Memory Lane with Kerry Godliman and Jen Brister - NEW PODCAST - The Running Joke - Plus a bit of Memory Lane news

Episode Date: January 29, 2026

Hello Memory Lane fans! Unfortunately due to our wonderful hosts busy schedules we are currently on a bit of a break in recording your beloved pod. Stay tuned for more info. In the meantime Producer Joel (Dot Dot Dot Productions) has launched a brilliant new podcast - The Running Joke - with our wonderful friends Esther Manito and Zoe Lyons. It's loosely about running... but don't let that put you off if you don't run - as they are sooooooo sooooo funny. If you are a runner, it's roughly the length of a 5k to help you get through those hard yards. Give it a listen and, if you like it, head over for episode 2: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Hd4lR0ynIlEcSvMRNGrPv?si=dca12243c1d940f4 If it's not for you, hey at least we tried. Much love! x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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So no matter what day of the week, Go's got you covered. Find out more at goadransit.com slash tickets. Welcome to the running joke. Oh, lovely to have you with us. It's Zoe Lyons here. And it's Estimonito. And happy 2026.

Gosh, that sounds like the future. You know when your actual day sounds like the future? Well, if you've started 2026 thinking, wouldn't it? I need to get fit. I need to do a bit of exercise. Or you just think my family have done my head in so much that running actually might make me less aggressive. then join us because we're going to just talk you through the pain whilst you have a little plod.

I've known you for quite a while and I know that you're a runner and I know that you're a very good runner. Oh, you're, you always say that. No, but you are. I'm not. You are. I just, but this is what we do is we tell everyone we're running and everyone just assumes you're brilliant. And the reality is you're not. I am a terrible runner.

I've seen the pictures. Oh, actually, now that you've, yeah, I have seen the pitchers. pictures. Yeah. I select those pictures very carefully. Yeah. Because let's face it, when you, you know when you're doing a 10K or whatever it is and they, and you get the photos back from an official race.

Oh. It's never how you think you're going to look, is it? Well, it's like you think you're going to look like this kind of sensual, like you're striding through. You know, you think you look like Pamaranson Baywatch type running. Like boobs are bouncing and a lovely perky one. You look amazing. And then when you get the pictures back

and you look like something that's just set up out of a crypt. Yeah. I always look like I'm running after the St. John's ambulance because I'm in need of assistance. It's always a pain look, isn't it? You always run like that? Never good.

Everything hurts. And I'm always knocked need as well. Got a terrible gate. Oh, yeah. But at least you're getting out of the gate. There you go. That's the first show. There you go.

So I've known you for quite a while. I know that you run. but I don't know why you started running. Or how you started running. Before I got to know you, the first thing I heard about you was that you run. Really? Yeah. That's weird.

I mean, I went to watch your stand-up show in Lester Square before I even had really gotten into comedy. And I was like, oh my God, she's so funny. She's so funny. And then as I started gigging, people kept saying to me, you should chat to Zoe. She's a runner. So my perception of you was like you were like Marathon Elite Mo Farrell. So when I met you and you were like, I just like to plod around glasser. I was just like, well that's not the yarn that's gone round about you.

I'm probably responsible. Because in my head I'm going, I wonder how that got about. And then I'm thinking, where are you egotistical, pratt? You probably started spreading those rumours. You kept walking into green green rooms and nothing but spandex. Just going, oh, just a little cheeky 12K before I got here. Water bottle in hand and numbers still sort of pinned to the. front. Oh, this little number. Oh, yeah. 1576. That's my starting number. It's just what

Cindy calls me in bed. Yeah, yeah. Number one, five, seven, six, your time is up. I started running when I was 28. Okay. That's a... Oh, Stinley said that's quite a long time again. Wow. Wow. Wow. So you were running for 70 years. decades of running under your belt. Literally decades. I love that you had to stop yourself then. Yeah.

No, that's rude. So how old? I'm 43 now and I started at 28. And I started because, well, I was never very good at sport at school. What? I know. I know it's hard to believe as I sit here in my green corduroy. Oh yeah.

