October 7, 2025 • 40 mins
Episode Description:
Forty-one kilometres into a marathon, his body stopped... but somehow, he crossed the finish line.
In this unforgettable episode of Runbelievable, Joshie and Matty sit down with Hamid to hear the incredible running story of a marathon finish he doesn’t even remember, and the community spirit and sheer determination that carried him across the line.
From the build-up to race day, to the shocking collapse, to the surreal aftermath of piecing together what happened, Hamid’s journey is a powerful reminder of both the fragility and resilience of everyday runners.
In this episode:
- How Hamid first found his way into running
- The marathon where his body stopped at 41K
- The strangers who wouldn’t let him stop
- How his commitment to faith and running intersect
- What running means to Hamid today
Runbelievable — real runners, unreal stories.
Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rnblv_official/
Got a Runbelievable story or interested in being a guest on the show? Hit us up on socials or email us at joshua@runbelievable.au
🎧 New episodes drop fortnightly; hit follow so you don’t miss a lap!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Joshie (00:07):
You know what frustrates me, teenagers?
A couple of weeks ago, I wasbanging out a threshier sanding,
and there were about fiveteenagers strung out across the
path.
So as I s as I sandwich myselfbetween the kid on the far right
and the edge of the path, I letout this massive, like
exasperated groan.
Um, but then about 15 minuteslater, after I'd turned around,
(00:31):
who shall I see heading towardsme?
Those same five inconsiderateteenagers, they locked eyes with
me and I swear, oh no, here wego.
And as I ran past them, theyall went, uh.
Hello everybody, and welcome toRun Believable, the podcast
(00:51):
where everyday runners sharetheir not-so-everyday stories.
I'm your host, Josh Christian,and I'm here to bring you
stories of grit, glory, andovercoming adversity.
Each episode we'll dive deepinto what first got people
running and what keeps themlacing up day after day.
From the laughs and the lessonsto avoiding tight festivals,
we're here to share what makesrunning a truly human
(01:14):
experience.
And later in this episode,you'll meet a runner who's truly
pushed himself to breakingpoint.
Trust me, you don't want tomiss this one.
Maddie, welcome back.
I don't know about you, but I'mreally looking forward to this
episode.
Matty (01:27):
Yeah, yeah, thanks for having me.
And I am as well.
Um I've seen our guest uh runum and seen him achieve certain
things, but um it'd be good justto talk to him because I I um
know very little about hisbackstory, so be good.
Joshie (01:44):
Yeah, really, really can't wait to get him in.
Uh I know he's patientlywaiting, so let's keep things
moving right along.
We're gonna jump into the Runbelievable rundown.
Now, Maddie, we're here forthis segment to share
highlights, mishaps, and littlewins, really the s sort of stuff
that Strava doesn't capture.
Yep.
Um, and you know whatfrustrates me?
(02:06):
What's that?
Teenagers.
And I'm not talking about I'mnot necessarily talking about my
own kids.
Um a couple of weeks ago, I wasum, I don't think I've told you
this, I was banging out ofthreshold at Sandgate and there
were about five teenagers strungout across the path.
Yeah, and I certainly made itknown to them uh purely by by
(02:28):
some slightly exaggeratedhuffing and puffing that the
runner was back.
Um, but they were unmoved,yeah, completely unmoved.
Yeah.
So as I as I sandwiched myselfbetween the kid on the far right
and the edge of the path, I letout this massive, like
exasperated groan.
Um and I thought I thoughtnothing of it um at the time,
(02:53):
but yeah, I certainly certainlymade it known that um that I was
there.
Um but then about 15 minuteslater, after I'd turned around
and I was running back to whereI'd started, where I'd parked
the car, lo and behold, whoshall I see heading towards me?
Those same five inconsiderateteenagers still daisy chained
across the path.
Oh, now this time there wasn'tany need for me to let out any
(03:17):
sort of exaggerated grunts.
They could see me coming, um,but I sort of naively thought
that they'd be in their ownlittle world, as you know, many
teenagers um seem to be.
But nah, they engaged, theylocked eyes with me, and they
all smiled at the same time as Igot closer.
And I said, Oh no, here we go.
And as I ran past them inunison, they all went, uh Oh,
(03:42):
really?
Like, surely I don't sound likethat when I run.
But um anyway, yeah.
They got me big time.
So, random teenagers, if youhappen to be listening to this
podcast, if we even know what apodcast is, um I'm certainly
glad that I gave you some worthymaterial.
Now, let's keep moving along,Maddie, because we've got our
(04:04):
next guest patiently waiting forus.
Um and certainly if there'ssomething that you would like to
contribute to the unbelievablerundown, please send it our way.
Any story is a story worthsharing.
Matty (04:17):
Exactly.
Joshie (04:18):
Now, Maddie, I know you're excited.
I am, I am.
Over and under is back.
I'm gonna try and trip you upthis time because you're three
from three.
Matty (04:30):
Yeah, don't you're running trivia, mate.
I'm I'm on fire.
Joshie (04:35):
Yeah, you are on fire, and um I've got these like
awesome uh great um uh soundeffects ready for you know when
you get a correct answer andwhen you get the incorrect
answer.
And we and we haven't had wehaven't had an opportunity to
test the um incorrect answersound effects.
So for that reason alone, I'mreally, really keen to see you
get one wrong.
So just a quick reminder, I'mgoing to throw out a running
(04:59):
related stat or bit of trivia,and Maddie has to guess if the
real number is over or under.
And feel free to play along athome.
And I don't know why I've donethis, because this is your area
of expertise running shoes.
Matty (05:15):
Oh, gee.
Okay.
Yeah.
I have to get these right.
Yep, let's go.
Joshie (05:22):
Question number one.
And there are sources which Ican provide for each of these
answers, so you're just gonnahave to trust me that it's
around.
The the average daily trainerweighs, and this is per shoot
based on the you all knows it'ssize nine.
Matty (05:37):
Is that what they tend to Yeah, then it's normally size
nine, yeah.
Joshie (05:40):
All right.
Is that a US nine or a UK?
It's a US nine.
There we go.
Geez, I think I'm alreadystuffed.
Okay, the average daily trainerweighs 200 grams.
Is the correct answer, the truestat higher or lower for the
average daily trainer?
Matty (05:57):
Higher.
Joshie (05:58):
Yeah, you said that with confidence, correctly.
200, 250.
Actually, I shouldn't have saidthe I should have got you to
have a guess.
250 grams is the average weightof a daily trainer.
Okay, uh and this is across theglobe.
There was a study that wasconducted.
The proportion of marathonfinishers wearing carbon-plated
(06:19):
shoes is at 35%.
Is the real answer higher orlower?
Matty (06:27):
I would say lower.
But that's a guess.
Joshie (06:32):
You are correct.
Matty (06:33):
Yeah, yeah.
Joshie (06:35):
The real answer is 25%.
However, at majors such asBoston, Chicago, and now Sydney,
the ratio or the percentage ofpeople wearing carbon-plated
shoes is a bit higher, closer to45%.
But the average across theglobe for marathons, at least
for those that were can umincluded in this study, was um
(06:57):
25%.
Question number three, I reallywant to use this incorrectly if
I sound worldwide, and Ibelieve that this was the last
stat was um two years ago.
Nike sells forty-one percent ofnew runners.
Is the real answer higher orlower?
Matty (07:20):
41% of new runners.
I'd say it's higher.
Joshie (07:26):
Finally, we have an incorrect answer.
The the um the correct stat is35%.
Matty (07:36):
Okay.
Joshie (07:37):
Now, going back, I think 10 years ago, if memory serves
correctly, Nike was selling over50% of new runners, but uh we
have a lot of relatively newplayers in the market now.
So yes, um, sitting at about35% at the moment.
Okay, how did you go at home?
