toenails is a podcast about running and also not about running. host Sydney Allen-Ash takes a critical and journalistic lens to running culture and aims to challenge our widely-held beliefs and pull apart well-worn myths that define sports today.

episode 5 - the bridge

in a follow-up to the previous episode, smells like dionysian spirit, this episode features conversations with an OG of the urban running crew movement, Charlie Dark, about the history and future of running crews, recorded during bridge the gap weekend in Toronto in october 2022.

episode 4 - Smells Like Dionysian Spirit

This episode takes a historical deep dive to explore why we move together (and why society might not want us to). What can trance, dance and raves tell us about the future of running crews? Tune in and find out.

episode 3 - quantitative creep

as athletes, tracking data is meant to convey not only our skill level but our commitment to the sport itself. host Sydney Allen-Ash has a *big* problem with this. What does all this data do, what are we working to optimize, why are we all trying so hard?! Listen now for explorations of these questions, a deep dive into the entanglement between capitalism and sports, an interview with Ryan Willms about balancing freedom & rigor, and more.

episode 2 - mutual aid

to understand patterns of exclusion in outdoor sports, like trail running (which would be a normal topic for a normal running podcast) we have to first start with our relationship to the land. what is “the outdoors” and where did this separation between humans and nature even come from? join Sydney Allen-Ash for episode 2 of toenails to find out.

episode 1 - muscular christianity

the deification of victory—turning those who win into gods—is as old as human history, but what does winning really mean, and why do we care so much?

in our first full-length heavy-duty episode of toenails, Sydney plots our obsession with sporting success from the 1800s till today with special guest appearances from runners Rio Lakeshore and Emma Cameron.

episode 0 - introducing toenails

what else can running do? with this question in mind host and athlete, Sydney Allen-Ash explores a wide array of alternatives to thinking about and participating in running that challenge our expectations, embrace contradiction and immerse our normally sanitized sport into the real world.