another. And maybe you start it with the \[29:48\] majors, maybe it's the MMEEP, the major marathon entry exchange portal. And so Sydney, in fact, that's probably the better way to start it. So it's just the seven majors have an ability for entrance to exchange race entries with one another. Do. You know what happens right now. No, no. Well, you mean for a marathon. Yeah. Well, I imagine if you withdraw I believe it goes to the wait list. Yeah. And they'll they'll have a sliding scale of getting your fees back at certain times. \[30:21\] Based on timings. Yeah, and that goes back to a wait list. But you know, is there an exchange system? I'm pretty sure Gold Coast I I'm talking, I'm talking about something I don't know, so I'm not going to it's. A good question, but did you see this is off the bat barn of this? I've been thinking about this for a little while, but also London Marathon public ballot for next year. 1.3 million people. So it would have went up 200,000 because it was 1.1 the year. When over 200,000 people, 1.3 million people applying to race. A lot of people. \[30:52\] Next year in London, and by the way, London, we haven't forgotten you stole our idea. And if I find out if you, if you, if you segregate next year's race based on locals and internationals, I mean, we don't have lawyers for this podcast yet, but we'll be investigating. We'll be investigating. That's a good one. I like it. I like. It the MMEEP, the major marathon exchange entry exchange portal. I don't like the sound of what it would take to get up and running, but I like it. \[31:22\] Again, This is why we do Liam schemes 'cause I can't be bothered figuring out the details. Yeah. But if someone wants to do it, we'll just take a clip. MMM. Let's roll on. Yeah, let's roll on. We've got some listener stuff we want to get to today as well. But before we do that. I've got a present for you from from a listener. Don't let me. Forget. OK, OK, Google. Interesting one. Fitbit. Google's just launched a Fitbit. Yep. And it's going to go up against Woop. It looks like a woop. So what do you call it? \[31:52\] Woop. Woop. Woop. I've never called a woop before. What do you call it? Woop woop, oh. No, but it's funny. You can see I've never had one, right? Neither have I. The The thing is actually, I'm going to go on a little bit of a rant. Go, what do we just say it is Woop, woop. Those who have a woop, yes, it's it, it, it's a little bit like a cold. Oh, it's a cold. No, it's not a little bit like a cold. It is cold. They're very protective about their because they're paying \[32:22\] because they're paying an ongoing subscription service. Which? Which I feel like deep down no one likes to do, but I'll be I'm doing it, I've got to do it, so I'm going to defend it. That's the feeling I get from the users. I couldn't agree more and I think it's it's totally understandable too. Yeah, so I don't have an option. I've got to put. They've got me hooked. I've got to pay the subscription. So I'm going to defend it to it. It's worth it. Yeah. \[32:52\] When? Because it's a luxury, not a necessity. It's different and. And it's almost as though it's not shame, but it's almost as you say, Oh my gosh, you have a whoop. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but but yeah, yeah. It's like the the explanation for having it is. Yeah, But rather than yeah, it's great. I love it. It's Oh yeah, but I need it for this and this and this well. Google have come out, they've obviously purchased Fitbit at some stage and Fitbit were the \[33:24\] original but kind of got overtaken and you know, couldn't really find their mark and they've come out and they're going to be half price and it is literally going to be the same thing. So it'll be very. Is there a subscription to the that is? Interesting because. That's the key 1, you know, I think people are fine with an with an outlay, initial outlay. It's the ongoing fees and it's the, it's almost the, it's the, it's your withdrawals in silence, it's your debits in silence that I think people have hard trouble. \[33:55\] You know, as we move into a time where it cost a living and all that sort of stuff and people are trying to manage their money more carefully. Those forgotten about subscriptions are the ones that I think people are cautious of. Does not. It 99 bucks. Fitbit Air does not require a subscription for Core. Tracking functionality, of course, it'll be like all the apps. There's in game purchases and all in app purchases and all the rest of that. I think this will go really well then. Because I think it's if you. If you offer, if you're offering up against something that requires monthly payments by \[34:28\] comparison, I think this will have