Planet Pulse Pacific

Damian Hall - Environmentalism Through Ultra Trail Running

Ben and Emma Season 4 Episode 19

In this episode, we chat with running legend Damian Hall, a record-breaking ultramarathon runner and athletics coach who has represented Great Britain and continues to achieve competitive results in some of the world’s toughest and gruelling races.

Damian is an experienced journalist and author of several books, including the award-nominated We Can’t Run Away From This, which examines the impact of running on our climate and ecological emergency. Damian is also a passionate (and very busy!) climate activist, a member of several environmental organisations and initiatives, and co-founder of The Green Runners.

Damian inspires any climate-conscious runner and prompts us to seriously consider our kit, food, and travel. Moreover, Damian helps us all identify - whether we are athletes or not - simple changes we can make to our behaviour for a cleaner, greener world and future.

In this episode, we discuss:

  • Damian’s background and achievements in ultramarathon running
  • What sparked Damian’s environmental activism
  • Damian’s latest book We Can’t Run Away From This
  • The surprising ecological impact of running
  • Positive environmental initiatives within the trail-running space
  • The Game Changer Sponsorship Pledge and walking your climate talk as an athlete
  • Embracing imperfect climate advocacy and the inevitability of being a climate hypocrite
  • The sustainability of large-scale sporting events
  • The power of sports and athletes to influence and change society
  • The Green Runners; A running community making changes for a fitter planet
  • Establishing Into Ultra to reduce the barriers to participation in ultrarunning
  • The importance of partaking in climate action for outdoor enthusiasts


To view all the links to the websites and documents, visit the show notes on our website. Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast, leave us a review and share this episode with your friends and family.

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To view all the links to the websites and documents, visit the show notes on our website.

Please support our work and enable us to deliver more content by buying us a coffee or becoming a member of Athletes for Nature.
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