Feel free to let us know.
Now, today's guest has a truetale of resilience.
(08:01):
He really is living proof thatthe mind is more capable than
what we think.
He has a story that I'm trulydying to explore.
So please let's all welcomeHamid.
Hamid, thanks for joining us.
How does it feel to be a gueston Run Believable?
Hamid (08:17):
Thank you, guys, thank you, Josh, thank you, Matt.
Matty (08:20):
No worries.
Hamid (08:21):
Yeah, yeah, I'm really excited to be here.
Uh running uh is yeah, I alwayssay, has I always has become uh
such a big part of my lifethese days.
And yeah, it's nice to be ableto share part of that story with
you guys.
Matty (08:37):
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Joshie (08:39):
Yeah, when did I first get into yeah?
Well when did you first getinto running Hermaid?
Hamid (08:46):
Uh to be honest, uh I'm I can say that I'm relatively new
to running.
I I heard the concept ofsomething I had about Parkrun
around 2015.
Uh and I'm thankful to Mina, mywife, who introduced Parkrun to
me and uh yeah, she startedrunning before me.
(09:11):
And uh for the first yeah, wehave we have our kids yeah the
2010 15-2017.
For the first few years I wasthe uh I was taking care of kids
most of the time.
And I I used to play soccer.
(09:32):
Uh Mina was running and uh Ihad uh my time for soccer and
Mina had time for running.
Uh but I I I joined parkrunscasually.
Uh but to be honest, the firstuh good experience that I had
with park run with running wasMina's first full marathon.
(09:55):
Uh it was in Sunshine Coast 20,I think, 22.
Yeah.
Yeah, at the time yeah, shelost her mom uh uh a few months
before the marathon and I knewthat she need some sort of uh
(10:16):
mental support, something tomake herself busy with and the
best thing that I found for herwas uh continuing her journey
with marathon and uh really Iencouraged her to continue her
training for marathon and to behonest when I saw the supportive
community and the nice peoplein around running I really
(10:41):
enjoyed running even more thanSokka at the time.
And uh to be honest, one of thethings as yeah, I I came I I'm
originally from Iran and one ofthe concerns that I always had
with kids here in Australia wasfinding a community that I can
trust and let my kids grow inand running a community.
(11:05):
Running I found lots of lovelypeople, lots of supportive,
lovely people that they each ofthem can be a good uh idol for
my kids to grow because runningis not easy and every every
every each of us who do runninguh we are uh we are winners, we
(11:31):
are champions at our at our ownlevel because every day getting
up and getting out and runningand fighting with our the
background part of our our mind,our brain who tries his best to
convince us to stop.
I think yeah, finishing a runis a win by itself.
Matty (11:53):
Yeah, and yeah, you've kind of summed it up, like why
we run.
Um I got goosebumps for mid.
Like that's yeah, you you'veexplained it perfectly, and I
mean that that's kind of eventhough it's your story, that's
kind of universal.
Um amazing, yeah.
Hamid (12:11):
Yeah.
Joshie (12:12):
And I think one thing, Hamid, I mean, you mentioned,
you know, um Mina having losther mum in the in the lead up to
um the Sunshine Coast Marathonin 2022.
I think you know, it's it'samazing how easy it is to
overlook the um the journey justto get to the start line and
(12:34):
you know um the the amount oftraining and the dedication um
that goes into preparing for anevent.
And it doesn't matter if it's amarathon or a half marathon or
anything, just the um, you know,what we have to um convince
ourselves um mentally that wethat we're ready, that we're
capable, and that we're preparedto put in the hard work.
I mean, uh that's a it's atough thing to sort of put in
(12:56):
all that all that training andto you know for um not be able
to go through with the with theevent.
And so I think it really doesshow a huge amount of resilience
um, you know, uh for for Minaand for yourself, um, as I guess
her her primary support to beable to convince her that it it
is it is okay to pull the pin umif um circumstances in your
(13:18):
life dictate otherwise um but tothen back that up and to keep
training because it's um it's ait's a tough thing to do, um
especially with uh a number ofother commitments that you have
in in life.
I mean, you mentioned you knowyou've got two young kids that I
uh I believe are both intorunning themselves.
I mean, how do you guys um goabout finding that balance
(13:40):
between you know full-time work,full-time parenting, and trying
to find time to fit runningnews?
Hamid (13:46):
Yeah, that is a million-dollar question.
Joshie (13:49):
Yeah.
Hamid (13:50):
To be honest, the main time that we have for our own
training is during the classes,usually.
And for instance, I drop off uhmy I I'm I'm more responsible
with my daughter, and Mina istaking care of the sun classes
because they have differentclasses.
For instance, my daughter shehas taken the classes twice a
(14:11):
week.
My main sessions in theafternoon is during the time
that I drop off her and I haveone hour for my own run.
Matty (14:20):
Okay.
Hamid (14:21):
And sometimes, yeah, we early in the morning before they
wake up, we can do our trainingand get back home before they
wake up.
And the it's more interesting,the most interesting part for me
is uh being able to run withthem.
My daughter is 10 and my son iseight years old, and yeah, my
(14:44):
son had almost 40 parkrunstoday.
I was checking on the 5k app, Ifound that he did 3940
parkruns, and my daughter shedid 39.
Means that yeah, you we usuallyenjoy running Saturdays
together, and thankfully theyare they're loving it.
Matty (15:05):
Yeah, that's good.
They love it.
That's great.
Joshie (15:08):
I can't believe that to have uh uh achieved 40 parkruns
by the age of eight.
I um that's that's phenomenal.
Um yeah.
Hamid (15:18):
But to be honest, their running is a luxury run because
we are support crew for them,handling water bottles for them,
giving pace to them, havinglollies for them.
We are trying our best toprovide good memories for them
because I know that it's aninvestment in the future.
If they like running, runningwill catch them and they catch
(15:40):
the hooch and they guarantee itfor the rest of their life.
Because to be honest, we ashuman, we are and our kids, we
are uh the main motivation thatwe have is dopamine.
Matty (15:54):
Uh that's exactly right.
Hamid (15:55):
Yeah, yeah, it's really important to help kids to find
their dopamine from a good way.
Matty (16:01):
A helping.
Hamid (16:03):
They will find dopamine from other ways if you cannot
give them the good alternatives.
Matty (16:08):
Yeah.
Joshie (16:10):
Yeah.
Oh, that's fantastic.
So um, Hamid, can you rememberyour first event, your first
running event, and um how howthat went for you?
Hamid (16:20):
The first event, uh, to be honest, the first park run
yeah, was uh a terrier for mebecause yeah, I was struggling
to finish it.
Uh yeah, for the first fewyears, uh my main goal was
running a park run withoutstopping.
Matty (16:37):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hamid (16:38):
Yeah, but if you if you if you specifically ask about
races, the first race that Ihad, I would say yeah, it was
Bridge to Brisbane, I think2018.
Matty (16:52):
Okay.
Hamid (16:53):
Yeah, something yeah, 2018.
Yeah, it was the first racethat I participated here in
Australia.
Yeah, yeah.
I I was so proud that I couldfinish it in 55 minutes or so.
Yeah, because yeah, I tried tohave some training before that,
but yeah, it was it was a goodgood memory.
(17:16):
Uh yeah, the the mostinteresting part of that running
was the fastest part of runningthat I had because I had I I I
at the time I recently purchaseda smartwatch and it was
tracking heart rate and yeah,pace and that sort of things.
And when I when I was checkingthe heart rate, the highest
heart rate that I had at thetime was the time that I was
(17:39):
running to catch the train toget to the event.
Because at the time we were inbundle, and there was only one
train that was supposed to be atthe station around 4:30, and
when I was getting close to thetrain, I saw the lights of the
(18:00):
train coming.