initially drag a big bunch away from from WOOP. But yeah, I'll give it a crack. Yeah, would you Google? If you want to send us a couple of Fitbit Airs, I'm happy to try. Now I've got 1 to one from last week. I must have made a comment about you. You asked me a comment at Treadmills. Treadmills. And we've, we've got a few, a few people mad was one of them that I, I remember said, kind of \[35:00\] questioned me. Well, because I said elite, I may. I must have made a statement that elite runners don't. Be running. Wouldn't be running on treadmills. Now I'm going to retract slightly. Beep, beep. Beep beep. We should do that from now whenever we change our minds on there. That was a good day like that. And, and there was even examples of Australia, I think I forgot his name, the guy who wins City to Surf each year was running. I said it's a tool and that it works, yes, but I'm saying I'm \[35:33\] going to I'm going to change the state to to majority of elite runners do not use treadmills. Okay. There's outliers for sure. Where the treadmill, I'm going to double down on where where treadmills are used a lot is triathlon elites. Triathlon elites use treadmills a lot. The reason they use treadmills a lot is when you're running off the bike, you have very tight legs and, and your quads are generally cooked a little bit and all that. It's a great tool when you're running off a bike to make you be able to run a certain pace, a \[36:05\] certain cadence and all those things and it seems to work. It also takes a bit of load off when you're doing, you know, the amount of training triathletes to all that would apply to a runner as well. Don't. I'm not that naive. However, the statement still says majority of elite runners do not use treadmills. Some do Inga Brixon, 'cause that was when that come up, 'cause he's in all these videos running on a treadmill. Yep, he sure does. He also lives in a country that has snow and is frozen for 60% of the year. \[36:35\] But thank you for everyone riding in. I'm gonna stick to my. They're 50 guns. Look. I'm not saying don't use treadmills, they are a great tool in the right occasions, but if you can, running outside's a lot better. Running out outside is great, but I know we've got let's get into some of the questions and then I'll and I'll I'll give you a present at the end of the pod today. Yeah. All right. OK. You want to go this? I'll go, Tanya. Tanya says love. This one's for you. Anyway, Tanya says love the podcast. Just listen to episode 78\. So she's catching up. Long time Saint Kilda fan. \[37:07\] We're now in round eight of the AFL and was wondering if you're still feeling as confident with the Suns making the GF? I've been to stall a couple of times and it's definitely worth going for the whole 4 days. You could follow this with some trail runs in the Grampians. OK, so thank you Tanya. Grampians trail running would be beautiful I imagine. Yeah. They've got that, There's that stage race they do now down that way. OK, that's good. Quick catch up on AFL predictions we're into. We're coming up to round 10\. Round 10 will be underway once this drops. Am I confident the Suns can will make the grand final? \[37:38\] Not will, but can still at a time of recording their sitting 6th. They're about to play their second game in the NT, which should be another win. They're playing Port Adelaide, I expect them to win that and which means they will be 7 and three through the 1st 10, which is great going right. Looking at the rest of the competition, I still have Brisbane as the benchmark, Sydney Swans sit atop the ladder alongside Fremantle. I still have Brisbane Lions as the what you have to get past to win the competition from. I've called a lot of their games \[38:08\] this year and for me their depth is terrifying. Most teams are only a couple of key injuries away from falling away. Brisbane for mine, go on to win the premiership again. I think that was my prediction. Suns can still make the grand final. Damien Hardwick has been banging on about it in press conferences that you don't need to be playing your best footy yet. Damien Hardwick needs to is is needs to be would be troubleshooting his best 23 right now, figuring out what his best team looks like to sign off Tanya to keep it. \[38:40\] I could sit here and work it out for you. I still give the Suns a red hot chance of making the grand final this year. And Tanya, Liam, for those who listen and for context, like you obviously are at Queensland Games commentating how and you're also once you finish up at the local at our Gold Coast radio, you often get out there for the press conferences you're in, you're in the you're in the thick of it. When I say Damien Hardwick is