Best Running Podcasts and YouTube Channels for Runners (2026)
The best running podcasts and YouTube channels for runners in 2026, grouped by what you actually need: coaching, marathon training, trail stories, gear reviews, elite insight, and long-run company.
· 8 min read · Running Culture
The best running podcasts and YouTube channels are not always the biggest ones. They are the ones that match the run you are about to do.
Some days you need a coach in your ear. Some days you need a race vlog that gets you out the door. On a two-hour long run, you might need a proper conversation, not another 30-second motivation clip.
This list is built for runners first. I have grouped the shows and channels by use case, so you can pick something useful whether you are training for your first 5K, rebuilding after injury, chasing a marathon PB, or trying to make treadmill miles less boring.
Quick picks
| What you need | Start here | | --- | --- | | Practical training advice | Strength Running, Run to the Top, The Running Explained Podcast | | Long-run company | Ali on the Run, For The Long Run, The Rambling Runner | | Marathon training motivation | The Running Channel, Ben Parkes, Clayton Young | | Trail and ultra stories | Trail Runner Nation, Some Work All Play, Jeff Pelletier | | Gear and shoe reviews | Kofuzi, Believe in the Run, The Run Testers | | Elite running news | CITIUS MAG, LetsRun Track Talk, Coffee Club | | Beginner-friendly YouTube | The Running Channel, Ben Parkes, The Run Experience |
If you only subscribe to three today, make it one coaching show, one long-run conversation show, and one visual YouTube channel. That gives you advice, company, and a bit of spark when training feels flat.
Best running podcasts for training advice
Strength Running
[Strength Running](https://strengthrunning.com/podcast/) is one of the safest recommendations for runners who want to train smarter without pretending they are full-time athletes. Host Jason Fitzgerald brings on coaches, sports scientists, physical therapists, dietitians, and elite runners, but the useful bit is how often the conversation comes back to ordinary problems: niggles, consistency, strength work, racing nerves, and long-term durability.
Listen when you are building a training block and want the "why" behind the workouts. It pairs well with a structured [AI run planner](/run-planner), especially if you are trying to stop stacking random hard days.
Run to the Top
[Run to the Top](https://runnersconnect.net/running-podcast/) from Runners Connect is a good pick if you like coaching lessons with clear takeaways. It often covers pacing, fueling, recovery, injury management, race execution, and the bits of training that runners usually learn the hard way.
This is the kind of show to play during easy miles when you want to finish the run with one thing to try next week.
The Running Explained Podcast
[The Running Explained Podcast](https://www.runningexplained.co/podcast) is strong for runners who like training science but do not want a lecture hall in their headphones. Episodes often turn messy topics like zones, threshold, fueling, and adaptation into language you can actually use.
If you are the runner who keeps asking "why am I doing this workout?", start here.
Best running podcasts for long runs
Ali on the Run Show
[Ali on the Run](https://aliontherunblog.com/ali-on-the-run-show/) is a long-run staple because the interviews feel human. It is less about squeezing one coaching tip out of every guest and more about hearing the full story behind athletes, race directors, creators, and people around the sport.
Best use: Sunday long runs where you want company, not instructions.
For The Long Run
[For The Long Run](https://www.forthelong.run/) is built around the deeper reasons people stay in endurance sport. The 2026 podcast roundup on the site makes the bias clear - it is interested in the "why" underneath the training, not just splits and medals.
That makes it a good listen when you are tired of productivity-style running advice and want something that reminds you why the sport gets under your skin.
The Rambling Runner
[The Rambling Runner](https://www.theramblingrunner.com/) works well for serious amateurs because it often sits in the real middle of the sport: jobs, families, training blocks, breakthroughs, bad races, and the strange satisfaction of doing this around normal life.
If you are not elite and not brand new, this lane is probably where you live.
Best running podcasts for elite racing and track nerds
CITIUS MAG
[CITIUS MAG](https://citiusmag.com/podcast/) is one of the best follows for elite track, marathon, and pro running coverage. If Diamond League results, Olympic teams, marathon fields, and athlete interviews are your thing, it belongs in your rotation.
Pair it with race-week reading from our [Athletics News](/blog/category/athletics-news) archive when the season gets busy.
LetsRun Track Talk
[LetsRun Track Talk](https://www.letsrun.com/) is not polished in the brand-safe way, and that is part of the appeal. It is opinionated, sometimes abrasive, and usually deep in the weeds of elite running.