Can we talk about the first? that you've looked like to the chair. For those of you who aren't having a visual effect of this podcast, I've dressed like the chair I'm sitting in. And the part behind you. And the bit behind me. But I was, I was really shit at sport at school, like properly sport. So running never even entered my,

the idea of going for a run just seemed audacious. I think as well at school, it was like the cool kids were good at sport. So if you weren't cool, and I'm just assuming, just because of your career in comedy, alongside myself, that we wouldn't have been the cool kids. The hip and a happening. No. I don't know why I'm describing it like Greece.

The jets and the, we weren't the sexy cheerleader type. We weren't the go-to cool kids. No, I wasn't. And certainly when it came to sport. No, I was always on a bench with fat kids and asthmatics, just waiting to be picked. Yes, I was always last to be picked. Oh, always. at school once

we ever made to climb ropes yes why is that a thing in shorts as well so you took all the skin off your thighs and miraculously I don't know how it happened but I managed to get to the top of the rope wow but then had a panic attack and couldn't get down and

I remember the teacher to stop everybody in the class while she coached me down this rope like everybody stop everybody stop what they're doing everybody have a look at Zoe up a rope now just one hand under another and just gently lower yourself. And, of course, I couldn't because I was too weak to hold on for that long.

And I just went and basically cheese grated my hands. Oh, I feel that. Yeah. I love it when you're just everybody stop. Everybody stop and look. Did her ladies. Stop what you doing. People out in the street.

Stop all the clocks. Stop the traffic. Dog stop. There's an anxious teen questioning her sexuality. Oh, God. Stuck up the top of a rope. Another time, did you ever have to jump over a box? Yes.

We were jumping over a box You know they could line up One, two, three, like you go in sort of unison Not unison You go one after another But it's quite a long box How do we jump over? Oh you kind of frog leap, don't you?

Well there was a little like trampoline And you trampolined on to it Oh, that was it And you were supposed to clear the box Yes Panic, absolute panic Ran, hit the sort of trampoline Head straight into the side of the box

Oh Everybody stop, everybody stop Look at Zoe Everybody stop, look at Zoe on the floor So that was my first sort of experience of sports. Well, I was, and I was always assumed

because I was tall that I would be good at certain sports. It would be like, oh, it's sports day. Yeah. So we'll get, because my maiden name,

Lutfi, we'll get, Lutfi, we'll get, oh God, Lovie, she can do the high jump. Never,

never once got over the thing in a million years. It just was forever just leaping into a bamboo. It's a sticker bamboo. Yeah. Just leaping into a stick of bamboo and falling splat onto,

what are like crash mats? Yeah. Yeah. whilst everyone was like, oh God, she can't do anything. I went to secondary school in Glasgow and they used to make us do cross-country running. Yes, we had to do that. In knickers? In knickers.

Why is that a thing? I don't know. In this country. Yeah. Well, Scotland's even worse. Well, it was very cold. But it's like, we'll just put them in knickers. It's like, what can we do to destroy our youth?

I know, we'll put them in knickers and make them run. Why knickers? I don't know. I don't know. and there was a persistent and professional Mac flasher. Yeah. Yeah. Well, of course you would.

Yeah. Because you time it by it. Yeah. Could you imagine now if they went, what we're going to do is we're going to take your kids, we're going to put them on this set route, all the local nonces will know about it, and we'll just make them run in their underwear. You're right with that? Yeah, fine.

Outrage. It'll be two degrees. It'll be two degrees. Yeah. Well. And we'll have a PE teacher at the back screaming at the kids who hate it. I remember I used to have a teacher who just. she used to have her hand on my back going,

well, go, move! Really? Because I'd just be at the back. Yeah. Well, we caught and done pretty, because it was so cold usually most winters when we were doing cross-country running up in Glasgow and our school was up on top of the hill.

