Everyday Runners

EDR #50 /Athlete Profile/ Lysanne Wilkens, 2:38 on debut and on doing running her own way

Hey, hello! In this episode, Lysanne Wilkens, a freelance journalist and photographer based in Utrecht, joins EDR for a conversation about her running and running life. Lysanne, unexpectedly (for herself) ran 2:38 in the Taipei marathon last year while travelling throughout Asia. Lysanne crossed the finish line looking as if she could have kept going for another lap of the course. So, in this conversation we talk about her running background and her approach to running in general: part of which is to make sure that it fits well into her own schedule and that she has a great degree of agency over her training. 
In the first segment of this episode, I respond to a question from Emma, a fellow Leiden-based runner, about 'hilly marathon majors'. In short, I express my ambivalence over 'world marathon majors', while loving the idea of hilly marathons - from a spectators point of view. I'm yet to do one, and while not really deliberately avoiding them, I'm also not really going out of my way to do one. :) 
If you would like to ask a question or for us (yes, there will be a co-host, soon!) please send your thoughts via email or a DM on IG. 
As always: i hope you're enjoying your running. Until next time. Doi doi. 
Links: 
Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com
Support the Podcast:  Patreon 

EDR #49 /Running Media/ Brady Threlfall of Inside Running Podcast

Yo! Hello! Brady Threlfall loves a good yarn. He's the founder of Inside Running Podcast which has become, probably, the most respected running podcast in Australia. Brady (and his numerous co-hosts, but mainly Croker and Moose) have churned out 381 episodes in a row since 2017. Talk about streaks. Brady also has some pretty handy PBs to his name: 14:10 in the 5km and 2:19 in the mara. 
I loved having this conversation with Brady. He's a ripping bloke who speaks genuinely, passionately and has decades of experience in long-distance running. There's a lot of running podcasts out there (mine being just another one), but IRP always has something new and insightful to add. 
Topics/themes/issues we covered included:
running during Covid
training in regional Victoria
doing handicap races (and winning the Stawell Gift);
the origins of Inside Running Podcast
the drama over the selection of the Australian women's representatives at the Paris Olympics
Steve Moneghetti and the Ballarat Marathon
the awesomeness of Sifan Hassan (impossible to do an episode without mentioning her)
Links: 
Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com
Subscription:  Patreon 
 

EDR #48: Live in Schoorl: "Don't let your watch hold you back."

Yo! Welcome to Schoorl! In this episode, EDR regular Niels Esmeijer and a few of us Pink Hippos discuss our experiences of a training camp we recently had in Schoorl. Conditions were perfect: nice and cool, no rain and no wind. We didn't even have to fly far to get there. Yes, it wasn't at altitude. But it was a very pleasant time outside of normal routines where we could about running, running and a bit about the rules of Padel and the virtues of air-fryers (and different kinds of coffee-makers). 
We share our experiences as runners and what it feels like when we know that others are faster and how that plays on our minds. Are we too hard on ourselves perhaps? 
I was a little greedy and the conversation was at different points focused on the Schoorl 10km (9th Feb), so Niels generously shared his thoughts. My favourite was: 'don't let your watch hold you back'. He expressed how need to focus on how we are feeling rather than being freaked out by whatever our watch is saying. The race is a time to cut loose and break the shackles. I find it hard to do too much forecasting before the race, but I'm looking forward to it. 
If you're new to the podcast, please give it a rating :) And, if you're feeling like this podcast is bringing you some kind of value, you're welcome to head on over to the Patreon page (link below). 
Until next time, doi doi - 
(Accompanying photo by Niels Esmeijer)
***
Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com
Subscription:  Patreon 

EDR #47: Addicted to running? How and why we become addicted to running with Toomas Gross

Hey! We runners often talk about being 'addicted to running'. Sometimes this feels like a bit of an exaggeration: but probably it's true. Running gives us a dopamine hit. We gain 'tolerance' for it, which means we need more for the same hit and then we suffer from withdrawal symptoms when we can't get a score. I discussed this matter of 'running addiction' with Toomas Gross, a social-cultural anthropologist based at the University of Helsinki in Finland. I also spoke with Toomas about what running 'looks like' in Estonia (where he lives) and Finland (where he works). 
 
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Links: 
Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com
Subscription:  Patreon 
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EDR #46 The Aesthetics of Athletics: Interview with Erik van Leeuwen, photographer