We had to run around 1k to getto the station.
Matty (18:05):
So you would have run 48 minutes in that race if you
didn't have to run at that runfor the train.
Hamid (18:11):
Yeah, maybe it was interesting.
The fastest part that I had wasthe part that I had to catch
the train.
Joshie (18:18):
Oh, that's fantastic.
The bridge to Brisbane, forthose who don't know, is um is a
10-kilometer uh event, and umuh from what you're telling us,
Hamid, your first bridge toBrisbane was actually closer to
14 or 15 kilometers.
Um Hamid, how would youdescribe uh what uh running
(18:38):
means to you today?
What what does it give you bothum both physically and and
mentally?
Hamid (18:44):
Uh from my side, if I want to talk about the the the
both area that you mentioned,physically and mentally was
related to my own, myself.
For me, running gives me morebecause it gives me the
opportunity to be in acommunity.
And as a as an immigrant, Icame originally from Iran.
(19:05):
And as an immigrant inAustralia, having a supportive
community, a community, some abunch of like-minded people that
we can talk exactly uh isreally valuable.
Um and yeah, running gave methat opportunity.
It gave me the opportunity toenjoy and having exercise beside
(19:25):
my family.
Because when, for instance,when I was when I when I used to
play soccer, I had I was aloneand my wife was alone, kids were
supposed to be alone, or weyeah, I I was detached from
family, and now today morning wewent to a new park run, it was
a tourist park, and uh and weare trying to do it every
(19:49):
Saturday uh morning, and this isthis is a good opportunity.
Um regarding person, also it'suh it's running running to me.
I think previously we had aquick chat about it.
Running to me is more mentalthan physical.
It is physically important.
Since I started running, Iwould say around from two two
(20:12):
years ago.
The story of starting runningis interesting because I since I
came to Australia, I used toplay soccer or football.
Australia, Australia they callit soccer.
Um and I till 2022 I played atclub level.
I I think I was a good player,but in 2022 the knee started
(20:39):
getting complaining, and youknow, when I chased it, it was
an ACL issue, it's getting to beclose to be a real problem.
So I decided to give it a rest.
And instead of soccer, I Isaid, okay, I will run for a
year and give some rest to myknee and get back to soccer
after that.
But yeah, that's the hook.
(21:01):
Um, I couldn't get back.
And I really enjoyed, I reallyenjoyed running, and since then
I am enjoying it more and more.
And it was interesting, itmight be some of the audience
might have the the opinion thatI had before about running.
Uh, because I used to believethat running is a boring sport.
(21:24):
It doesn't make sense becausewhen we play when you play
soccer, you communicate directlywith lots of people, it's a
teamwork, and I couldn't believethat someone could run without
having that much chat or beingalone.
But now I completely changed mymind.
Running is not that you get youhave you can't find your best
(21:45):
friends in running.
Matty (21:46):
Yeah, and I've I've been to park runs where you've been
and you've sort of come past mewhen I've been running with my
son, and the encouragement thatyou give, it's kind of it's it's
unlike no other.
It's and you did it at anotherrace, which I was running a 5K
race with my son.
And you you talk and encourage,and it actually is quite
(22:07):
uplifting wh while you'rerunning.
And I don't know if you've everheard that from anyone, but um,
and I know at a park run youdid it another time, and it was,
you know, it was veryuplifting, and even my my son um
commented on it.
Hamid (22:21):
So thank you.
Matty (22:22):
Yeah, that's good.
Hamid (22:24):
Because I believe these guys they are doing great, and
they need they need to have goodexperience because because it's
an investment.
It's an investment in future,they will definitely appreciate
this sort of investmentinvestment.
Because to be honest, myself, Istarted my my my father is was
(22:48):
uh I would say mountain climbingor hiking uh person.
So since we were young, heencouraged us and supported us
doing mountain climbing orhiking with him.
And yeah, when I grew up, Ifound the value of that initial
investment that he put on me andhelped me to enjoy from the
(23:13):
dopamine of uh healthy sportoptions.
And I believe yeah, these guys,yeah, young kids, they are
under pressure, and it's reallyvaluable that they are they can
control themselves, they canmanage the pressure, they
continue, they do not give up.
It's really valuable.
They need the support.
Matty (23:35):
Yeah, definitely.
Joshie (23:36):
And what you're saying uh uh just before, Hamid, about
the perception of running beinga an individual, almost boring
kind of activity.
Um, you know, I certainly hadthe same thought.
It almost seems paradoxicalthat an activity that is
inherently individual can stillfeel like you're part of a
collaborative and supportivecommunity.
(23:58):
It's um it's it seems to bequite ironic that something that
we typically only have asunique, uniquely individual
goals, we can still feel thatwe're being so well supported by
by a team.
Um I think you know, for forthose of us who have been part
(24:19):
of events, whether it's a youknow, a marathon, a half
marathon, or even just a parkrun, um, just the the feeling of
euphoria as we have our ourfriends and our colleagues in
the community cheering us overthe the finish line or helping
us out when we're we're having aa tough moment.
Um and Hamid, what I really wasum keen to explore with you
(24:40):
whilst we still have you on thecall is um a true tale of
resilience and community.
Um it's not just uh beingcheered on.
You have um physically had therunning community help you
across the finish line.
Um we we absolutely exploreyour um yeah, your your Gold
Coast um uh marathon effort thisyear.
(25:01):
What what can you tell us aboutthat?
What can you remember?
If you can remember much of theevent.
Hamid (25:07):
Yes, I can remember now.
I saw the photos.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I can say that yeah, forthe Gold Coast Marathon, uh
yeah, this year, this year I hadthe opportunity, and I can say
that I had the blessing to yeah,it was yeah, there are there
are lots of lots of blessings inour life that we are we
(25:28):
sometimes consider them asgranted.
But you have to appreciate theopportunities and the blessings
that we have in our life.
Uh I had the opportunity to runthree uh half marathons and uh
one full marathon, and the fullmarathon was the main race for
me this season, which was GoldCoast.
(25:50):
Uh the for Gold Coast, the mygoal was uh last year, sorry,
2024 was my first uh GoldMarathon in Gold Coast.
And yeah, around 24 everythingwas good.
I think even uh my plan wasrunning around uh SOP-4.
(26:14):
My main plan was running subfour means then pace of 540, 41.
It was uh a pace for getting tothat time.
Um and everything was gooduntil sorry, 2024.
Uh everything was good untilkilometer 24, 25, suddenly all
(26:34):
my all the muscles in my my bothlegs, all of them cramped
together.
And yeah, and yeah, I couldn'tachieve the time that I was
looking for.
Yeah, I continued, I didn'tgive up.
Uh because to me, to me,running is not only physical, it
is uh it is the fight that yourprefrontal cortex always have
(27:00):
with the uh with the back ofyour brain.
And uh I I I continued but Ikept the goal alive for myself
for this year to achieve thesoftware this year, and I had a
good training.
And I I get experts' advice andI had a proper training,
(27:23):
everything was good to someextent and went on plan.
For the gold course marathon,the day of gold course marathon.
I'm not sure if you guysremember the temperature of the
day of running the gold the racewas I think five degrees more
than the temp the day before andthe day after.
Matty (27:44):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
I remember that.
Hamid (27:48):
Yeah, and I but I didn't know that my body is so
sensitive to that merchant.
I knew that from from previousrounds, I knew that when the
temperature when it's gettingwarm, my heart rate increases uh
exponentially when it's gettingwarmer, but I didn't see the
real impact.
(28:08):
Uh but in the go in the goldcoast run this year, uh
everything was on plan.
I went over my goal was runningaround uh 530.
And if I and conservatively,and for the last 10k picking up
the pace and ideally evenfinishing by 520.