The teachers wouldn't follow us. They'd wait for us back at the school. So we clocked on fairly early on that if we ran down the hill and around the corner you were outside, you could just jump on a bus and go to the shops where one of us were in our knickers. Just go to the shop, in you? knickers. The shop used to sell single

cigarettes. Oh, yes. Oh, a lovely cigarette in our gym gear and not the right age. We used to be, we'd buy a cigarette, have a cigarette, maybe a donut and then just jog the last bit up the hill. Do you know what? That sounds like the perfect run actually. Yeah, and that was my idea of sport. Yeah. So I never thought I could get into sport. And actually, I think when we're looking at how we got into run,

I always had a really negative relationship with my body. I was like, my body just doesn't do what normal people's bodies do. Like normal people are out there with their light periods and their lilettes and their, and their, you know, thigh high swimming costumes that have absolutely no pubic hair. And I've got this body that's just forever like 12 sanitary towel deep in heavy periods and smothered in cellulite and it just doesn't function, doesn't work. So I just assumed I couldn't do what normal. people do. And then when I got into my 20s, I just had miscarriage after miscarriage after miscarriage.

And I was just like, hate my body, hate my body, hate my body. And then I read a book. And it went, why I, it was like a book. It was not even directly about running, but it was like just this guy had written this book. I think it's called like why I run and it's just like observations went out running. And I was just like, oh, that sounds quite cleansing actually, just being out and noticing things and just have a bit of a calm. And so I started jogging by myself. And it completely, I got to be able to jog 20 minutes. And I was like, oh my God.

Because the first time I jogged, it was like, got to the end of the road. It was just like, some guy was washing his car. And I was just at the end of her, like, oh my God, call an ambulance. And I was like, where do you live? I was like, four doors now. I'm having a run. I just read a book and I just want to get out there and really enjoy life

but once I did my first 5K it reassessed my relationship with my body that's enormous I was like I don't mean your body's enormous I don't care about all wrong again sorry but that is huge that's a really big well it suddenly changed my relationship with it I suddenly was like oh this is a body that can move

and do stuff and it's not a failure and it doesn't just let you down all the time Yeah. And I think the experience was very similar. It was just like this, you know, your body had to live up to constant expectations. And running was just a way of going, oh no, everyone's got, everyone's got different. Because when you get out and run, you see people of all different shapes and sizes. Completely.

And you just go, yeah. Yeah. We're all just plodding along. It's fine. Yeah. Yeah. So that's how I started running. I started, like I said, late 30s.

It was my wife that went, she. You just said, get out the house, Zoe. That's what you need. Just get out the house. I hope she had a broom. You should have a broom. Get out. Don't come back till six.

She went, you need to start doing some exercise. Because I was, I'm, like a lot of people, mental health up and down, all through my, all through my life. And I'd read and I'd heard that, you know, moving your body would help your mind. And I was like, that's bullocks. I genuinely I was so resistant to it until in the end she bought me some shoes and she just went just get out and it doesn't matter how far you go

how fast you go just go and it was almost instant it's almost instant like relief yeah yeah well we say that it is once you finish during the run you're like

oh yeah and when I started running I couldn't run a kilometre I couldn't run a kilometre I couldn't run I'd probably get to like 100 metres and I'd be like right I'm just going to walk a little bit. Yeah.

So I would run walk. Which is exactly what I did. So I'd run like... I'd run like... Three elephants. Not three elephants, one elephant, two elephant. It was about 30 seconds. Yeah.

And then walk about 30 seconds. Yeah. But I feel like this is the important thing is that it was only because I found some running friends who were so supportive. Yeah. Because there has been elements where I've got into kind of. of running surroundings where it is quite competitive and it makes you just suddenly go oh I'm crap oh I'm sorry I shouldn't be doing that oh I know I should be better at that whereas it actually doesn't matter yeah doesn't matter if you walk the whole thing doesn't matter if you walk

and then just skip a bit it's like yeah you're out and about you're moving yeah and that's incredible and it becomes very quickly not addictive not addictive in a bad way um it just When you realise the benefits that it can have for your head, it's... And there's so many ways of trying to discourage women from running as well. I noticed this the other day. I was like, I was scrolling through Instagram and I saw about four articles about runners' face. What's that? Really?