Erik van Leeuwen is one of the most prominent and beloved photographers in the Netherlands. If you are a runner and participate in any events, no doubt he has already taken your photograph. Most likely, you are looking in great shape and like the complete package. Erik always makes us look like better runners than what we might actually be. His photographs create and tell compelling stories. And thus, since he is also a fellow-Leiden Atletiek athlete, I wanted to get to know his own story better. How did he become a photographer, what are the logistics involved and what are his aesthetic considerations when taking photographs. He's followed Sifan Hassan's and Femke Bol's careers right from their very beginnings. So yeah: of course we talk about them both. 
I hope you enjoy this episode. I enjoyed making it. Let the good times roll. 
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Episode Overview: 
Introduction: Erik van Leeuwen, of Wassenaar
IT worker, runner photographer
AF: What enabled you to go down the path of becoming a photographer? 
EvL: “I started taking photographs in 2005 and then one thing led to another The first camera I bought was a Sony Digital … slightly better than the average. It cost around 1,200 euros.” 
“In the beginning the pictures I made were lucky shots. I didn’t really know what I was doing. I did a course … You try and learn from others.” 
AF “I think it is possible, nowadays, to downplay the skill involved in photography, now that the cameras are so advanced. How do you focus on composition?”
Being a photographer or being a person with a camera. “There is a difference between taking a snapshot and a good photograph.” 
Taking photographs in stadia and along marathon courses: every race has different options. 
The logistics of taking photographs during a marathon 
Light and angles: too much is a problem; avoiding taking photographs at standing height
The labour of taking photographs in all conditions
Hollandse licht and clouds
“After a marathon, I’ll be editing for two or three hours … making the day of work pretty long. I’ll cut down from about 1000 photographs to 100 and then edit and name each photograph.”
Daphne Schippers’s image on the milk carton
Taking photographs which tell the story: Femke Bol in tears after falling. 
What EvL is looking forward to in 2025
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Links: 
Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com
Subscription:  Patreon 
 

EDR #45: From living the basketball dream to becoming a proper runner: Britt Zappeij on her concussions and sporting transitions

Hello! Welcome back to Everyday Runners. Britt Zappeij was playing high level basketball - in the Dutch national team and playing college basketball in the States - before a bad run of injuries (concussions and others) brought her basketballing trajectory to an unexpected end. Britt studied hard and got her dentistry degree all the while transitioning to marathon running. She barely did a 5km or 10km race before going straight to that mythical distance. 
This conversation explores the impact of her concussions (and the bad decision of a coach) and how she now perceives herself as being somewhere in between a non-runner and runner. (I think she is well and truly a proper runner.) Britt says, "I'm not the most talented, but I make good decisions." She talks about how running fits in with her busy professional life and what her dreams are for her 2025 year in running. 
Episode Overview
Concussions: “I could go to the grocery store and that was my entire day.” 
Talent: I’m not the most talented, but I work hard. I’ve made good decisions along the way.” 
Britt: “how is the noise at the Rotterdam for you? When your race is not going well, you get agitated by everything.”
Andy: “you said you are a perfectionist, how does that relate to you doing sport?” Britt: “it’s hard for me to say that I did well.” 
“Having to quit a marathon that you have trained for, that’s not nice.” 
“After my first marathon, I felt terrible, but I was so happy. I started crying to my mum and I said to her, I had so much pain but I want to go again.” 
Why do you run everyday? “Because I like it. I need to put my energy somewhere.”
On Winning the Katwijk Half-Marathon: “it was special to me because at the finishing line, there was this guy who came to interview me. And he was my first national team coach. So, he said to me, ‘Britt! What are you doing here?”’ 
"I'm not sure if I'm a real runner.  Some people also think that I don't look like a runner." 
“I like this photo because it reminds me about the bad time … when I wasn’t feeling well and I had to quit a race.” 
On Valencia: “at 7km, there was a turn, and because there was so many people doing the race, we came to a stand still. It was that crowded.”
"My running dream for this year is to run without injury or interruption and just let the times come by themselves." 
Britt Zappeij on Instagram
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Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com
Subscription: Patreon

EDR #44: "I'm a runner who is in search of a feeling" - Running and making Everyday Runners podcast. Leon interviews Andy

Bring it on.  Welcome back to Everyday Runners podcast. This is a special episode for the start of Season 2.This episode features Leon Huiszoon (of Leiden Atletiek) interviewing myself (Andy) about how and why I started Everyday Runners. 
Leon asks me all the big questions: isn't running just essentially meaningless? Why have you started coaching? Aren't you too old to be expecting to improve in your running? Why don't you interview folks from the natural sciences? Why don't you care about 'data'?  
This episode is based spontaneity and candidness in thinking about running. 
Some of the key points discussed: 
Starting Reading Sideways Press and Everyday Runners Podcast
Being an introvert; not enjoying speaking. “I don’t like talking.” 
Making a podcast: is it a part of the process of ‘leaving something behind’? 
Creativity versus Nihilism
Leon says: “running is a lost in time thing” … “it is an anonymous thing.” “You can go out for a run, and nobody will remember it in a way.” 
Doing running and making a podcast as part of being ‘productive’. 
One of our ways of being productive in running is through uploading our runs to Strava.
“Running is a personal [corporal] experience which you can gain a good feeling from but this good feeling is something that you bring into your experiences with other people.” 
“You’re never really running alone … My running is enabled by and implicates others.” 
Running and competition: with whom do you compete the most? 
“I generally think of myself as a runner who is after a feeling.” 
Playing table tennis and being competitive 
How can I use other running competitors to mobilise a better running performance from within myself? 
Leon: “with running, you just got to run on any fuel you can find.” 
Leon: “You have switched to a new coach, does that involve a switch to a new mindset?” 
“I think Niels is wanting to create a mindset where I am hungry on race day.” 
Leon: “you have been performing well, especially considering your age. Yeah, let’s just address that elephant in the room.” 
How will you be getting faster when you are getting older? 
Leon: Has getting older affected your decision in becoming a coach yourself? 
“I want to enable the running ecosystem at Leiden Atletiek to continue to function well.” 
“I want to create a group which is diverse and respectful. And which is accommodating of runners at different stages in their running career.”
Andy: “There are three things that I want to focus on in my running/coaching philosophy: Agency; Chance and Play.” 
Leon: why do you mainly interview people from the humanities and social sciences? 
Love-hate relationship with tracking devices
Photo by Harry van t' Veld
Links: 
Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com
Subscription:  Patreon
***
I hope you are finding Everyday Runners podcast valuable. 
This year, I’m seeking to make EDR more sustainable. One way that you can help support EDR is through subscribing via Patreon. 
Subscriptions are possible for as little as 5euros per month. Each tier of subscription has its own means of recognising your contribution to making this podcast sustainable. 
The subscriber model is an alternative to having advertisements from running or non-running related sources. If you enjoy this podcast, subscribing is one means to show your appreciation for my work. 
Best wishes, 
Andy

