Marathon Talk, the UK’s leading running podcast, has celebrated reaching the milestone of 2 million downloads
The show, hosted by Martin Yelling and Tom Williams, was founded in 2010 to provide runners with weekly news, views and advice from the world of running. Marathon Talk also is a leading source of high quality, in-depth interviews. Its audio archives include numerous Olympic champions and World record holders, past and present. Marathon Talk has become a trusted, credible and respected voice within the UK and global running community. It has expanded rapidly into an engaged community of runners, with over 50,000 monthly downloads and 12,515 registered ‘Marathon Talkers’ in 190 countries.
As well as reaching 2 million downloads the show also reaches the milestone of 200 episodes next week, the highlight of which is an interview with world snooker champion and keen club runner Ronnie O’Sullivan. The success of the show, which is supported by adidas, is an example of the growing trend of on-demand digital tools, such as podcasts, supporting specialised communities online. Earlier this year Apple announced it had reached the milestone of one billion podcast subscriptions via its iTunes store. Marathon Talk is an iTunes rated 5 star podcast and regularly the top running podcast within the sports and recreation section of iTunes in the UK.
Commenting on reaching the milestone of two million downloads, Martin Yelling said: “When Marathon Talk started we wanted to provide runners with entertainment, a trusted source of support, a family of friends who enjoyed running, and to inspire more people to start running, continue running, and improve their running. Four years, 200 shows and 2 million downloads on, we have a loyal community of runners who listen, engage and feedback on everything we do. The show has become a great example of why podcasting is such a powerful tool in creating highly engaged digital communities.”
Tom Williams added: “Our listeners are as much part of the show as Martin and I, and provide an wonderful stream of quality content, as well as ideas for the future direction of the show.”
Marathon Talk hosts regular digital participation challenges. Runner’s in the show’s Jantastic challenge, designed to boost motivation and participation, completed and registered 125,000 runs between January and March 2013. The Magic Mile challenge saw listeners create over 100 Magic Mile events and run and log one single mile as fast as they can in effort to improve their running over all distances.
For more details about Marathon Talk visit www.marathontalk.com