Yeah, that if you run, it will age your face. No, that's rubbish. Are you serious? Runner's face? Be careful women. What are they doing? Using their faces. And you'll be running. and all of a sudden you'll come home

and you'll have a saggy face. What are they suggesting that the constant pounding on the pavements will loosen your skin? And so before you know it, you've got jowls down to your nipples. Yeah. Nipples down to your knees. I don't ever remember anybody saying that about Mo Farrah. No.

He's a very good athlete. But have you noticed how jowly he is? And I think that's runner's face. Paula Radcliffe. Oh, bit jolly. She's got runners' face, isn't she? Runner's face, yeah. I mean, I have runners' face when I'm running.

I have runners' face when I'm not running. I have runners' face just because I'm knackered from life. But I just think, no, it's not runners' face. It's the fact that most people that get into running, dootin to start a little bit later on in life. Yeah. So they are ageing. We age.

That's all it is. Yeah, it's just time moving forward. It's just sorry to get all us. Stephen Hawkins about it, but it's literally just time. But don't you think, it's 2026, right? When you think we would have moved on from this? You'd think, but I think there's just so many ways of still completely not addressing barriers to the fact that, you know, running is really easy.

Like, why did you choose running instead of going out for a swim or going to the gym? I know you do do loads of your, oh my God, you're always doing like. Army. Army camps. Yeah, yeah. Usually sort of a bench pressing half my own body weight. I do now, but not back then. I do a lot of exercise now. And it's from the running that I've got into other things.

So it's sort of knocked on to other things. And it's made me think, oh, I can do other things. Yeah. So I have that to thank for it. And even that, I mean, yeah, I've been running for 15 years or so. But I'm still... Really slow. You're really, really slow.

So I hardly ran last year. Right. I had whooping cough. Because you're a Victorian. Yeah. I'm a small Victorian child. You were working in the mines. I was down the pits quite a lot.

With your canary. Yeah. And... You're working in the mill. Yeah. I got... Who gets hoover? Well, kids get whooping cough.

Yeah. And I got... whooping cough. How did you get it? I have no idea. It was going round. It was doing the round. And I hardly ran for almost a year. So, and I'm still struggling to get back to where I was. But I think that happens generally. I think people go through real peats and troughs of like, I've got to a point now. I'm off next week to Cairo. I'm going to run the pyramids. Yes, this is a big thing that's happening. Now, dear listener, Esther's not going to go up and down the pyramids, as I first thought.

Yeah, you thought I was going to scamper up one side and down the other side. I was like, wow, I can't believe they're going to let you do that with ancient Egyptian ruins. That's amazing. Like a tough mother. I can't believe they're going to let her do it. No one's letting me, so I just thought I'd rock up and do it. I just thought I'd head off. Just pat my little backpack.

I'm going to go do that, actually. Nora the Explorer, up one pyramid, down the other. Brilliant. So what sort of time are you looking to to get around your pyramids? No, for the pyramid. So I'm currently dealing with hamstring tendonopathy. Right. Explain.

So it's basically where my hamstring. So this is actually where you get into running, you start running. But the moment you start covering a lot of distance, your body's just constantly falling apart in different bits. Which is why actually it's really important to do some gym work, isn't it? Yes. That's why I cross-trained. Yes.

That's what I call it now. To keep it all kind of strong enough to carry your body. So I didn't do any of that. So I just ran and ran and round and round when I was doing marathon training. Didn't do any other exercises to strengthen anywhere. And now I've ended up with hamstring tendonopathy. So it's like a pain in your ass. And it's like somebody's just shooting a pellet gun into your buttocks while you run.

if I go at any speed whatsoever, so I just have to applaud. So I'm hoping I'll do it in about two and a half hours would be lovely. Yeah, well, I think. But it is going to be weird. And I've got no... Given the state of your ass. I know. Given the conditions.

And the state of me. What a motivational friend you are. Given the state of your ass. Given that your ass is already in tatters. Yes. You can have a... We can have a bloody terrible time. Sandy battered ass.

Yeah, that sounds fun, Esther. How many people are taking part? Thousands. Really? This is the seventh time they've done it. Oh, wow. There's thousands upon thousands. Yeah.

