About this episode

Sarah Billings discusses her journey as a middle-distance runner and her recent achievements leading up to the Commonwealth Games.

Sarah Billings is on fire! As we wait for Australia’s 2026 Commonwealth Games team to be announced, the Aussie middle-distance runner is well and truly in the mix for selection. Sarah sits down with Elise to discuss her recent form, including two massive PBs – a 3:58.81 in the 1500m at the Shanghai Diamond League, and a 1:57.61 in the 800m in Rabat, which is the second fastest time ever run by an Australian woman! But these results have been a long time in the making. Starting her career as a sprinter before moving into middle-distance in her junior years, Sarah has always been an excellent runner. But in her first years as a senior athlete, Sarah felt like she wasn’t getting the performances she had hoped for. Then the injuries hit. They hit hard. And repeatedly. When Sarah was able to finally break that injury cycle, she could at last string some good consistent training together and sought the help of a performance coach to work on her mental approach to racing. She said it’s made all the difference. We talk about what she learnt during those tough injury-riddled years, her breakout 2024 season, and how her persistence, mindset and consistency is now paying dividends in the…

People in this episode

Host: Elise Beacom

Guest: Sarah Billings

Topics covered

• middle-distance running
• athlete injuries
• performance coaching
• Commonwealth Games
• personal bests
• mental approach to racing

Keywords

• Sarah Billings
• middle-distance runner
• Commonwealth Games
• personal best
• injury recovery
• performance coaching
• mental approach
• running
• athletics

Sponsors

New Balance

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Melbourne Track Club

Places: Australia, Shanghai, Rabat

More episodes of Run With It

• 60: Andy Buchanan – First Australian at Sydney Marathon! · September 10, 2026 · 1h 17m
• 59: Caitlin Scott – Sydney Marathon Recap! · September 2, 2026 · 1h 8m
• 58: Tim Vincent – Sydney Marathon and the Art of Never Giving Up · August 23, 2026 · 1h 34m
• Sole Sisters – 27: Is It Possible to Love Running Too Much? · August 17, 2026 · 1h 8m
• 57: Jessica Stenson – 36 Weeks Pregnant and the Fire Is Back · August 9, 2026 · 59 min
• 56: Ed Marks – Fastest Australian Half Marathon Debut on the Gold Coast · July 19, 2026 · 59 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Run With It podcast page.