Kia ora e te whānau. We’re back again for the third annual DCR Tarawera Ultra Trail by UTMB special. Joining Ali and Matt at the helm is a special guest, two-time Tarawera champion, and running coach extraordinaire, Mr Kerry Suter. What a treat you have in store for yourselves this episode, as we dive deep into the history of the event and its impact on the global running scene. We also talk about our own histories with the event and how something as elementally simple as a run through the woods has changed our lives in meaningful ways. The benefit of having Ali and Kerry on the pod together is that you get both coaches going off on what to expect, your final weeks of preparation, the conditions you’ll face, and the best and worst ideas you can have on the day. We then get our pundit hats on and take a dive into the elite fields from the 100-mile to the 50km to give you our predictions for all the inbound racing stoke. We can’t wait to see you all down there in a couple of weeks, and we hope you are as excited as we are! Dirt Church Radio- Best Enjoyed Running.

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Tarawera Ultra Trail by UTMB

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Music by Andrew McDowall, Digicake

Maybe we were all a bit too hopeful that 2025’s madness would not continue into 2026. Maybe these first two weeks are a post-credit scene, or maybe, just maybe, this is 2026 saying “hold my beer” in response to last year’s antics. Anyway you cut it, it’s probably best to get yourself out for a run. It’ll probably help.

The WTF?! quality of early ‘26 hasn’t stopped at the door of the ultrasphere, so for our first AidStation of the year, Ali and Matt run down (see what we did there) all the hot takes, from green screens and the Satisfyification of running advertsing, to carbon taxes and how a local showdown in Tempe Arizona over Burritos turned into a 700 mile odyssey and spawned a fledgling global movement. We got it all, plus our 2026 checklists, a dive into how positive thinking can increase performance, and a look ahead to the hottest racing on the New Zealand Calendar. Excellent Stuff.

Dirt Church Radio – Best Enjoyed Running.

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Music by Andrew McDowall, Digicake

Kia ora e te whānau. Welcome to the second of our DCR Summer Series episodes, where we’ll be bringing you our most popular conversations from 2025. This week, we’ve got a double header, throwing it back to July when Sam Harvey made his DCR three-peat and spoke to Andrew McDowall about (literally) running himself to a standstill as the assist in the world-record-breaking 118-hour/790 km knock at Dead Cow Gully. Then, we bring you Andrew’s conversation with Stephen Redfern. Stephen is notable for several reasons, including his ongoing feud with Andrew (Which is odd, as they are great mates) and his standing as an incredible endurance athlete. Andrew caught up with Stephen about his journey into the mind of one Lazarus Lake, following his podium finish at The Last Annual Heart of the South road race, a 400-mile self-propelled adventure through six Southern states of the USA. We’ll see you next week on Jan 14th for our first AidStation of the year. Dirt Church Radio- Best Enjoyed Running. Dirt Church Radio - Best Enjoyed Running

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Stephen Redfern Instagram

Sam Harvey DCR 181

Sam Harvey DCR 245

Stephen Redfern DCR 151

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Music by Andrew McDowall, Digicake