(28:31):
And I for up to K 30 3233,everything was fine, and there
was a nice uh lovely rain eventcoming, and it was so lovely.
But unfortunately, after thatrain, the sun came out, yeah.
The humidity combined with thewarmer weather, yeah, it made
(28:57):
everything uh much moredifficult.
And uh yeah, I I tried tocontinue.
I I didn't want to give up.
Uh and I I tried to pick up thepace, but or at least maintain
the pace.
And to be honest, I cannotremember the from what happened
(29:18):
between 41 and uh the end line.
I can remember some some somevery short points that for
instance I can remember when themarathon finished based on my
watch.
42.2 finished that point.
But I can I cannot rememberafter that, and I can remember
(29:41):
that some some kind peoplehelped me and picked me up and
we ran together, but seems thatI dropped again after that.
Anyway, the dehydration.
And uh I would say I to be tobe honest, I cannot call it, I'm
not sure what is the propercall for it because it was not
dehydration, it was more towardgetting the body get warm and in
(30:05):
order to make itself.
Cool the blood came to skin tomake everything cool and there
the blood there isn't thereisn't any blood for other parts
of the body including brain.
Including the brain and yeah,seems that I finished.
(30:26):
Seems that I finished SOP 4means that I did one time.
But not in a perfect condition.
Yeah, at that time I found thatseems that my brain is stronger
than my body.
So I have to work on my body.
Yeah.
Joshie (30:47):
Oh wow.
There's actually footage um afinish line, Cam of um of you
being um assisted over the thefinish line.
I mean, if if anyone ever wantsto dispute the veracity of your
claims, um they can watch thisvideo.
It is it is incredible towatch.
Um for you to still find somestrength in your legs to you
(31:10):
know with with some assistanceget over the finish line.
My goodness, it's um trulyawesome.
Hamid (31:16):
Yeah, yeah, thank you.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Definitely I will go for uhmarathon again, but not the gold
coaster.
Or if I want to go for goldcoast, I have to finish it
before 9 a.m.
Joshie (31:36):
I'm sure you're capable of that, Hamid.
You've really really provenyourself to be extraordinarily
resilient in that sort ofattitude of saying, well, you
know, um, you know, the the themind was stronger than the body,
so I've just got to make thebody stronger.
I mean, you seem to beincredibly philosophical about
that experience.
Um one thing that you've umsort of made mention of um in in
(31:57):
the catch-up you and I hadbefore today was um about your
faith and how faith is importantto you.
Um how how do you go aboutfinding a way to still um uh
recognise and honour theimportance that your faith has
in your life and um how sort ofrunning intersects with that?
Hamid (32:16):
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, and yeah, I am Muslim.
Um yeah, and yeah, sometimes,yeah, for instance, some some is
some and I have constraints inmy training season, but for
instance Ramadan, yes, one monththat we are fasting, and it's
uh yeah, it interrupts thetraining season.
(32:37):
Although the last last uh yearI uh I was able to run uh 7k but
easy pace usually before sunsetbecause after that I could
drink and eat something.
But uh once the the in in Islamin in Quran uh Allah said uh in
(32:59):
the Akramakum and the Allah atAlkum.
It means uh the most valuableperson between us is the person
who can control himself.
Self-control, self-disciplineis the most valuable thing that
we can develop as humans to umbe valuable.
(33:24):
And if you look at if if youzoom out and uh from our daily
life, it's completely truebecause those who achieve uh
valuable uh achievements orthose kind people, those those
people who are who are good,good people or the most
successful people, notnecessarily financially or based
(33:45):
on the uh the the simplefactors that some people might
consider someone successful ornot successful.
The real good and successfulpeople are those people who can
control themselves.
Matty (33:58):
That's right.
Hamid (33:59):
And running is a good example, a good very good
exercise for self-control andself-discipline.
Range from being committed to atraining course or waking up,
let's say 4 a.m.
and committing yourself to do adifficult speech session before
(34:19):
starting a full-time job.
Yeah, these commitments, thesedisciplines, and even during the
run, the fight that theprefrontal cortex always have uh
with uh the the the back ofyour brain who's responsible for
surviving the us.
This this battle, this fight, Ibelieve it is a it's a it's a
(34:45):
it's the best way to make ourmakes our more human than
animal.
Joshie (34:51):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Definitely.
And so it it sounds as thoughuh me, the commitment that you
have to your faith and thecommitment you have to your
running sort of help to sort ofuh that they they feed off each
other.
It sounds as though you'reyou're a better runner, a more
committed runner because of yourdedication to your faith, and
vice versa.
Hamid (35:10):
Yep, exactly.
And I believe yeah, one of themain reasons that I encourage my
kids to run at at this stagethey don't have any faith, they
haven't yet to the point to maketheir own decision.
But running will help them tobe able to control themselves.
Running is helped them to bedisciplined, to be committed to
(35:33):
their goals.
Although it's difficult, themost valuable thing that they
don't give up, they continue.
I don't care what their pace.
The most important is when it'sthen when it's pains, they
continue.
That's the most valuable thing.
Joshie (35:46):
Yeah, yeah.
Matty (35:47):
Yeah.
Joshie (35:47):
Oh, that's fantastic.
And they um oh sorry, Maddie,you go ahead.
Matty (35:51):
No, I was just gonna say there's so many life lessons
that um you gain from running,and you don't um understand or
have any knowledge that you'regoing to gain those until you
actually start.
Um, you know, I've learned somuch over the last couple of
years, it's unbelievable.
Um, yeah, yeah, it's it'sreally good.
Joshie (36:10):
So looking ahead to um 2026, Hamid, what's on the um
what's on the horizon for you?
Is there anything you've gotyour site set on running wise?
Hamid (36:19):
Yeah, yeah.
Uh for for this isn't finishedfor me.
Uh I thought tomorrow I I willpush.
Uh aiming for probably 47.
I yeah, if I if I assume 47 uhfor in in 10k tomorrow, should
be fine for me becauseconsidering the hilly race
(36:41):
course that you expect.
But uh but for now I um I'm inmy building phase.
Yeah, in my building phase, I'mI'm trying to make myself
faster.
I'll work on uh making myimproving my threshold phase.
Uh next year I probably I amplanning for uh another marathon
(37:06):
uh in maybe hopefully inMelbourne or Sydney.
In August and yeah, during thebuild session I will go for a
trail marathon in New Zealand,in FEP, uh which is a good I
(37:26):
think building phase becauseyeah the muscles need to get
stronger, and I think trail runhelps it helps it a lot.
And I really missed those trailhikes that I previously had
back in Iran.
And hopefully this New Zealandhike or trail will uh revive
(37:47):
some of those memories, and Iget definitely much better
memories.
Next year, yeah, they probablythe plan is Frisman half,
sunshine half, low cost half.
Yeah, but the main race for mewill be uh full marathon in
(38:08):
Sydney or Melbourne, depends onwhere I can have a chance.
Matty (38:11):
That's awesome.
Hamid (38:13):
But in terms of the short-term plan, yeah, getting
faster, ideally improving my 5ktime.
I think that I can achievesubtraining someday, but it's
probably won't happen thisseason.
Still, I have to work on it.
Joshie (38:31):
And I think as the weather's getting a bit warmer,
those opportunities to run afast 5k are starting to
diminish.
Um look, um Hamid, thanks somuch for joining us on Run
Believable.
It really has been been a joyspeaking to you.
And um, yeah, we we wish youall all the best of success in
the future with your running andother goals.
And yeah, it's um it's been atrue joy to speak to you today.
Matty (38:56):
Yeah, it's been great.
Hamid (38:57):
Thank you for your time.
Thank you.
Cheers.
Joshie (39:00):
Now, Maddie, I don't know about you, but I'm truly
inspired by Hamid's story.