EDR #43: "It's a nice day out, but someone has to organise the picnic": Learnings from 2024 with Niels Esmeijer (of MTFU Coaching)

Hey! Welcome to Episode #43 of Everyday Runners. 
How was your 2024 running year? Heb je iets geleerd? In this episode, I sit down with Niels Esmeijer of MTFU (Pink Hippo) coaching to discuss what we can take away from our year in running (and coaching). 
Niels speaks about what he learned from his athletes and how this shapes his coaching practice going forward. I speak about my transition from my long-time coach, Joji Mori, to the aforementioned Pink Hippo. I thought the break-up with Joji was going to be hard. But, it wasn't: break ups can be understanding and respectful, it turns out. (For what it is worth, Joji is now my go-to person when I look for advice about coaching.)
Niels and I also what we learned from watching the great performances of two great Dutch athletes: Sifan Hassan and Abdi Nageye. Both Hassan and Nageye seem to run with a lot of joy and play. While virtually none of us can do what they can do on the marathon course, we can still join with them in running joyfully and playfully. 
Because it's almost the end of the year: I want to give a massive shoutout to everyone who has been on the show, listened to the podcast, or simply just passed on a message to me about it. I've probably put about 260 hours into it. Which, well, is quite a lot. If you feel like supporting, become a subscriber via Patreon. That would also mean quite a lot. 
Everyday Runners podcast will continue in 2025 for a Season 2. Yep. Let's rock'n'roll.
Don't forget: If you are out on a run, give the next runner you see a smile or a wave. 
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Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com 
https://www.patreon.com/EverydayRunnersPodcast 
 

EDR #42: "I think people love Sifan Hassan despite the fact that she's Muslim", Part Two of Conversation with Jasmijn Rana

Hey! Hello! Welcome back to Everyday Runners. Jasmijn Rana is a cultural anthropologist at Leiden University who researches sport and the way people move their bodies in the Netherlands. Jasmijn is also a runner (and former kickboxer). 
I was lucky enough to spend a good hour talking running, training, anthropology matters and Dutch running culture with Jasmijn a few weeks ago.
I have tried to maintain the relaxed nature of the conversation by doing as little editing as possible. Jasmijn speaks very softly but makes some very hard hitting points. If you're going to be critical, I guess it's very wise to do so while laughing :) 
This was yet another episode which made me so grateful to the people who have shared their time, thoughts and stories with me on this podcast. 
Topics include: 
De Bois: double consciousness
Franz Fanon
Zuiderpark vs Haagse Bos or Meijendel as running spaces 
Tim Ingold: “there’s nothing between the body and the environment”;  Sarah Pink, enskilment and the body as part of the environment
Marcel Mauss and bodily techniques: how we learn to move our body.  
the whiteness of the dunes (in between Den Haag and Leiden)
Dutch sports policy; hockey clubs; diversity
Sifan Hassan: “I think people love Sifan despite the fact she’s a Muslim”
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Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com 

EDR #41: Valencia Marathon Review with Three Superfast Dutch Dudes: Dominic Bersee, Emiel Berghout and Bas ten Dam

Hey! Heb je zin in?
Well what a tasty race that was. Dominic Bersee broke 2:20, Emiel Berghout and Bas ten Dam went heartbreakingly close. 
And all have their own intriguing stories to tell. 
Emiel: how to turn the marathon around when things looked like they were going pear-shaped and of course how to back from an October marathon (Eindhoven) with one in December. 
Bas: how to maximise a variety of surfaces to stay (mostly) injury free during a marathon build and get the most out of (relatively) low-mileage weeks.
Conditions no doubt are great in Valencia, but no one earns a sub-2:20 (or just over) for free. Dom, Emiel and Bas each had their own paths to their times. Each enjoyed the race in a different way; and it means something different to all of them. 
While these three guys might be officially sub-elite and this podcast is for 'everyday runners', we don't discriminate against them just for being fast. :) 
 
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Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com