Yeah, so I feel, I also feel like there's not a lot of pressure in terms. Because I feel like people will want to stop and have a little photo with the pyramids and things like that. Is that what you think? Is that what I think? Yeah. It's not going to be that, is it? No. It's going to be loads of really hardcore German runners going,

this, I've got to do it in under an hour and a half. When was the last time you went on a sort of race and went, I'm just going to stop and take some pictures. We don't even like a scum. I'd like a scum. I feel like to sit down. Do you know what? There's a group of women I know who run and they just do it purely as like fun and for a bit of like recreation.

No competitive element whatsoever. And they'll go and do marathons where they literally just walk, run it and stop. And they take sandwiches and flas of tea. And they're doing really idyllic areas. And I'm like, isn't that lovely? Yeah, that is nice. Isn't that laughing? I did have a friend who used to go.

She has done a couple of marathons. I've never run a road marathon. I just... You've never run a road marathon? No, I've done an off-road marathon. Bloody hell, that's harder. Well, it's not really because you're out in the wilds and nobody can see how slowly you're going.

I mean, it took ages. Yeah. It took a long time. Yeah. But my mate is taking a little backpack with a banana in it when she did their marathons. She just would take a backpack with a banana. The bananas and stuff in it, yeah.

When me and my mate were... walking up to the start line for the London Marathon, there was a woman in front of us, because you get these like clear bags to put all your bits in. Oh yeah. And I kid you not, she had a tube of every flavour of Pringle in the backpack. Really?

Yeah. So imagine how many, there was like six, easily six tubes of Pringles in this backpack. I was like, and she was like, that's what I need to get through this run. That's fascinating. I wonder how many,

I wonder how many snack trials she had to work through to work out that it was every flavour of Pringle that she needed to get to where, because crisps on a long, if you do an off-road, a packet of crisps is brilliant because it's salty. Oh. Yeah. What I love doing is running on a really cold day. Yes.

I love it when it's really cold, coming in, having a cup of tea in the shower. What? Yeah, I love that. How is that even possible? What do you mean? What? A cup of tea in the shower? Yeah.

Why is that not possible? So the water's running on your head is you've got a cup of tea? That is not normal, Esther. That's not normal. Does it have a lid on the top or just a cup of tea? How small is your shower? Do you live in like a caravan shower? What, you have a cup of tea in the shower?

Yeah, but we've got like a bit of a wet room, so it's quite big. So I have a little ledge. I put my tea and then I can just have my cup of tea and I'm in the shower and so it's all warm I love a cup of tea in the shower do that

for those of you listening go out January have a really cold run get freezing come home in the shower cup of tea and let us know what your thoughts are try it Zoe

although I don't know what your shower's like from your reaction I'm imagining that you've got like a shower above the toilet or something I live on a boat I just can't even fathom that

But you could hold something whilst you're in the shower Yes So whilst the water's running on your head No You just have a cup of tea No I love that I very much like to do one task at a time

Me and my girl When we go swimming in the sea And we get really cold And then we come back to the caravan And you have a hot shower And a cup of tea But you hold your tea in the shower I love it

I'm just reassessing our friendship. Oh, is that the thing that's pushed you over the edge? I'm more likely to whack the lid off a bottle of beer in the shower. Oh, right. Yeah, I can understand that. Yeah. See, I get you. Yeah.

I don't judge you. I'm not going to have a cup of two. I feel like this is pushed you over the edge more than when we met this morning. And I said, I wake up every morning imagining my death's being announced. Yeah. Do you have those days where you wake up and you just go, oh, I'd love it if somebody just announced my death. I could just go back to salute. She's dead.

She's dead, guys. But we discussed this and we decided it was just massive. It's aversion problems, isn't it? It's just... She's just dead. Yeah. She's just... Okay, so we're going to be, whilst you're out running,

we're going to be chatting to you throughout your run, and we're going to be talking about trainers. We're going to talk to you about injuries. Yeah. We're going to be talking to you about just avoid all your mates when they're being all competitive and weird. We're going to be talking about social media and Strava. We're going to talk about like techniques of dealing with aftermaths of runs.

