Episode 254 - Amy McCulloch - RUNNER 13

Amy is a world-renowned author who in 2022 toed the line of the iconic Marathon des Sables. The race planted seeds for a story, one of ultra-running and mystery. In June 2025, 'RUNNER 13' was released. Amy joins the podcast to discuss the book and her MDS story. Runner 13 is a thriller that drops readers straight into a deadly stage race across the Sahara, echoing the notorious Marathon des Sables in Morocco. McCulloch's own experience running that event shapes every detail - the brutal desert landscape, the psychological toll, and the obsession with endurance that defines the sport. The story follows Adrienne, a once-great ultrarunner forced back into competition, and Stella, daughter of the race's manipulative director, Boones. His events, modelled on real-world extreme events, they aren't designed to be won, but to break runners. Central to the mystery is Runner 13, a symbol of both glory and doom. Told in sharp, cliff-hanging chapters that jump between present and past, the novel feels like Agatha Christie transplanted to the Sahara: a brutal race where survival, not victory, is the prize, and where Morocco's desert becomes both the setting and the trap.

You can listen to Episode 254 - Amy McCulloch - RUNNER 13 online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Episode 254 - Amy McCulloch - RUNNER 13 is an episode from Talk Ultra by Ian Corless.

This episode is 55:40 long.

This episode was published on Sep 17, 2025.

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