On this episode of The Runna Podcast, Ben and Anya sit down with Scottee – performance artist, yoga teacher, and creator behind @scotteeisfat - just one day after completing his first half marathon at the Cambridge Half.

This conversation is about something much bigger than race day. It’s about visibility, fear, mental health, and the moment you realise running might actually be possible for you.

Watch or listen to the full episode to hear the full conversation.

Another theme that runs through the conversation is Scottee’s relationship with running and mental health. After experiencing a serious mental health crisis several years ago, he began looking for tools that could help him rebuild stability in his life. Yoga was one of them. Running became another.

But unlike many running stories, Scottee isn’t chasing the mythical “runner’s high.”

Instead, he talks about something much simpler: running as a way of staying sane.

Some runs feel great, some feel uncomfortable, some feel hard for the entire duration, but every run still counts.

Starting to run wasn’t just physically difficult for Scottee, it was emotionally difficult too. He talks openly about the fear of running in public, particularly as someone who felt hyper-visible when exercising. When you feel like you stand out, even stepping outside the door for a run can feel intimidating. His solution was to start small.

The day before recording this episode, Scottee completed the Cambridge Half.

Until that point, most of his running had been solitary. Races felt intimidating: too many people, too much noise, too many unknown rules. Turning up on race morning confirmed some of those fears.At moments it felt chaotic and overwhelming.

But somewhere around the later stages of the race, when fatigue started to creep in, something unexpected happened.

A fellow runner recognised Scottee, introduced herself mid-race, and encouraged him to keep going when he felt like stopping. Sometimes a small moment like that is all it takes to shift the energy of a race.

By the time Scottee crossed the finish line, the emotions caught him by surprise.

The exhaustion. The relief. The strange euphoria that comes from chasing a finish line for hours and finally reaching it.

Towards the end of the conversation, Scottee raises a bigger question about the running world itself. We often say that “running is for everyone.”

But is it always designed that way? Drawing from conversations with his online community – which includes hundreds of thousands of followers – Scottee talks about barriers many runners still face. Some are practical, like cost. Others are environmental, like the overwhelming noise and crowds of large race events.

Small changes, he suggests, could make a big difference.

This episode is for anyone who’s ever felt like they don’t belong in running

You don’t need to be training for a marathon to connect with this conversation.

This episode is for:

Watch or listen to the full episode to hear the full conversation.