What's the aftermath of a run for you? I'm not going to tell the story in this episode, but here's a little taster of an episode to come. At some point I will diverge the story of where I shat myself on a run. But you have to keep listening to hear that one. And it was horrific. I've pissed myself on a run. Have you?

We'll save that for it. Okay, we'll save myself. that for a Christmas special. And I will let you know about the aftermath of running. Yeah, the aftermath. What does he say? Like people have dead. We carried dead bodies.

And I won't, I won't diverge it on this, divulge it or divulge it on this episode. But I'll also tell you about how I ended up in A&E after a run. So did I. Yeah. Broke my ribs to running. Did you? Yeah. You're running.

I know. Yeah. Lost my hearing. Yeah. So there's a lot to get through. Lost members of my fat. Oh, yeah. Went out for a run.

Lost four relatives. Honestly. Nightmare. Nightmare. But, you know, if you don't want to go out and join a run club and you don't want to run with all those competitive, you know, mates of yours. And you just want to listen to two people blethering on while you plod through. Hang out with this. couple of losers.

Yeah. Right. What are you doing this week then, training-wise? So this week, training-wise, I am going to try and do a long run on Friday. How long, long? Half. What, half of? Marathon.

What, 13 miles? Yeah. Or 22 kilometres, is that like to refer to it? Yeah, so I'll do a half on Friday, and then I'll just let myself relax, and then I'll just do a couple of little leg looseners and then I'll head off to Cairo but because I'm not doing it

for a specific time I'm not too worried about it because I can just plod about whereas then I think if you're going oh yeah I desperately want to get under whatever then you're going to push yourself but I'm not I'm just to get through it

at the moment just to get through it type of gal my aim moving forward for the two halves that are coming up is just to beat the road sweeper at this point

yeah yeah I got to I did the Hackney Half last year and you know Rachel Fairburn? Yes She was also doing the Hackney Half Fellow comedian Fellow comedian

And I couldn't get I couldn't see her at the end And there's no phone signal So when I got home my text around I went look I looked for you But I couldn't see you and she went She goes By the time I got to the end

There were no medals They were packing up And she said And the woman that was behind me And they said Look we'll just have to post you your medals because we've run out. And this woman went, you have made a terrible day even worse. Not only a home made to run this horrific amount of distance.

The one thing that was getting me to that finish line was a fucking medal. And now you're telling me that I don't even get to wear it home. That is pretty awful. Rachel said she was howling She was like this She was like oh okay Fair enough Alright post me a bit disappointed

But yeah post me a medal Alright see you later She didn't tear around This woman was like You have made a terrible day Even worse Oh bless And that's the aftermath of running

Yeah that is it I can't wait to see your pyramid medal And I really hope it's in the shape Of a pyramid I hope it is Your Sphinx's head. Yeah. Well, I've got a little thing at home that my husband put up for me to put all my medals on.

Oh, a hook. Oh, I love a medal. A small hook. Will you bring in your medals? I will. I love a medal. It's the only reason I do races. Okay.

I'm addicted to them. Yeah. It's just they're like the old school social media, aren't they? That's how you used to brag. Yeah. Likes around your neck. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Good. mate. Thank you. Yeah. Last scene. Yeah. Last scene. Last scene round the sphinx. Upper Pyramid. Then a sphinx went. That's your tendonitis for you. Thank you so much for listening to the running joke.

I've been Zoe Lyons. And I've been Estimonyto. And we have been lovingly sponsored by ATW events, who are bringing all sorts of running and triathlon events to you all around the country, all through the year. Lots of different categories, lots of different distances. It's for everybody. So just get it. involved and I hope to see you there at one of the events very short. Esther, are you going to join me?

I think I'm going to try. I've got a show on that night but I was thinking, yeah, maybe we can do one of the events before I go do my gig. Let's do it. I've heard the snacks. Oh, well, we know you love a snack. Yeah. Well and Gun City, maybe. What would they serve there? I'm not entirely sure.

Maybe Cocoa Pops. Possibly. So I'm thinking. Big shout out to ATW events. See you at one of their events. very, very shortly. Thank you so much again for listening. We have been The Running Joke, beautifully produced by Joel Porter at dot dot dot dot productions. Goodbye!