Rob Sillito and Ben Russell
267 episodes listed below
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🎙 The Couch to Coached Running PodcastHosted by Rob Sillito, Ben Russell, & Emma BrydgesThree full-time working adults. One shared goal: to make running accessible, honest, and fun.Join Rob (a mental health nurse who's never liked running), Emma (a busy mum and passionate runner), and Ben (a UKA-accredited running coach working full-time coaching kids — and now coaching both Rob and Emma) as they bring you The Couch to Coached Running Podcast.This award-winning show follows Rob’s transformation from couch to coached, Emma’s mission to train smarter, and Ben’s expert guidance every step — or misstep — along the way.Whether you're brand ne...
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
It makes running plans legible by testing coaching advice against injuries, nerves, missed rest, and the unruly reality of marathon preparation.
Couch to Coached- Running podcast turns marathon preparation into an ongoing conversation among Rob Sillito, Ben Russell, and Emma Brydges, with the training plan constantly tested against actual life.
A missing watch workout raises an awkward question: didn't you already know the session?
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A listener-led running chat that pairs marathon-day nerves with nostalgic TV memories.
Five With the Listeners opens with a sung intro and settles into a live group exchange, welcoming Nina from the Sad Miles Club and moving naturally from listener chat to running nerves and weekend plans.
A loose, friendly running chat about marathon risk, injury, rest days, and a community streak challenge.
Couch to Coach comes across as a running podcast for everyday people trying to train smarter without pretending the process is neat. This episode sits with marathon risk, injury setbacks, rest days, and the awkward call of when to push on and when to back off.
A loose, warm run chat about consistency, care, and a New Zealand parkrun milestone.
The episode settles into an easy, lived-in running conversation that moves from a missed watch start to a Garmin tip, then through Biddulph route talk before arriving at the steadier message: keep showing up, even when training is messy.
Club race chat with practical previews and the local detail runners will use.
Rob frames this as a club-focused catch-up, with NSRRA updates and South Cheshire race news moving through the All-Sager 5, a South Cheshire 10K mention, and the rest of the calendar.
A tender, messy club-run catch-up that keeps its footing.
The episode opens with a direct dedication to Ben's mum, then keeps the focus on Rob and Emma while Ben sits this one out. From there, it settles into familiar running talk: race chat, training notes, and the easy back and forth of people who know each other well.
A stormy festival conversation that keeps its feet on the ground, favoring gratitude, injury-aware realism, and finishing over chasing splits.
On Couch to Coach, the festival segment feels like a real running conversation rather than a polished pitch. The guest's reflections on the Protein Rebel Running Festival keep returning to gratitude, injury, and the practical habit of working with what is at hand.
Practical running talk that treats a bad run as data, not disaster.
This episode is a practical running conversation about what to do when the watch says one thing and the runner expects another. The coaches stay grounded in the details: rep sessions, threshold work, threshold Ks on the track, long runs, and the simple problem of reading the day…
A loose, practical marathon check-in with enough honesty to feel useful.
Rob, Ben, and Emma keep this in the useful middle ground of running talk: marathon pacing, consistency, and the harder work of feeling ready rather than just hoping for the best.
Yoga, grief, breath, and brave self-compassion.
Western bowhunting lessons from the field.
Ben opens the Christmas special by turning 2025 into a running year-in-review, with highlights including a first ultra at Titisworth 50k, a 10k PB of 36:25 at Telford 10k, and PSPA fundraising for Manchester Marathon in memory of his mum.
Dan Leggett says Sad Miles Club is an activewear brand built around mental health, and he also runs with Portablo Sunday Run Club, a 5K around Port Talbot for all abilities.
The Couch to Coach crew opens with its familiar loose, livewire banter and quickly settles into Christmas, winter training, and the challenge of staying motivated.
Couch to Coach pivots from its usual crew energy into a recorded festival interview with Helen.
Rob opens with an NSRRA update and South Cheshire race chat.
The crew opens in live-show chaos, with a few technical gremlins before the running chat settles in.
It starts mid-chat.
This one is just Rob and Emma.
The crew open late, crack a few jokes about sweets, and hint at an interview they are not ready to give away.
Rob and Ben are on their own for the first time in ages, and they spend a moment noticing how unusual that feels.
The crew are back with a straight-up marathon training update.
Couch to Coached's "Five with the listeners" centers on guest Katie Holding from Thames Valley Harriers, whose answers include Track Star by Moosky, a nature-reserve procrastination joke, and a desert-island kit of sunglasses, an inflatable lilo, and a mojito in a can.
The hosts open by joking about who is really there.
Lottie Fultner from the National Running Show says the 2026 event takes place on 31 January and 1 February, with tickets available at nationalrunningshow.com and updates on Instagram at National Running Show.
Claire Allman joins Couch to Coached – Running podcast for a “Five with the Listeners” segment and says she runs for Audley Striders and hosts this weekend’s Audley Festive 5K.
Lizzie Gatherer is planning a 70-mile Strava art route in the shape of a penis and says she will start at 5am on Saturday 21 February.
The crew opens with a check-in, and Ben is missing because his mum's funeral is tomorrow.
The crew opens in their usual loose, chatty rhythm.
They kick things off by restarting the episode after the intro music vanishes.
A running podcast where hosts discuss training, share experiences, and provide coaching advice for runners of all levels.
A running podcast featuring hosts and guests discussing training tips, personal experiences, and community support for runners of all levels.
A community-first episode of Couch to Coached featuring Ed (Ready Eddie Run), a Wolverhampton-accented Birmingham runner who founded a 35-person informal run club and is known for dancing mid-run.
They open with a sung intro and listener banter, then bring up Dan's pick, Nina, and the Sad Miles Club, with an update possibly on the way.
Gareth Jones, known as MentalHealthWanderer, returns to Couch to Coached after finishing The Spine, a 268-mile race up the Pennine Way.
Five with the listeners returns in 2026 with Tom Cruxton from Ormskirk Striders, plus a long leaderboard segment that names Paul Deane at 117.6 miles, Nick Griggs at 100 miles, and Robbie Hagen at 77.4 miles.
The crew comes back after what feels like forever and slides right back into familiar running chat.
Fitness icon Mr Motivator (Derek Evans) joins the podcast for a deeply personal interview, sharing stories from his rise from homelessness to TV stardom, his philosophy on movement as medicine, and powerful lessons on resilience, mental health, and motivating others.
The hosts discuss recent running activities, including pacing duty, cross-country, new trainers, and an upcoming charity event with a discount code.
The hosts introduce their running podcast with a creative rap, discussing how they started and inviting listeners to share their running stories.
The hosts introduce a special guest episode featuring Kev from Run Things, discussing the Run to Christmas event and inviting listeners to participate.
A running podcast following a beginner's journey from couch to coached, featuring hosts who discuss training, motivation, and community.
The hosts introduce the Couch to Coach running podcast, celebrating their award nomination and encouraging listeners to join their running journey.
The hosts discuss Ben's absence, share personal updates, and maintain a lighthearted tone about running and fitness.
A running podcast following a beginner's journey from couch to coached running, with coaching tips and community support.
The hosts introduce a special guest from a running brand and discuss their new microphone setup.