Josh (Berlari) Fothergill on Running a 2:29 Marathon Off Minimal Training, Running Marathons in Costumes and Huge Social Media Growth

Episode Summary

Runner and content creator Josh Berlari (Josh "Josh Berlari") breaks down the training behind his 2:29 London Marathon (2025) and a near-sub-15 5K, pushing back on rumors of "minimal training." He shares that his peak was about 100 km per week, with a focused 4-5 week speed block before a marathon block that overlapped with fasting during Ramadan.

Based in Bali for five years, Josh explains how he built a 140K+ Indonesian-language Instagram following by running in costumes (including a suit and a Go-Jek helmet), while trying to balance entertainment with a serious pursuit of elite performance. He also discusses his full-time e-commerce and digital marketing role selling hearing aids into the US, managing global operations after scaling to seven figures per month.

Now coached by Mark Scott, Josh details his build toward Tokyo up to roughly 140 km per week before an ankle injury from stepping into a pothole in heavy rain. He outlines how he's using bike and treadmill cross-training, and why he's keeping Tokyo conservative (around 2:24-2:25), while targeting sub-2:20 this year and longer-term goals that include London, Gold Coast, and Berlin.

Links

Josh Fothergill Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/joshberlari/

Be coached by Matt:
https://www.sweatelitecoaching.com/coaching-2026

Join the Shareholders Club / Private Podcast Feed:
https://www.sweatelite.co/shareholders

Matt Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/mattinglisfox/

Matt Training Log - Strava:
https://www.strava.com/athletes/6248359/

Contact Matt:
matt@sweatelite.co

Topics

00:00 - Minimal Marathon Build

00:31 - Speed Block Before London

01:47 - Fasting Through Training

02:26 - Meet The Runner