Chafing the Dream NZ

Haere mai- plenty of links to click on in the Spotify Shownotes so go to candy town.

Welcome to a jam-packed episode of local events and challenges. We start with our thoughts and the upcoming speaker, Bruce Fordyce regarding Comrades Ultramarathon. The world's oldest and longest ultramarathon. Next year will be there 100th year! Come check out Bruce's talk hosted by Masters on the Move. It is on 14th August at 6pm in Tikipunga Sports Park. Sign up here.

Next we talk about our training updates. The usual saga's of the duo...

Kia ora

You read that right. Mal has been knocked up with round #2. Dwayne's newest training partner, baby #2 will be arriving in December 2026. Mal asks Dwayne questions of how he feels when he found out we were pregnant, what has surprised him the most this pregnancy, if there are any goals before baby comes (hint hint Mal tries to convince him to do a 100k....we will see). We make a laugh out of a few topics and are excited to have Mal give better training updates. Come along for the usual banter and laughter. We seriously...

Kia ora

What an episode. Dwayne and Mal were two lucky dogs to sit alongside the Dark Horse, Mr. Alex Nicholson. The Local Legend of the Backyard Kings Ultra 2026 in Whangarei ,NZ running 38 laps. He was a hoot. We spent time talking about his upbringing and why he leaned into running in his later years. Turns out it was often peer pressure by his friends. So if you are training for a marathon or an ultra alone, just don't. Ask your friend who has never done one! His stories were a crack up and he is the...

Kia ora

Welcome to another Chafing the Dream episode where plenty of chafing happened this weekend at the Kings Backyard Ultra. There was New Zealand records broken at the 24 hour mark with the most runners still standing at 16! There were also 3 newbies still standing at that 24 hour mark. The last man standing was the previous 2024 winner Anthony Kerr-Taylor and the last female standing was the ultra a day Shannon Leigh-Litt. We couldn't help but share some our favourite stories like Roberta representing Lithuania for her satellite team, Alex Nicholson our favourite local firefighter, and Emma's heart breaking...

This week Mal and Dwayne talk the usual training updates, and Dwayne probs Mal about her constant injuries.

Then they talk about this weekends big event for Whangarei, the Kings Backyard Ultra at Barge Park.

Finally we hear from the event organisers Chris and Helen of His and Hers and they answer some questions about the Kings backyard ultra.

You can follow us on instagram @chafingthedreamnz or you can email us at chafingthedreamnz@gmail.com

Kia ora and Haere Mai

Another episode of Chafing the Dream. This one was fun as we answered some mailbag questions. Man do we love answering them, so please keep them coming. Even if it isn't a question and more of a comment.

We updated folks on Mallory and Dwayne's training. As usual Mal sookes in her lack of training but teases hopeful promising future plans and lands. Meanwhile, Dwayne contemplates his upcoming training block for Northland 100.

We get into answering mailbag questions related to Dwayne chasing more ultras, Rachel Entrains performance running...

Kia ora

On this weeks episode Mal asks Dwayne how his trail marathon at Run the Bay in Paihia went. They dive into the course, the race plan, and how it all played out. Sneak peak, he won and Mal was very proud. Poor Dwayne was still experiencing some mild brain fatigue post marathon haze.

Next up Mal gives a quick update on what she's been learning from Marci Klimek and Renee her physiotherapist about bone stress injuries and recovery. We discuss exercises to do to promote strong healthy bones. Mal's GOALS...

Kia ora

Welcome to another episode of Chafing the Dream with Mal and Dwayne the American Kiwi Running Duo.

This episode Dwayne and Mal do the usual update of training. More specifically Dwayne stacking some k's before his Run the Bay Marathon this upcoming weekend. Meanwhile Mal still recovering from her bone injury so keeping up with weight training and cycling.

We dive into the upcoming race this weekend Run the Bays. There are four distances available for folks a 6k, 8.7k, half marathon and marathon distance. All at the beautiful Bay of...

Haere mai

This episode Dwayne and Mal talked about training updates. Dwayne rambles about his attempts to slowly build his mileage up. Mal sadly talks about the possibility of her third bone injury.

Most recent events we have are the Port Nikau 5k, Run the Bays, Kings Backyard Ultra, and Northland 100. Dwayne and Mal will be MCing for the Port Nikau so please come along to race a 5k and win some SWEET prizes plus all the fun family events.

We reflect on our first ever event. We had so much fun hosting...

Haere mai and welcome to one of our shorter episodes.

We proudly announce the showdown winner for our boys vs. girls triathlon team. Surprise, chicks won!! ;) Dwayne and Mal discuss what we could do differently next time around and the potential to race each other on the crit track.

