When Metro Aberdeen runners Tom Brian and Kyle Greig launched their first podcast two years ago this month, they couldn’t have anticipated how successful it would become.
The Tartan Running Shorts podcast, a show which can last for anything between 90mins and two hours, has attracted a large and growing following, achieving anything up to 2,000 downloads every week.
It covers all aspects of the sport, offering an interesting and entertaining mix of interviews with top runners, coaches and officials, analysis of burning issues and laid-back banter between the hosts.
The list of guests featured in recent months includes Scottish Olympians such as Eilish McColgan, and the Hawkins brothers, Callum and Derek.
As is often said, some of the best ideas are generated during a discussion over a pint and the origins of the podcast were no different.
Brian said: “Kyle and I were sitting in the pub discussing the running podcasts we had been listening to, especially one by a guy called Rob Watson in Canada. We liked the format and thought it would be a good idea if there was one which covered the Scottish running scene.
“I’m a club standard runner, while Kyle is more elite, having run for Great Britain in the world ultra trail running championships, so it seemed a good combination.
“In our first podcasts we simply reflected on what we had been doing the previous week and chatted about our training and any races we had been to. Also, we spoke about race results, performances and interviewed a few local guys.
“In the first year we were getting up to 500 downloads, but it has grown and the stats show we now get 1,500-2,000 every week. The geographical pattern has changed as well. To begin with virtually all the downloads were from the Aberdeen area whereas now they are from all over Scotland and further afield.
“Last week the biggest number of downloads was from the Glasgow area, but we also have people listening in from Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, France and America.
“Last April, in Boston, when I was heading for the start of the marathon, a runner saw my Metro Aberdeen top, came over and asked if I was one the Tartan Running Shorts guys. He was a Scot living in the US and had been listening. That made my day.”
Putting the podcast together is quite a commitment given that it is, for now at least, a non-commercial venture. Brian added: “There are occasions when time is tight, but it’s never a chore. I always enjoy doing it especially as we usually have a beer or two as we are recording it.”