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:
instagram.com/joshberlari
Be coached by Matt:
sweatelitecoaching.com/coaching-2026
Join the Shareholders Club / Private Podcast Feed:
sweatelite.co/shareholders
Matt Instagram:
instagram.com/mattinglisfox
Matt Training Log - Strava:
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
04:35 - Costumes And Content
07:20 - Going Global With YouTube
09:38 - Day Job And Hustle
11:58 - Full Time Running Dreams
16:06 - Coached By Mark Scott
18:47 - Tokyo Injury Setback
22:03 - Tokyo Goals And Potential
23:53 - Marathon Time Goals
25:17 - Instagram Origins
26:26 - Back To Back Racing
28:15 - Upgrading Content Gear
29:50 - Costumes Versus Speed
31:39 - Helmet And Suit Lessons
33:38 - Future Content Direction
37:51 - Tokyo Injury And Plan
41:01 - Where To Follow Josh
42:29 - Faith And Online Stereotypes