We review the most recent Kai Iwi Lakes triathlon and Trail Run results. Giving our shoutouts to all the local legends in Northland!!

We do the usual training updates and discussions. One of which asking for help and...

Kia ora

Welcome to another episode . Wowza are we lucky! We got to have two legends, Katie White and Bradley Houghton give us their voice diaries to close out our Ring of Fire series. Before digging into the diaries we talk about 3 upcoming races:

- Kai Iwi Lakes Triathlon and Trail Race

- Run the Bays

- King's Backyard

It was honestly so nice and fun following along with their training and then hear their reflections of Ring of Fire . Very impressive on both ends!

Bradley Houghton...

Kia ora

Welcome to another episode with Mal and Dwayne. This time we are lucky enough to have MAGIC MIKE steal the show. He talks training, what it was like to race Ring of Fire, and his mental game during the event. We were lucky to ask him all the nitty gritty questions and are really grateful to have him on.

Mike Lea announced the upcoming "practice Backyard" event happening at Barge Park on 24th April from 10pm to 6am. This is a great opportunity to try out your gear, shoes, fueling...

Hellllooooo

Episode 34 welcomes the golden boy of Northland trail running, Sam Rout!

Sam is one of a kind. He seems to know everyone in this town and will run with anyone but yet is also the speediest northlander and currently 3rd podium spot at TUM 50k this year.

Dwayne and Mal dig into Sam's training, set backs with his recent knee injury, and exciting upcoming races. We also have some good laughs about his start line at Huanui Race.

Thanks Sam for taking the time to be on our pod.

Yoooooo

Haere mai! Welcome to another episode where we start off discussing global gas prices. But make a quick pivot to actual running content.

We update on our training, having the usual bugs in the house while training, and announce the Parihaka giveaway winners. Congratulation to Waimaria and Hannah! See ya at the start line ;)

We will be giving away 3 entries to the Northland 100 for all the distances with the exception of the miler. So you could sign up for the 15k, 57k, 82k...

Haere mai

Welcome to a fun episode with Tara Wilson from Sport Northland. Dwayne and Mal ask details of how Tara ended up at Sport Northland, history of Sport Northland, what position she started (hint she was a barista at the local cafe), and details of our upcoming favourite local race, Parihaka Half Marathon. We talk about previous years where this poor race has been cursed from slips to cyclones. Tara shares with us the history and meaning of the Parihaka pōwhiri at the start of the race. Here is a link to check out the v...

Yoooooo

What another secret special episode with our Muscle Mania crew Bree Monaghan "Baby Bagel" and Nathan Ryken "The Viking". Dwayne and Mal were lucky enough to sit down with the two of them and talk about recovery.

We start opening about how training has been for all four of us and our newest goalzzzz to create a triathlon team. Boys vs. Girls!

We then get straight into asking Nathan about how he got his diagnosis of Functional Neurological Disorder . What his training is looking like currently and how he has shifted his...

Morena Dawn Patrol- if you do listen when we drop our episode at 5am every Wednesday ;)

We start with the usual banter and training updates from Dwayne and Mal. Feel free to comment about your own training, we love hearing from our listeners!!

The bulk of this episode is where we have the honour to talk to Denika about her recent racing experience for World XC Champs. She gives us the inside scoop for what it was like to represent NZ internationally. We are super proud to have her...

Haere mai

Welcome to another episode, this one exclusively with Dwayne and Mal. We start the episode talking about our training updates and the usual realities of having a toddler who is sick, meaning sleepless nights blah blah blah.

Dwayne also spends some time exploring alternative nutrition options for his cheap as chips budget.

Mal discusses her recent letter from her Sports Doctor regarding osteopenia. We discuss briefly breastfeeding amenorrhea (no this is not diahhrea...) which means when a breastfeeding mother does not menstruate while breastfeeding. This then results an increase in bone...

Haere mai to Chafing the Dream

Wow, this is a special episode and we want to say a special thank you to Bradley, TrailRunningNZ newsletter. We couldn't have done it without him. Seriously! We are so lucky.

Okay on with it. So Dwayne drove down to Rotovegas to first and foremost crew for our local legend, Sam Rout. THEN snag interviews off the following top male and female finishers. Apologies for not being able to get more of the 100k female finishers, or any for that matter. It was like wet soup...

Haere mai

Episode 27 is here and get ready for some rambling. The first 15 minutes is Dwayne and Mal discussing our thoughts on shoe sponsors, money in trail running (or lack thereof ), and other random bits and bobs.