Matty (39:04):
Yeah, I very I very much am as well.
Um, I think it's yeah, it'sincredible.
It was great to hear.
Um he's yeah, when I listen toit, he he he's he's got
everything um sort of structuredand worked out.
Um and I just sort of look atmyself and go, oh, maybe I need
to do that.
(39:25):
Um, you know, and he's did he'sbeen running so well uh this
year yesterday.
Joshie (39:31):
You know, he's eight-year-olds he's got twice
as many parts.
Have you got a one-colorablestory of your mind we're doing?
You know what frustrates me, teenagers?
A couple of weeks ago, I wasbanging out a threshier sanding,
and there were about fiveteenagers strung out across the
path.
So as I s as I sandwich myselfbetween the kid on the far right
and the edge of the path, I letout this massive, like
exasperated groan.
Um, but then about 15 minuteslater, after I'd turned around,
(00:31):
who shall I see heading towardsme?
Those same five inconsiderateteenagers, they locked eyes with
me and I swear, oh no, here wego.
And as I ran past them, theyall went, uh.
Hello everybody, and welcome toRun Believable, the podcast
(00:51):
where everyday runners sharetheir not-so-everyday stories.
I'm your host, Josh Christian,and I'm here to bring you
stories of grit, glory, andovercoming adversity.
Each episode we'll dive deepinto what first got people
running and what keeps themlacing up day after day.
From the laughs and the lessonsto avoiding tight festivals,
we're here to share what makesrunning a truly human
(01:14):
experience.
And later in this episode,you'll meet a runner who's truly
pushed himself to breakingpoint.
Trust me, you don't want tomiss this one.
Maddie, welcome back.
I don't know about you, but I'mreally looking forward to this
episode.
Matty (01:27):
Yeah, yeah, thanks for having me.
And I am as well.
Um I've seen our guest uh runum and seen him achieve certain
things, but um it'd be good justto talk to him because I I um
know very little about hisbackstory, so be good.
Joshie (01:44):
Yeah, really, really can't wait to get him in.
Uh I know he's patientlywaiting, so let's keep things
moving right along.
We're gonna jump into the Runbelievable rundown.
Now, Maddie, we're here forthis segment to share
highlights, mishaps, and littlewins, really the s sort of stuff
that Strava doesn't capture.
Yep.
Um, and you know whatfrustrates me?
(02:06):
What's that?
Teenagers.
And I'm not talking about I'mnot necessarily talking about my
own kids.
Um a couple of weeks ago, I wasum, I don't think I've told you
this, I was banging out ofthreshold at Sandgate and there
were about five teenagers strungout across the path.
Yeah, and I certainly made itknown to them uh purely by by
(02:28):
some slightly exaggeratedhuffing and puffing that the
runner was back.
Um, but they were unmoved,yeah, completely unmoved.
Yeah.
So as I as I sandwiched myselfbetween the kid on the far right
and the edge of the path, I letout this massive, like
exasperated groan.
Um and I thought I thoughtnothing of it um at the time,
(02:53):
but yeah, I certainly certainlymade it known that um that I was
there.
Um but then about 15 minuteslater, after I'd turned around
and I was running back to whereI'd started, where I'd parked
the car, lo and behold, whoshall I see heading towards me?
Those same five inconsiderateteenagers still daisy chained
across the path.
Oh, now this time there wasn'tany need for me to let out any
(03:17):
sort of exaggerated grunts.
They could see me coming, um,but I sort of naively thought
that they'd be in their ownlittle world, as you know, many
teenagers um seem to be.
But nah, they engaged, theylocked eyes with me, and they
all smiled at the same time as Igot closer.
And I said, Oh no, here we go.
And as I ran past them inunison, they all went, uh Oh,
(03:42):
really?
Like, surely I don't sound likethat when I run.
But um anyway, yeah.
They got me big time.
So, random teenagers, if youhappen to be listening to this
podcast, if we even know what apodcast is, um I'm certainly
glad that I gave you some worthymaterial.
Now, let's keep moving along,Maddie, because we've got our
(04:04):
next guest patiently waiting forus.
Um and certainly if there'ssomething that you would like to
contribute to the unbelievablerundown, please send it our way.
Any story is a story worthsharing.
Matty (04:17):
Exactly.
Joshie (04:18):
Now, Maddie, I know you're excited.
I am, I am.
Over and under is back.
I'm gonna try and trip you upthis time because you're three
from three.
Matty (04:30):
Yeah, don't you're running trivia, mate.
I'm I'm on fire.
Joshie (04:35):
Yeah, you are on fire, and um I've got these like
awesome uh great um uh soundeffects ready for you know when
you get a correct answer andwhen you get the incorrect
answer.
And we and we haven't had wehaven't had an opportunity to
test the um incorrect answersound effects.
So for that reason alone, I'mreally, really keen to see you
get one wrong.
So just a quick reminder, I'mgoing to throw out a running
(04:59):
related stat or bit of trivia,and Maddie has to guess if the
real number is over or under.
And feel free to play along athome.
And I don't know why I've donethis, because this is your area
of expertise running shoes.
Matty (05:15):
Oh, gee.
Okay.
Yeah.
I have to get these right.
Yep, let's go.
Joshie (05:22):
Question number one.
And there are sources which Ican provide for each of these
answers, so you're just gonnahave to trust me that it's
around.
The the average daily trainerweighs, and this is per shoot
based on the you all knows it'ssize nine.
Matty (05:37):
Is that what they tend to Yeah, then it's normally size
nine, yeah.
Joshie (05:40):
All right.
Is that a US nine or a UK?
It's a US nine.
There we go.
Geez, I think I'm alreadystuffed.
Okay, the average daily trainerweighs 200 grams.
Is the correct answer, the truestat higher or lower for the
average daily trainer?
Matty (05:57):
Higher.
Joshie (05:58):
Yeah, you said that with confidence, correctly.
200, 250.
Actually, I shouldn't have saidthe I should have got you to
have a guess.
250 grams is the average weightof a daily trainer.
Okay, uh and this is across theglobe.
There was a study that wasconducted.
The proportion of marathonfinishers wearing carbon-plated
(06:19):
shoes is at 35%.
Is the real answer higher orlower?
Matty (06:27):
I would say lower.
But that's a guess.
Joshie (06:32):
You are correct.
Matty (06:33):
Yeah, yeah.
Joshie (06:35):
The real answer is 25%.
However, at majors such asBoston, Chicago, and now Sydney,
the ratio or the percentage ofpeople wearing carbon-plated
shoes is a bit higher, closer to45%.
But the average across theglobe for marathons, at least
for those that were can umincluded in this study, was um
(06:57):
25%.
Question number three, I reallywant to use this incorrectly if
I sound worldwide, and Ibelieve that this was the last
stat was um two years ago.
Nike sells forty-one percent ofnew runners.
Is the real answer higher orlower?
Matty (07:20):
41% of new runners.
I'd say it's higher.
Joshie (07:26):
Finally, we have an incorrect answer.
The the um the correct stat is35%.
Matty (07:36):
Okay.
Joshie (07:37):
Now, going back, I think 10 years ago, if memory serves
correctly, Nike was selling over50% of new runners, but uh we
have a lot of relatively newplayers in the market now.
So yes, um, sitting at about35% at the moment.
Okay, how did you go at home?
Feel free to let us know.
Now, today's guest has a truetale of resilience.
(08:01):
He really is living proof thatthe mind is more capable than
what we think.
He has a story that I'm trulydying to explore.
So please let's all welcomeHamid.
Hamid, thanks for joining us.
How does it feel to be a gueston Run Believable?
Hamid (08:17):
Thank you, guys, thank you, Josh, thank you, Matt.
Matty (08:20):
No worries.
Hamid (08:21):
Yeah, yeah, I'm really excited to be here.
