TFTV Rat Race ft. Dane Ottesen & Liam Manton

TFTV Rat Race ft. Dane Ottesen & Liam Manton

From Tales from the Valley Podcast by talesfromthevalleypodcast

April 15, 2026 · 1h 15m · Episode 127

About this episode

Sam interviews Dane Ottesen and Liam Manton about their marathon training and upcoming races.

Sam catches up with Dane Ottesen and Liam Manton just two weeks out from the Ballarat Marathon. The last time we spoke with Dane was after his 2:46 marathon debut at Ballarat last year. Since then, he’s settled into a new routine with JT Running and built into this block while balancing a new job and fresh Sydney Park routes. Dane talks us through his latest week, featuring a session of 6 minutes, 7 x 600m, 6 minutes, and a big Sunday long run of 30km at 4:12/km, including marathon effort blocks of 8k, 6k, and 4k. He’s lining up with his sights firmly set on breaking 2:40. Liam last joined us after his marathon PB at the Sunshine Coast Marathon. Since then, he’s dipped well into the 16-minute range for 5k and tackled the Gold Coast 50k. Now working with coach Sarah Billings, Liam has put together an impressive marathon block—consistently hitting his paces and stacking multiple 3-hour long runs. He recaps a week including kilometre reps and a long run with marathon pace work, also targeting sub-2:40. Sam rounds out the episode with a solid 98km week, including 8 x 1km at 3:37/km, some quality track work, and a 36km long run. Café Kit of the Week Nike Lava Loop Half Tights Satisfy…

People in this episode

Host: Sam

Guests: Dane Ottesen, Liam Manton

Topics covered

  • marathon training
  • running techniques
  • athlete interviews
  • race preparation
  • running gear

Keywords

  • Ballarat Marathon
  • marathon training
  • running paces
  • long runs
  • 5k performance

Sponsors

Wollongong Running Festival

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: JT Running, Sarah Billings, Nike, Run Wollongong

Products: Nike Lava Loop Half Tights, Satisfy Running Hat, ASICS Metaspeed Edge

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