About this episode

Haftu Strintzos shares his journey from a shepherd in Ethiopia to becoming an Australian marathon record holder, discussing resilience and key moments in his athletic career.

Meet your new Australian Record holder in the marathon!!!! Haftu Strintzos ran 2:06:20 on the Gold Coast last Sunday to break Andy Buchanan's previous record by two seconds. In case you missed it, this episode recorded in 2025 is essential listening and gives context to Haftu's incredible result over the weekend. -- Haftu Strintzos spent the first years of his life as a shepherd in mountainous Tigray in northern Ethiopia. He cared for sheep and cows and played hopscotch (the Tigrayan version) with the other shepherds. Now an Asics-sponsored athlete, with his sights on representing Australia in the marathon, Haftu has the most incredible story brimming with resilience and perspective. But to understand how he got from A to B, you’ll just have to listen to this episode. Haftu talks about some defining moments of his athletic career so far, including running for Villanova University in the US, finishing first Australian across the line at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Serbia, winning the 10,000m at the 2024 Oceania Athletics Championships and achieving silver in the 5,000m. After his half marathon debut in Melbourne last year (62:24), Haftu followed up with a…

People in this episode

Host: Elise Beacom

Guest: Haftu Strintzos

Topics covered

• resilience
• marathon running
• athletic career
• injury recovery
• personal story
• record breaking

Keywords

• Haftu Strintzos
• marathon
• Australian record
• resilience
• athletic career
• injury
• running

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Asics

Places: Tigray, Australia, Gold Coast, Serbia, Melbourne, Marugame

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• 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

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