Uh running uh is yeah, I alwayssay, has I always has become uh
such a big part of my lifethese days.
And yeah, it's nice to be ableto share part of that story with
you guys.
Matty (08:37):
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Joshie (08:39):
Yeah, when did I first get into yeah?
Well when did you first getinto running Hermaid?
Hamid (08:46):
Uh to be honest, uh I'm I can say that I'm relatively new
to running.
I I heard the concept ofsomething I had about Parkrun
around 2015.
Uh and I'm thankful to Mina, mywife, who introduced Parkrun to
me and uh yeah, she startedrunning before me.
(09:11):
And uh for the first yeah, wehave we have our kids yeah the
2010 15-2017.
For the first few years I wasthe uh I was taking care of kids
most of the time.
And I I used to play soccer.
(09:32):
Uh Mina was running and uh Ihad uh my time for soccer and
Mina had time for running.
Uh but I I I joined parkrunscasually.
Uh but to be honest, the firstuh good experience that I had
with park run with running wasMina's first full marathon.
(09:55):
Uh it was in Sunshine Coast 20,I think, 22.
Yeah.
Yeah, at the time yeah, shelost her mom uh uh a few months
before the marathon and I knewthat she need some sort of uh
(10:16):
mental support, something tomake herself busy with and the
best thing that I found for herwas uh continuing her journey
with marathon and uh really Iencouraged her to continue her
training for marathon and to behonest when I saw the supportive
community and the nice peoplein around running I really
(10:41):
enjoyed running even more thanSokka at the time.
And uh to be honest, one of thethings as yeah, I I came I I'm
originally from Iran and one ofthe concerns that I always had
with kids here in Australia wasfinding a community that I can
trust and let my kids grow inand running a community.
(11:05):
Running I found lots of lovelypeople, lots of supportive,
lovely people that they each ofthem can be a good uh idol for
my kids to grow because runningis not easy and every every
every each of us who do runninguh we are uh we are winners, we
(11:31):
are champions at our at our ownlevel because every day getting
up and getting out and runningand fighting with our the
background part of our our mind,our brain who tries his best to
convince us to stop.
I think yeah, finishing a runis a win by itself.
Matty (11:53):
Yeah, and yeah, you've kind of summed it up, like why
we run.
Um I got goosebumps for mid.
Like that's yeah, you you'veexplained it perfectly, and I
mean that that's kind of eventhough it's your story, that's
kind of universal.
Um amazing, yeah.
Hamid (12:11):
Yeah.
Joshie (12:12):
And I think one thing, Hamid, I mean, you mentioned,
you know, um Mina having losther mum in the in the lead up to
um the Sunshine Coast Marathonin 2022.
I think you know, it's it'samazing how easy it is to
overlook the um the journey justto get to the start line and
(12:34):
you know um the the amount oftraining and the dedication um
that goes into preparing for anevent.
And it doesn't matter if it's amarathon or a half marathon or
anything, just the um, you know,what we have to um convince
ourselves um mentally that wethat we're ready, that we're
capable, and that we're preparedto put in the hard work.
I mean, uh that's a it's atough thing to sort of put in
(12:56):
all that all that training andto you know for um not be able
to go through with the with theevent.
And so I think it really doesshow a huge amount of resilience
um, you know, uh for for Minaand for yourself, um, as I guess
her her primary support to beable to convince her that it it
is it is okay to pull the pin umif um circumstances in your
(13:18):
life dictate otherwise um but tothen back that up and to keep
training because it's um it's ait's a tough thing to do, um
especially with uh a number ofother commitments that you have
in in life.
I mean, you mentioned you knowyou've got two young kids that I
uh I believe are both intorunning themselves.
I mean, how do you guys um goabout finding that balance
(13:40):
between you know full-time work,full-time parenting, and trying
to find time to fit runningnews?
Hamid (13:46):
Yeah, that is a million-dollar question.
Joshie (13:49):
Yeah.
Hamid (13:50):
To be honest, the main time that we have for our own
training is during the classes,usually.
And for instance, I drop off uhmy I I'm I'm more responsible
with my daughter, and Mina istaking care of the sun classes
because they have differentclasses.
For instance, my daughter shehas taken the classes twice a
(14:11):
week.
My main sessions in theafternoon is during the time
that I drop off her and I haveone hour for my own run.
Matty (14:20):
Okay.
Hamid (14:21):
And sometimes, yeah, we early in the morning before they
wake up, we can do our trainingand get back home before they
wake up.
And the it's more interesting,the most interesting part for me
is uh being able to run withthem.
My daughter is 10 and my son iseight years old, and yeah, my
(14:44):
son had almost 40 parkrunstoday.
I was checking on the 5k app, Ifound that he did 3940
parkruns, and my daughter shedid 39.
Means that yeah, you we usuallyenjoy running Saturdays
together, and thankfully theyare they're loving it.
Matty (15:05):
Yeah, that's good.
They love it.
That's great.
Joshie (15:08):
I can't believe that to have uh uh achieved 40 parkruns
by the age of eight.
I um that's that's phenomenal.
Um yeah.
Hamid (15:18):
But to be honest, their running is a luxury run because
we are support crew for them,handling water bottles for them,
giving pace to them, havinglollies for them.
We are trying our best toprovide good memories for them
because I know that it's aninvestment in the future.
If they like running, runningwill catch them and they catch
(15:40):
the hooch and they guarantee itfor the rest of their life.
Because to be honest, we ashuman, we are and our kids, we
are uh the main motivation thatwe have is dopamine.
Matty (15:54):
Uh that's exactly right.
Hamid (15:55):
Yeah, yeah, it's really important to help kids to find
their dopamine from a good way.
Matty (16:01):
A helping.
Hamid (16:03):
They will find dopamine from other ways if you cannot
give them the good alternatives.
Matty (16:08):
Yeah.
Joshie (16:10):
Yeah.
Oh, that's fantastic.
So um, Hamid, can you rememberyour first event, your first
running event, and um how howthat went for you?
Hamid (16:20):
The first event, uh, to be honest, the first park run
yeah, was uh a terrier for mebecause yeah, I was struggling
to finish it.
Uh yeah, for the first fewyears, uh my main goal was
running a park run withoutstopping.
Matty (16:37):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hamid (16:38):
Yeah, but if you if you if you specifically ask about
races, the first race that Ihad, I would say yeah, it was
Bridge to Brisbane, I think2018.
Matty (16:52):
Okay.
Hamid (16:53):
Yeah, something yeah, 2018.
Yeah, it was the first racethat I participated here in
Australia.
Yeah, yeah.
I I was so proud that I couldfinish it in 55 minutes or so.
Yeah, because yeah, I tried tohave some training before that,
but yeah, it was it was a goodgood memory.
(17:16):
Uh yeah, the the mostinteresting part of that running
was the fastest part of runningthat I had because I had I I I
at the time I recently purchaseda smartwatch and it was
tracking heart rate and yeah,pace and that sort of things.
And when I when I was checkingthe heart rate, the highest
heart rate that I had at thetime was the time that I was
(17:39):
running to catch the train toget to the event.
Because at the time we were inbundle, and there was only one
train that was supposed to be atthe station around 4:30, and
when I was getting close to thetrain, I saw the lights of the
(18:00):
train coming.
We had to run around 1k to getto the station.
Matty (18:05):
So you would have run 48 minutes in that race if you
didn't have to run at that runfor the train.
Hamid (18:11):
Yeah, maybe it was interesting.
The fastest part that I had wasthe part that I had to catch
the train.
Joshie (18:18):
Oh, that's fantastic.
The bridge to Brisbane, forthose who don't know, is um is a
10-kilometer uh event, and umuh from what you're telling us,
Hamid, your first bridge toBrisbane was actually closer to
14 or 15 kilometers.