Dwayne was lucky enough to snag a quick pre-race interview from Sam Rout, ranked 3rd currently for the 50k at Tarawera but more importantly our local northland rep. We are stoked to have him race in Rotovegas and already know he will smash it. Boys a beast, especially on dem hills.

After the interview we review...

Haere mai

Welcome to Chafing the dream with the kiwi American running couple duo. This episode we have a little fun with 3 folks freaky enough to enter Ring of Fire 100k. We were able to sneak off some voice diaries of their latest training.

The first RoF soul is Mike Lea (listen to a full interview with this fella on Episode 19). He was a previous professional mountain biker turned to domination of the trails. He gives us insight in types of training runs he has been doing and how he is feeling about the race...

Kia ora

What an episode. Hammered it all in less than an hour.

We update the listeners on Dwaynes running goals in 2026, will he chose another year of chasing ultras? Will he say that "I will never do another ultra again?" Of course he will. Mal shares her running goals for 2026, or lack thereof.

We talk about our local Beach to Basin race in Whangarei, New Zealand and how to train for a 10k race. We talk training workouts like tempos, progression runs, and track sessions.

There was a mailbag question...

Haere Mai

We are back from the states to kiwi land. This episode has flavours of jet lagged Dwayne and Mal. Regardless, we decide to indulge in some science. An interesting research article called Caffeinated Coffee Consumption or Abstinence to Reduce Atrial Fibrillation: The DECAF Randomized Clinical Trial.

The rest of the yarns are Dwayne and Mal discussing training updates and upcoming local northland races. We list off the following upcoming races:

15th March 2026 - Beach To Basin 10k Sunday

29th March 2026 - Parihaka Trail Race

29...

Kia ora, haere mai

We welcome Janet Mundell, one of Mal's close running friends from Wenatchee, WA along to this pod. We start off having a yarn about Janet and Mal's friendship, Janets experience with running both collegiately and post partum running, and the local trails + scenery of Central Washington.

Dwayne indulges on the discovery of Anne Audain, a kiwi professional runner from the 80's and 90's who ran and won Spokane Bloomsday 7 times!

We do a quick shoutout to our kiwi gal, Denika Clooney of whom finished 55th at the Worlds Cross...

This episode is dropping in Kelloggs, Idaho. Whoa!

Dwayne and Mal cover the usual updates of training, running in cold weather, shoe scan at Fleet Feet, updates of trail running shtufffff, and a shoutout to our kiwi gal Denika Clooney racing this weekend in Tallahasse, Florida.

We have teased about an upcoming race giveaway for the Northland 100. More to come in future episodes!

Thanks for all your loyalty and welcome to the New Year of 2026!

Welcome to, or welcome back to the Chafing the Dream Podcast.

In this episode we cover the usual training updates and some unfortunate illnesses over Christmas.

Also I ask Mal to talk about her time in Arizona as a high school athlete and what that entails.

Lastly we do a quick checkup on our accountability arsehole victim, Dan!

Enjoy

In this episode, we talk about our training and Dwayne's first impressions of running in the Arizona desert, dodging cactus and kicking rocks.

Mal also talks more about her bone stress recovery and returning to the trails she begun her running on.

Lastly but most importantly we sit down with Bree Monaghan to ask her about what it takes to train for and compete in the world duathlon champs in Spain, how she qualified for the champs. And how a skiing concession after her event has affected her training and life, what recovering from a...

In this episode Dwayne sits down with Mike Lea after a long run in the northland heat and humidity to talk about how Mike started running and some of his past results and future goals.

But before that we share some hacks on how to travel with an 18 month old, cover some quick training updates and talk about the parkrun relay that Dwayne ran on Saturday. Watch it here

Then we chat a little about the return of the Ring of Fire race in March next year.

<...

Denika's World Cross Country Trip

This week we cover the usuals plus we try something new. We'll talk about our recent training and how it's going plus our upcoming holiday to the big USA.

Then we have some voice memos from a few people who were at Kepler this weekend. Including Frances Redmond, Hannah Wall, Dan Jones, and the mighty Emma Steedman. Who all talk about their experiences racing.

That's not the only race we talk about though, California International Marathon was also this past weekend and Mal waxes poetic about her times...

Denika's Give A Little

In this episode Mal and Dwayne give an update on their training, and then get into talking about Danika's up coming trip to the big USA, where she'll be competing in the U20 World Cross Country Champs in Florida.

Denika was cool enough to even send us a voice memo on her up coming trip and how she qualified for this event. Hint! Hint! It was by running some kick ass speedy 5Km events on the road.

We hope you can give a little to help get her there!<...