saying you don't have to be playing your best football right \[39:10\] now, it's because I've asked him a question at a press conference saying Dimma your forward line set up right now. The name. Does he know your name yet? Actually. Say, Liam, look, is there like Trump? In his press conferences, Bodie Yulin. Bodie Yulin listens to this. So maybe he could pass his own Dimma and I aren't as close as we'd like to be, but also no Dimma. Dimma doesn't need to be. There's no reason there's there's nothing to be gained for Damien Hardwick to be mates with me. There's nothing like there's it. \[39:41\] It helps him in no way, right. So it's kind of why would he waste his time? He's not wasting his time. But now Dimma is great. Dimma is really good with the media at his press conferences. He's not a huge fan of radio interviews. He does his regular spot on Fox Footy. But yeah, anyway, Yep, Suns like the the the Suns boys. I'm I'm good with some of the Suns boys though. Yeah, shout out Bodie. Big fan. Okay, okay. Next one, Namaburu, can you give me that pronunciation? Namaburu. Yep, whoop. \[40:12\] Whoop, whoop. Oh no. Whoop, whoop. It's whoop whoop Namaburu. I'll just read these because you're rubbish. I've been excited for this since before Christmas. So glad we're finally in the podcast season. Shout out to everyone taking on the double challenge. So this is Namaburu responding to the Gold Coast Marathon series coming back. There's a lot of crew who do this. Hey, they love running so much, they're going. They're not not happy to run the Gold Coast Marathon they wanted. What do you what do you think of the double runners? I think they're crazy. \[40:43\] What is it? That's what I think. I mean, I guess it's just another challenge, right? Well, it's a challenge, but I also think like every runner who I've met who do do this, they just love running. Yeah, like they, I mean, we love running, but and people just love running. They want to be part of both days. They don't want. To miss out, and I was going to say that's the part if you go, if you sign up for both, what you're saying is that weekend, it's my marathon weekend, it's my running weekend. I'm going to be running in the half and then I'm going to be running in the in the full and I'm going to get a full 48 hours \[41:15\] plus of running juice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we can't wait for the Gold Coast Marathon. Hey, let's get to this present because we have a guest coming in, so we need to. So keep moving One of the OGOG Clydesdales, Beau Jones. So Beau Jones on Instagram, for those that want to give him a follow, he is the man behind Bottle It, which I've talked about a bit. It's the floral that I wear up at Noosa. \[41:45\] I run in their hats a bit. He wanted me to pass this on to you. This is one of their new hats. Oh. There it is, bit of Trump. Going bit of Trump white algorithm. This is one of the new Bottle It hats that Beau has released and if anybody's interested in it. There we go. I'll I'll show it put. It up on the thing you can go go to the bottle it merch page and buy one of these hats. These are the new hats they brought out, which are basically it's all white. It's still got the iconic floral under the brim. And this is basically Beau does a \[42:15\] lot of work around white triathlon and running. And these sort of sports are great for your mental health. And this hat is about basically encouraging you to run in towards the light, run, chase the light rather than the the darkness that can hit sit on some people. So yeah, Beau wanted me to pass that on to you and I will be starting the ultra this weekend. The UTA in one of those hats. Is not beautiful. So big shout out to Bo, he's a big supporter of the pod and and the community he has built around bottle it is is is one of the good ones in the world. \[42:47\] Of round look no matter which run it no matter what you're doing running like everyone runs for different reasons right, but you can find your crew that's that's the key here right well said right across the perfect way to sum it up Yep all. Right. All right, Liam, all the best, mate. Thank you from everyone. I'm gonna I'm gonna say from everyone here at the in beginning family, we're all gonna be in your court, in your corner and. Next week is a big episode. Next week is a big episode. Because I'll I'll believe \[43:17\] they're finished, in which case I'll have 161 kilometres. Of stories of. Stories to tell or I won't have finished, in which case. We're gonna have to unpack that. I'll have a. Really big excuse to make. And on that note, good luck to everyone running UTA this weekend if you're out there with. Liam, say G'day, We'll see you next week.