Um Hamid, how would youdescribe uh what uh running
(18:38):
means to you today?
What what does it give you bothum both physically and and
mentally?
Hamid (18:44):
Uh from my side, if I want to talk about the the the
both area that you mentioned,physically and mentally was
related to my own, myself.
For me, running gives me morebecause it gives me the
opportunity to be in acommunity.
And as a as an immigrant, Icame originally from Iran.
(19:05):
And as an immigrant inAustralia, having a supportive
community, a community, some abunch of like-minded people that
we can talk exactly uh isreally valuable.
Um and yeah, running gave methat opportunity.
It gave me the opportunity toenjoy and having exercise beside
(19:25):
my family.
Because when, for instance,when I was when I when I used to
play soccer, I had I was aloneand my wife was alone, kids were
supposed to be alone, or weyeah, I I was detached from
family, and now today morning wewent to a new park run, it was
a tourist park, and uh and weare trying to do it every
(19:49):
Saturday uh morning, and this isthis is a good opportunity.
Um regarding person, also it'suh it's running running to me.
I think previously we had aquick chat about it.
Running to me is more mentalthan physical.
It is physically important.
Since I started running, Iwould say around from two two
(20:12):
years ago.
The story of starting runningis interesting because I since I
came to Australia, I used toplay soccer or football.
Australia, Australia they callit soccer.
Um and I till 2022 I played atclub level.
I I think I was a good player,but in 2022 the knee started
(20:39):
getting complaining, and youknow, when I chased it, it was
an ACL issue, it's getting to beclose to be a real problem.
So I decided to give it a rest.
And instead of soccer, I Isaid, okay, I will run for a
year and give some rest to myknee and get back to soccer
after that.
But yeah, that's the hook.
(21:01):
Um, I couldn't get back.
And I really enjoyed, I reallyenjoyed running, and since then
I am enjoying it more and more.
And it was interesting, itmight be some of the audience
might have the the opinion thatI had before about running.
Uh, because I used to believethat running is a boring sport.
(21:24):
It doesn't make sense becausewhen we play when you play
soccer, you communicate directlywith lots of people, it's a
teamwork, and I couldn't believethat someone could run without
having that much chat or beingalone.
But now I completely changed mymind.
Running is not that you get youhave you can't find your best
(21:45):
friends in running.
Matty (21:46):
Yeah, and I've I've been to park runs where you've been
and you've sort of come past mewhen I've been running with my
son, and the encouragement thatyou give, it's kind of it's it's
unlike no other.
It's and you did it at anotherrace, which I was running a 5K
race with my son.
And you you talk and encourage,and it actually is quite
(22:07):
uplifting wh while you'rerunning.
And I don't know if you've everheard that from anyone, but um,
and I know at a park run youdid it another time, and it was,
you know, it was veryuplifting, and even my my son um
commented on it.
Hamid (22:21):
So thank you.
Matty (22:22):
Yeah, that's good.
Hamid (22:24):
Because I believe these guys they are doing great, and
they need they need to have goodexperience because because it's
an investment.
It's an investment in future,they will definitely appreciate
this sort of investmentinvestment.
Because to be honest, myself, Istarted my my my father is was
(22:48):
uh I would say mountain climbingor hiking uh person.
So since we were young, heencouraged us and supported us
doing mountain climbing orhiking with him.
And yeah, when I grew up, Ifound the value of that initial
investment that he put on me andhelped me to enjoy from the
(23:13):
dopamine of uh healthy sportoptions.
And I believe yeah, these guys,yeah, young kids, they are
under pressure, and it's reallyvaluable that they are they can
control themselves, they canmanage the pressure, they
continue, they do not give up.
It's really valuable.
They need the support.
Matty (23:35):
Yeah, definitely.
Joshie (23:36):
And what you're saying uh uh just before, Hamid, about
the perception of running beinga an individual, almost boring
kind of activity.
Um, you know, I certainly hadthe same thought.
It almost seems paradoxicalthat an activity that is
inherently individual can stillfeel like you're part of a
collaborative and supportivecommunity.
(23:58):
It's um it's it seems to bequite ironic that something that
we typically only have asunique, uniquely individual
goals, we can still feel thatwe're being so well supported by
by a team.
Um I think you know, for forthose of us who have been part
(24:19):
of events, whether it's a youknow, a marathon, a half
marathon, or even just a parkrun, um, just the the feeling of
euphoria as we have our ourfriends and our colleagues in
the community cheering us overthe the finish line or helping
us out when we're we're having aa tough moment.
Um and Hamid, what I really wasum keen to explore with you
(24:40):
whilst we still have you on thecall is um a true tale of
resilience and community.
Um it's not just uh beingcheered on.
You have um physically had therunning community help you
across the finish line.
Um we we absolutely exploreyour um yeah, your your Gold
Coast um uh marathon effort thisyear.
(25:01):
What what can you tell us aboutthat?
What can you remember?
If you can remember much of theevent.
Hamid (25:07):
Yes, I can remember now.
I saw the photos.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I can say that yeah, forthe Gold Coast Marathon, uh
yeah, this year, this year I hadthe opportunity, and I can say
that I had the blessing to yeah,it was yeah, there are there
are lots of lots of blessings inour life that we are we
(25:28):
sometimes consider them asgranted.
But you have to appreciate theopportunities and the blessings
that we have in our life.
Uh I had the opportunity to runthree uh half marathons and uh
one full marathon, and the fullmarathon was the main race for
me this season, which was GoldCoast.
(25:50):
Uh the for Gold Coast, the mygoal was uh last year, sorry,
2024 was my first uh GoldMarathon in Gold Coast.
And yeah, around 24 everythingwas good.
I think even uh my plan wasrunning around uh SOP-4.
(26:14):
My main plan was running subfour means then pace of 540, 41.
It was uh a pace for getting tothat time.
Um and everything was gooduntil sorry, 2024.
Uh everything was good untilkilometer 24, 25, suddenly all
(26:34):
my all the muscles in my my bothlegs, all of them cramped
together.
And yeah, and yeah, I couldn'tachieve the time that I was
looking for.
Yeah, I continued, I didn'tgive up.
Uh because to me, to me,running is not only physical, it
is uh it is the fight that yourprefrontal cortex always have
(27:00):
with the uh with the back ofyour brain.
And uh I I I continued but Ikept the goal alive for myself
for this year to achieve thesoftware this year, and I had a
good training.
And I I get experts' advice andI had a proper training,
(27:23):
everything was good to someextent and went on plan.
For the gold course marathon,the day of gold course marathon.
I'm not sure if you guysremember the temperature of the
day of running the gold the racewas I think five degrees more
than the temp the day before andthe day after.
Matty (27:44):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
I remember that.
Hamid (27:48):
Yeah, and I but I didn't know that my body is so
sensitive to that merchant.
I knew that from from previousrounds, I knew that when the
temperature when it's gettingwarm, my heart rate increases uh
exponentially when it's gettingwarmer, but I didn't see the
real impact.
(28:08):
Uh but in the go in the goldcoast run this year, uh
everything was on plan.
I went over my goal was runningaround uh 530.
And if I and conservatively,and for the last 10k picking up
the pace and ideally evenfinishing by 520.
(28:31):
And I for up to K 30 3233,everything was fine, and there
was a nice uh lovely rain eventcoming, and it was so lovely.
But unfortunately, after thatrain, the sun came out, yeah.
The humidity combined with thewarmer weather, yeah, it made
(28:57):
everything uh much moredifficult.
And uh yeah, I I tried tocontinue.
I I didn't want to give up.
Uh and I I tried to pick up thepace, but or at least maintain
the pace.
And to be honest, I cannotremember the from what happened
(29:18):
between 41 and uh the end line.
