Back of the Pack Podcast

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we are recording the final episode from the United States before the podcast heads across the world for Sydney Marathon Week. Before the passport panic takes over, Kyle recaps the Head for the Cure 5K in Overland Park, a massive Kansas City-area event supporting brain cancer awareness, research, and families impacted by the disease. From there, we turn the spotlight to the TCS Sydney Marathon presented by ASICS, breaking down the race, the history, the course, the logistics, and why this new World Marathon Major matters. We talk about Sydney’s Olympic roots, its growth into the seventh Abbott World Marathon Major, and how the race has quickly become a major destination for runners chasing stars around the globe. The episode walks listeners through the Harbour Bridge start, the Sydney Opera House finish, the seven-hour cutoff, the time difference for everyone following along back home, and the reality that there are still 26.2 miles of consequences between those postcard moments. Kyle also digs into the race expo at Sydney Olympic Park, race-day transportation, tracking, volunteers, safety, weather concerns, and the now-famous 2026 medal mistake that accidentally gave the finisher medal a quick layover in Munich. Of course, this preview comes with plenty of back-of-the-pack honesty about jet lag, travel stress, extra walking, pacing, hills, rain, and the main goal of simply surviving the race and earning that Sydney star. With Sydney as Kyle’s sixth World Marathon Major and London waiting in 2027, this episode is part race preview, part travel sendoff, and part invitation for the whole Back of the Pack community to follow along as the next big adventure begins.