(Un)Official Athletics Australia/Running Australia chat

Ok Joel.

in other news - looked pretty rough out there for Ballarat today, strong push by Caden Shields at the end to get over Tommy, and great run for Ellie!

noticed Ryan Gregson not in a Puma kit is he unsponsored now (makes sense no good performances these days) and he was wearing Metaspeeds I think

Gregson was a 1500m specialist on the track - I'm pretty sure Jessica Hull would publicly manshame him if they had raced each other during the last couple of years.

RIP FTK

no coming back from this, in the current PC climate….

He was wearing Riley’s brand, so the boys club goes on.

I’m still very irked by the comments Ryan made in that pod. That apology said nothing. The way the FTK pod crew as a whole has treated women, first shelving Spikes Up with no warning - they were the only ones I enjoyed listening to - and then the way Tess was spoken down to and repeatedly cut off in the last year of her appearance on the main - it’s a fragile ego boys club through and through.

It’s no wonder pods like Elise’s Run With It and the Cheeky Run Club gals are so popular with runners of all abilities and backgrounds.

For me there's no coming back from those comments. They're simply feeling sick it blew up. Probably surprised as they've been speaking like this IRL all along.

The apology felt like "we have friends that are girls so we're good blokes".

Elise has such talent, you have to wonder if she left because they didn't let her have any ownership of her agenda. It was risky to go solo but she's running rings around them.

What woman will want to go on FTK now? Will they roll out Gen?

Crazy that they referenced those ladies. Can’t imagine they’re pleased with the association there.

Reminds me of when someone makes homophonic comments but it’s okay because they know someone who is gay.

I think they need to take stock of what's actually going on with their own podcast.
At this point, it's just Joel, Brett, Ryan laughing at their own jokes and Riley sitting there being a cheerleader.
Sarah Billings and Rose Davies show gone.
Izzie Batt Doyle, Tess, Jack Rayner, Elise, Fraser, Andy Buchanan, Sinead, Jess Stenson, Gen Gregon - all gone.
Are people really still paying for this?
I think it's time that the boys take some notes of the IRP crew's longevity. They still have a pool of 20+ people they can call in to guest-host or be part of a spin-off series if need be. All this after doing the podcast for over 8 years.
I don't want to sound like I'm bullying them, but to be fair, they seem like they're ok with being snarky bullies to everyone else.
I wasn't really a big fan of Tess as a host, but in retrospect, it was nice having someone on who wasn't a pro-runner/unemployed. She seemed to actually have a personality and stuff going on aside from 8x1km on Tuesday.

And in London based news - Liam not officially faster than Ryan. Once again - maybe it’s the washed up middle distance guy who should be questioning his choices

Shoutout to Tim Vincent too for going sub 2:10.

This is a good take. FTK fell off in a major way. The loss of Spiked Up was a major one. Fall Guys was the best combo, but they sadly pulled Brett back into the “main” show. Unfortunately, Joel is the worst of all of them at actually podcasting. It is unfortunate that it was this combo that erred in this way, as it do think Greggo comes across as a full partner in raising the kids, and is obviously a full throated supporter of Gen.

Big ups to the two boys in London! Looks like they went through half together so a little blow-up from Liam. His 61:08 half still suggests he can go way quicker than his 2:10:28 PB from Sevilla. Maybe something in Japan or back in Europe later in the year?

VINCENT, Tim (AUS)
18-39
Elite
01:04:09
02:09:41

BOUDIN, Liam (AUS)
18-39
Elite
01:04:09
02:12:55

Since no one is talking about Ballarat really for other reasons I will lol.

A great comeback marathon post baby no. 2 for Ellie Pashley and a great time on a hot, windy day of 2:30ish.

Amazing to see Sinead get a race win in the 10km. Said she wants to do 2 marathons this year equalling 3 for the year. Love to hear this.

Tom De Canto just lost to the NZ athlete Caden Shields. He said his prep wasn't great so a good effort. A great debut for Jacob Cocks too who wasn't far behind them. Could have a good future in the mara.

Gen dominates the half for women and great to see Eloise back in longer races and got 4th.

The day before Jaylah Hancock Cameron broke the Aus mile record and Georgia Griffins. A great effort from her and she's really catching up to the other middle distance girls fast

Huge runs at Ballarat on a windy day. Isn't Caden Shields coached by Julian spence in some capacity? Two wins for Moose today.
Jaylah is definitely not far away from the top girls. I remember seeing her race in those long compression socks like 10 years ago. Just consistently showed up to every domestic level race for a decade and is finally getting her chocolates.

Agree with all except it is most definitely not Jacob Cocks debut marathon.

would want more context before accepting the pile on.

if he's talking about an elite male it's a fair comment to say 'males are 10% faster than females. if you call yourself an elite male, and there's a female running with you 5k into your 10k pb, you need to question your life choices'.

if it's just a general comment about how all men should be ashamed if there are women alongside them then that's obviously different. but from that short clip it didn't sound like it.

using the term 'chicked' is probably derogatory but again depends on context - could very easily imagine a woman using it as a celebratory thing. in fact i'm sure i've heard women on IRP use it in a positive sense.

all the FTK people seem awful btw, and may well be misogynistic. but that's my thought on that quote. also i have only heard that quote that was there, its very possible the apology made it worse

Liam on Strava: "Tough second half"

Good race from Vincent, probably just a tough day for Boudin. I'm sure he can go faster than 2.10 at least. Maybe Osaka, Valencia, or something like that would be a good option? Unless he wants to race Sydney.

Peak FTK was the first few seasons (don't know why they did that to be honest);

- Brett running well, with time to talk about his training

- Joel actually running, and the podcast being a fun side project rather than their entire lives

- Interesting guests (Scullion, Deek etc)

Now all three of those have gone. Brett needs more space to talk which Joel doesn't give him.

I don't really get what Riley offers either. He's a good creative but I've seen those types in other industries be completely out of touch and extremely arrogant - how many photographers make it as a career!

I really like Brett when he's reflective and can talk his mind but it's been a long time since he was able to do that on FTK!

Assuming now AA also needs a new podcast partner, IRP have issues with them still?

Sinead now wading in defending the FTK lads. There’s absolutely no way she’d be doing that if they weren’t her MTC buddies. Not really doing herself any favours, especially after her own salty comments on the Road to Paris FTK show she appeared on (briefly, before she got injured).

Love Sinead but no idea why she would want to be involved in this when 99% of people don't agree with Ryan's comments. Especially after the Paris drama has finally died down and she's running well again.

What were her salty comments on the podcast can I ask? I never listened as it was on patreon and I'm not paying for it.

I liked the pod at the start as it was actually about running and not ad after ad and not pointless explanations..but now I only listen if a guest is on I like. For the record I like them all as athletes and I'm sure they are decent people but it's become an obnoxious show to listen to and not really entertaining. I will never miss an EP of Inside Running as I feel they are way more authentic and have great guests with genuine chats. Plus I feel like the 3 hosts are almost a 2nd family weirdly as I've followed them since the start with so many things happening over those years. Hoping they get Ellie on this week post her great Ballarat run. Will they chat about the FTK drama too? 👀 I hope Moose unloads and they are honest on their thoughts. As I do think they are being piled on a little bit, which yes it might be deserved but much worse things have been said