Peak 15

EP.5. Brighter Futures Project Dave Zahedi & Sam McCarthy

In this powerful and deeply personal conversation, we sit down with Dave Zahedi and Sam McCarthy as they open up about their formative experiences — from growing up in difficult family environments and facing emotional trauma, to the lure of crime, drug culture, and the hard lessons learned along the way. Sam shares his story of surviving a childhood overshadowed by emotional abuse, finding resilience through self-reflection, and making a conscious decision to break free and build a better future. Dave on the other hand, talks about navigating life as a working-class kid, being drawn into a world of crime, and the moment he decided to turn his life around after serving prison time. This is a raw, real look at how environment, choices, and circumstance can shape a person — and how the strength to change can come from within. Through these experiences, and having got to know each other through their love of fitness, they have created BrighterFuturesproject.org.uk an organisation with the sole purpose of helping young people navigate their formative years in fit, healthy, productive and positive ways. Their results so far have been nothing but transformative. So if you’re interested in stories of resilience, overcoming adversity and building positive futures from the darkest of places, this interview is for you. 🔔 Subscribe for more real conversations about life, growth, change and passionate purpose. CHAPTERS (00:00) Intro observations (06:05) What made Sam, Sam (19:25) What made Dave, Dave (29:10) Your environment shapes you (37:37) To be valued regardless of by whom feels good (53:00) A conscious decision to lean in to crime (1:15:00) Recognising your reality (1:16:00) 'Working out' how we work together - our approach (1:33:20) It's the same but different now - 'the erosion of youth' (1:34:44) Who we help and how we help them (1:45:20) We exist for all the reasons that young people struggle (2:02:15) We're not lecturers, we're storytellers through lived experience (2:17:10) Write your own story

Ep.4. Epic Hope - Ellie Palma-Cass

A passion for something can grow from any number of different sources. It can be as a result of experiencing excitement, exhilaration, inspiration, curiosity and wonder. A passion for something can develop at any stage of life, it can simply compliment and enhance our existence or it can affect us profoundly and thus fundamentally affect the trajectory of our lives. A passion can sometimes be the result of negative experiences such as life threatening incidents or deep, intense trauma. Ellie Palma Cass is a woman whose passion for the well-being of others is borne out of a number of life experiences both bad and good. Experiences that she shares with me with such positivity and passion. To say that her journey, her outlook and her subsequent actions over the course of her life is inspirational is to understate what she means by the title of one of her books ‘Broken to Blooming’. Ellie has converted every moment of negativity experienced so far in her life into an incredibly powerful force for good. If you’re not moved by her story, if you’re not inspired by her actions, if you’re not infected by her positivity, then you’re clearly just a crawling ‘bot’ algorithm. 🤖

Ep.3. A ramble with the Rambling Man - Adventurer Oli France

Oli France has crossed deserts, jungles and glaciers becoming a record setting adventurer! Now he's tackling his boldest mission yet: the Ultimate Seven - travelling from the lowest to the highest point on every continent. Covering 24,000 km (nearly 15,000 miles), travelling 20 countries and facing countless challenges. I explore the explorer and find out where this passion comes from, and what it takes to become capable of journeying in ever increasing levels of jeopardy and reward!

Ep.2. We're Peakin' with The Brigboys.

Episode 2 of Peak 15 continues on a running tip with two of the Northwest's greatest all-round running pals, the inseparable podcast partnership from Bamber Bridge, Steve Willetts and Karl (Teddy) Hodgson, aka The Brigboys. They met me at Haigh Park Run for a stretch before we dove into Podpod UK to record their 25th Brig Boys episode 'We're Peakin'. A collaborative conversation with me, Stu Green of Peak 15 spanning the entire spectrum of running. With content for absolute beginner to seasoned trail head, their totally inclusive attitude to the relative challenges faced by runners of all abilities and fitness levels is something to admire and value. Whether you've listened to their other 24 episodes or not, there are new nuggets of gold on loads of topics AND, for anyone who wonders what they look like, this is their first video podcast, so it's time to get a brew and get an eyeful, because they're back! They're the Brigboys!

Ep.1. Running - Managing injury whan a challenge looms large!

Regardless of your ability level, the process of recovering from injury, mild or severe, adds another layer of demand both physically and mentally, when you're already attempting to push yourself further than you have before. I discuss injury management with a pal who is taking on the Lakeland 50 mile foot race for the first time in just less than four months time. At time of recording, (last week in March), we're both suffering with different injuries and have big challenges ahead - mine being a 62 mile fell run in mid July. We talk about how we're feeling and how we feel we'll manage our time between now and the start line.