Listen when you want debate, not a soft-focus recap.
Coffee Club
[Coffee Club](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/coffee-club-a-running-podcast-about-nothing/id1587508622) is hosted by professional runners Morgan McDonald, Oliver Hoare, and George Beamish. It is relaxed, funny, and gives you a view into pro running that feels less packaged than most athlete media.
This is good for runners who like elite insight but still want it to sound like friends talking after practice.
Best running podcasts for trail and ultra runners
Trail Runner Nation
[Trail Runner Nation](https://trailrunnernation.com/) is one of the established trail and ultra shows, with a long back catalogue on training, race execution, mindset, gear, nutrition, and the weird decisions people make after six hours on their feet.
If your race calendar points toward hills, mud, mountains, or aid stations, this is a safe starting point.
Some Work All Play
[Some Work All Play](https://swaprunning.com/podcast/) from David and Megan Roche mixes coaching, science, race chat, and trail culture. It can be playful, but underneath that is a lot of practical endurance knowledge.
Good for runners who want training ideas without losing the fun.
Trail Running Women
[Trail Running Women](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trail-running-women/id1439841133) brings race stories, training conversations, motherhood, identity, fear, confidence, and community into the trail-running conversation. The best episodes are useful because they do not flatten trail running into hero stories.
Best running YouTube channels for runners
The Running Channel
[The Running Channel](https://www.youtube.com/@runningchannel) is the easy first subscription for most runners. It covers challenges, beginner questions, training tips, gear, race-day content, and running science in a format that is friendly without feeling like homework.
If you are new to structured training, watch a few videos, then turn the motivation into a plan with the [5K training plan](/plans/5k) or [marathon training plan](/plans/marathon).
Ben Parkes
[Ben Parkes](https://www.youtube.com/@BenParkes) is useful because his videos sit close to the reality of ambitious recreational running: marathon blocks, race vlogs, gear, pacing, and the honest grind of trying to improve.
Watch when you want practical marathon energy without pretending every week is perfect.
Clayton Young
[Clayton Young](https://www.youtube.com/@claytonyoung) is the current gold standard for elite marathon training videos. Racecast called out his cinematic race buildup series as one of the best examples of serious running content on YouTube, and that is fair.
The value is not that you should copy an Olympic marathoner. You should not. The value is seeing how calm, patient, and repetitive elite preparation can be.
Jeff Pelletier
[Jeff Pelletier](https://www.youtube.com/@JeffPelletier) is a great trail and ultra pick. The videos are polished, but the best ones still feel rooted in terrain, pacing, decision-making, and what actually happens deep into long events.
Good treadmill fuel if you would rather be on a mountain.
Kofuzi
[Kofuzi](https://www.youtube.com/@kofuzi) is one of the best-known running shoe reviewers on YouTube. His channel is especially useful if you like gear talk, race recaps, and honest amateur-runner perspective.
Use gear reviews carefully. A shoe video can help you narrow choices, but it cannot tell you how your calves will feel at mile 18.
Believe in the Run and The Run Testers
[Believe in the Run](https://www.youtube.com/@Believeintherun) and [The Run Testers](https://www.youtube.com/@TheRunTesters) are useful if you want multiple opinions on shoes, watches, and running kit before spending money.
These are best treated as buying context, not training advice.
How to choose what to listen to
The mistake is subscribing to everything and then ignoring all of it. Pick based on your next eight weeks.
If you are building your first consistent routine, start with The Running Channel and one coaching podcast. If you are marathon training, add Strength Running or Run to the Top and one marathon-focused YouTube channel. If you keep getting sore, choose injury and strength content before more race-vlog hype.
For pacing work, use the [pace calculator](/tools/pace-calculator) after you hear a good training idea. For session structure, use the [training pace calculator](/tools/training-pace-calculator) or [VDOT calculator](/tools/vdot-calculator) so "run faster" becomes an actual pace range.
A simple weekly media plan for runners
Try this for two weeks:
1. One coaching podcast on an easy run. 2. One long-form interview on your long run. 3. One YouTube race vlog or training block before your hardest workout. 4. One gear review only when you are actually buying something.
That is enough. More content is not better if it turns every run into homework.
If you are turning inspiration into a race goal, browse [running events near you](/races) or use the [AI run planner](/run-planner) to shape the next block. The right podcast can get you out the door, but the plan still has to fit your body, schedule, and current fitness.