Mal and Dwayne remonous about Kerikeri Half marathon. Dwayne does a race report on how his race went, including: pacing, fueling, and his mistakes.

The accountability arsehole segment strikes once again, this time generating a positive response. Well done Dan on completing your parkrun. But we expect more still.

Lastly Mal talks about her muscle mania gym day, what workouts they did in the gym. Plus some friendly and possibly dangerous weightlifting competitions.

Put on your buckles this one’s a fun one. We’ve got a quad pod! Bree and Nathan join us as they have been joining us for Mals Muscle Mania.

We talk about training updates for Bree recovering from a concussion, Nathan recovering from Achilles injuries, mal recovering from femur stress reaction, and Dwaynes week of running.

We discuss the upcoming Kerikeri Half marathon giving strategies for race tactics, fueling, shoes, and course.

We continue onward with our accountability asshole section, Dan we are...

Kia ora, haere mai

This is Chafing the Dream with Mal and Dwayne. We talk about Mal's return to running after a bone stress injury (femoral stress reaction). Mal shares her simple return to running program which can be found here if you want to use this:

https://www.fleetfeet.com/blog/how-to-use-the-run-walk-method?srsltid=AfmBOorojdGdWyRXViL1d3xAwAi1Bwt0Pc_j7AlE5w92ACE1ZQDv-tQp

Dwayne talks about how his training has been going and his insights on running in humidity, intuitively predicting your 5k time, and his workouts of the...

Kia ora

Thanks for tuning on this one. Although it is one of our longer waffling sessions it is a good one. We get some good laughs out of a few topics .

We start with the usual updates on training. Dwayne finally turning the corner after Taupo Ultra 50k and gearing up for Kerikeri half marathon. Mal talking about her weight training, cycling, and aqua jogging.

We talk about Auckland marathon mentions of some race results from Tui, Emma, and Crystal. We name the Top 3 female and 3 male Auckland marathon. Shout out to...

Episode 12 is herrrrrrrre.

Dwayne updates the audience on how his recovering is going after Taupo Ultra.

Mal shares her woes about training with her femur stress fracture. Basically loads of aqua jogging and sauna sessions.

3 Mailbag Questions discussed:

Below is the link for the workout playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/07ZJHWuOvmBKS8g4QDJZ6s?si=985af2ce1305417c

Here is a link to Stride Performance: https://strideperformance.co.nz

This episode, Dwayne and Mal are honoured to be joined by our good friend Hannah Thompson.

Hannah was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in her late 20s. She opens up about the early symptoms that led to her diagnosis, waking up with the loss of her vision, and the adjustments she’s made to live and run with Type 1.

Hannah shares what’s worked for her in managing blood sugars as a runner, some of her scariest moments with diabetes, and how others can better support someone living with Type 1.

Hannah previously a competitive swimmer...

Dwayne spends this episode to reflect on his A race of the year, Taupo Ultra. With the original plan to be racing the 100k he switches to the 50k race. However, he was quite disappointed by his results and how the race played out. This episode you can hear his tantrum unfold. Apparently he will never be doing an ultra again.

Enjoy the listen, comment on questions or uplifting ideas for runners that don't get to experience the post race buzz that so many look forward to.

Shout out...

Welcome to episode 9 of Chafing the Dream. Where Dwayne and Mal discuss their recent training, Mal's cross training regimen, Dwayne tapering for the Taupo Ultra Marathon, Emma's chafing on her neck, and answering some questions from YOU, our awesome listeners!!!

Questions were:

Our favourite running jokes.

How is Dwayne liking his Puma deviate elite 3s.

Who's lining up for Taupo from up north.

Plus Mal shares the story of her first applicant in her upcoming single mingle section, Crystal Fallows. She is welcoming applicants by messaging...

Heya

Welcome to another episode with Mal and Dwayne. We are an American Kiwi running couple. We usually talk about all things running. But sometimes will stray away.

In this episode we talk about returning to running after injury or illness (Dwayne’s GI distress practically losing all his shorts), updates on training, running while camping, strength training motivation, and teased our single mingle.

In this episode Mal and Dwayne talk about a recent article by Scott Johnston on developing muscular endurance. Plus we chat: Hive Energy, training and injury updates, and the essentials for doing your first Couch to 5K including a long debate on where to go to find the couch to 5k plans.

Muscular Endurance Article: https://evokeendurance.com/resources/muscular-endurance-all-you-need-to-know/

Support our gal Tamsin from Episode 2 to get to Kona. Use the link below 👇 to enter in her raffle. Dare I say some sweeeet prizes!!!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DOu...