I can remember some some somevery short points that for
instance I can remember when themarathon finished based on my
watch.
42.2 finished that point.
But I can I cannot rememberafter that, and I can remember
(29:41):
that some some kind peoplehelped me and picked me up and
we ran together, but seems thatI dropped again after that.
Anyway, the dehydration.
And uh I would say I to be tobe honest, I cannot call it, I'm
not sure what is the propercall for it because it was not
dehydration, it was more towardgetting the body get warm and in
(30:05):
order to make itself.
Cool the blood came to skin tomake everything cool and there
the blood there isn't thereisn't any blood for other parts
of the body including brain.
Including the brain and yeah,seems that I finished.
(30:26):
Seems that I finished SOP 4means that I did one time.
But not in a perfect condition.
Yeah, at that time I found thatseems that my brain is stronger
than my body.
So I have to work on my body.
Yeah.
Joshie (30:47):
Oh wow.
There's actually footage um afinish line, Cam of um of you
being um assisted over the thefinish line.
I mean, if if anyone ever wantsto dispute the veracity of your
claims, um they can watch thisvideo.
It is it is incredible towatch.
Um for you to still find somestrength in your legs to you
(31:10):
know with with some assistanceget over the finish line.
My goodness, it's um trulyawesome.
Hamid (31:16):
Yeah, yeah, thank you.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Definitely I will go for uhmarathon again, but not the gold
coaster.
Or if I want to go for goldcoast, I have to finish it
before 9 a.m.
Joshie (31:36):
I'm sure you're capable of that, Hamid.
You've really really provenyourself to be extraordinarily
resilient in that sort ofattitude of saying, well, you
know, um, you know, the the themind was stronger than the body,
so I've just got to make thebody stronger.
I mean, you seem to beincredibly philosophical about
that experience.
Um one thing that you've umsort of made mention of um in in
(31:57):
the catch-up you and I hadbefore today was um about your
faith and how faith is importantto you.
Um how how do you go aboutfinding a way to still um uh
recognise and honour theimportance that your faith has
in your life and um how sort ofrunning intersects with that?
Hamid (32:16):
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, and yeah, I am Muslim.
Um yeah, and yeah, sometimes,yeah, for instance, some some is
some and I have constraints inmy training season, but for
instance Ramadan, yes, one monththat we are fasting, and it's
uh yeah, it interrupts thetraining season.
(32:37):
Although the last last uh yearI uh I was able to run uh 7k but
easy pace usually before sunsetbecause after that I could
drink and eat something.
But uh once the the in in Islamin in Quran uh Allah said uh in
(32:59):
the Akramakum and the Allah atAlkum.
It means uh the most valuableperson between us is the person
who can control himself.
Self-control, self-disciplineis the most valuable thing that
we can develop as humans to umbe valuable.
(33:24):
And if you look at if if youzoom out and uh from our daily
life, it's completely truebecause those who achieve uh
valuable uh achievements orthose kind people, those those
people who are who are good,good people or the most
successful people, notnecessarily financially or based
(33:45):
on the uh the the simplefactors that some people might
consider someone successful ornot successful.
The real good and successfulpeople are those people who can
control themselves.
Matty (33:58):
That's right.
Hamid (33:59):
And running is a good example, a good very good
exercise for self-control andself-discipline.
Range from being committed to atraining course or waking up,
let's say 4 a.m.
and committing yourself to do adifficult speech session before
(34:19):
starting a full-time job.
Yeah, these commitments, thesedisciplines, and even during the
run, the fight that theprefrontal cortex always have uh
with uh the the the back ofyour brain who's responsible for
surviving the us.
This this battle, this fight, Ibelieve it is a it's a it's a
(34:45):
it's the best way to make ourmakes our more human than
animal.
Joshie (34:51):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Definitely.
And so it it sounds as thoughuh me, the commitment that you
have to your faith and thecommitment you have to your
running sort of help to sort ofuh that they they feed off each
other.
It sounds as though you'reyou're a better runner, a more
committed runner because of yourdedication to your faith, and
vice versa.
Hamid (35:10):
Yep, exactly.
And I believe yeah, one of themain reasons that I encourage my
kids to run at at this stagethey don't have any faith, they
haven't yet to the point to maketheir own decision.
But running will help them tobe able to control themselves.
Running is helped them to bedisciplined, to be committed to
(35:33):
their goals.
Although it's difficult, themost valuable thing that they
don't give up, they continue.
I don't care what their pace.
The most important is when it'sthen when it's pains, they
continue.
That's the most valuable thing.
Joshie (35:46):
Yeah, yeah.
Matty (35:47):
Yeah.
Joshie (35:47):
Oh, that's fantastic.
And they um oh sorry, Maddie,you go ahead.
Matty (35:51):
No, I was just gonna say there's so many life lessons
that um you gain from running,and you don't um understand or
have any knowledge that you'regoing to gain those until you
actually start.
Um, you know, I've learned somuch over the last couple of
years, it's unbelievable.
Um, yeah, yeah, it's it'sreally good.
Joshie (36:10):
So looking ahead to um 2026, Hamid, what's on the um
what's on the horizon for you?
Is there anything you've gotyour site set on running wise?
Hamid (36:19):
Yeah, yeah.
Uh for for this isn't finishedfor me.
Uh I thought tomorrow I I willpush.
Uh aiming for probably 47.
I yeah, if I if I assume 47 uhfor in in 10k tomorrow, should
be fine for me becauseconsidering the hilly race
(36:41):
course that you expect.
But uh but for now I um I'm inmy building phase.
Yeah, in my building phase, I'mI'm trying to make myself
faster.
I'll work on uh making myimproving my threshold phase.
Uh next year I probably I amplanning for uh another marathon
(37:06):
uh in maybe hopefully inMelbourne or Sydney.
In August and yeah, during thebuild session I will go for a
trail marathon in New Zealand,in FEP, uh which is a good I
(37:26):
think building phase becauseyeah the muscles need to get
stronger, and I think trail runhelps it helps it a lot.
And I really missed those trailhikes that I previously had
back in Iran.
And hopefully this New Zealandhike or trail will uh revive
(37:47):
some of those memories, and Iget definitely much better
memories.
Next year, yeah, they probablythe plan is Frisman half,
sunshine half, low cost half.
Yeah, but the main race for mewill be uh full marathon in
(38:08):
Sydney or Melbourne, depends onwhere I can have a chance.
Matty (38:11):
That's awesome.
Hamid (38:13):
But in terms of the short-term plan, yeah, getting
faster, ideally improving my 5ktime.
I think that I can achievesubtraining someday, but it's
probably won't happen thisseason.
Still, I have to work on it.
Joshie (38:31):
And I think as the weather's getting a bit warmer,
those opportunities to run afast 5k are starting to
diminish.
Um look, um Hamid, thanks somuch for joining us on Run
Believable.
It really has been been a joyspeaking to you.
And um, yeah, we we wish youall all the best of success in
the future with your running andother goals.
And yeah, it's um it's been atrue joy to speak to you today.
Matty (38:56):
Yeah, it's been great.
Hamid (38:57):
Thank you for your time.
Thank you.
Cheers.
Joshie (39:00):
Now, Maddie, I don't know about you, but I'm truly
inspired by Hamid's story.
Matty (39:04):
Yeah, I very I very much am as well.
Um, I think it's yeah, it'sincredible.
It was great to hear.
Um he's yeah, when I listen toit, he he he's he's got
everything um sort of structuredand worked out.
Um and I just sort of look atmyself and go, oh, maybe I need
to do that.
(39:25):
Um, you know, and he's did he'sbeen running so well uh this
year yesterday.
Joshie (39:31):
You know, he's eight-year-olds he's got twice
as many parts.
Have you got a one-colorablestory of your mind we're doing?
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.