Addiction: The Cardio Years. Episode 1, Genesis.Addiction: The Cardio Years. Episode 1, Genesis.
Henry westons old mate the podcast
Stewart explains how Henry Weston’s Old Mate is shifting toward a short running-focused series, rooted in his long-term sobriety and daily mileage. He traces his history from school sprints and cycling to lockdown runs, questioning what really makes someone a runner.
28:36•19 Aug 2026
Addiction, Sobriety and the Road: Stewart’s Running Genesis
Episode Overview
- Henry Weston’s Old Mate is refocusing after years of mixed content on sobriety, sport and turf care.
- Stewart describes running almost every day for over five years, often fitting 6–8 km around work and family life.
- He questions whether high mileage alone makes him “a runner”, since he has never raced or collected medals.
- Lockdown prompted him to run within the one-hour exercise window, setting a goal to run from his house to his parents’ without stopping.
- Future episodes are planned as a short running series, with friends invited to share their own experiences of running alongside his.
“I started getting up early and doing a run… I probably became addicted to running, I probably am addicted to running.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? For Stewart, host of Henry Weston’s Old Mate, a big part of the answer now involves lacing up his trainers. This opening episode of “Addiction: The Cardio Years” sets the scene for a short series where Stewart talks through how running became a daily constant in his life after lockdown.
He’s upfront about the show’s slightly chaotic history: it began with his early sobriety story and chats with Phil about alcoholism and recovery, wandered into cricket with Owen, Room 101-style fun with Dean, turf and greenkeeping content, and even general sports chatter with Rob on “Winging It with Rob and Stew”.
As he jokes, “you’d log on one day to hear me talking about addiction… then you might hear a golf green keeping podcast and you might get confused as to what Henry Weston’s Old Mate the podcast was, quite rightly so.” Now, approaching nine years alcohol-free, Stewart wants a clearer focus.
Turf talk lives on another show, sport chat has its own home, so this feed is getting a mini-run of episodes about his “journey” into running – a word he merrily calls “horrible”, right up there with “pivot”. You’ll hear how he runs almost every day, often squeezing in 6–8 km before work, during lunch, or while his daughter is at gymnastics.
He questions whether that makes him “a runner”, especially as he’s never raced or collected medals, yet estimates he’s covered 5,000–8,000 miles in five years. He traces it back through primary school sprints, teenage football, years as a keen cyclist, weight gain during heavy drinking, and finally lockdown, when he started running to use that one permitted hour outdoors and set himself the simple goal of running from his house to his parents’—about three and a half miles—without stopping.
Light, honest, and a bit self-deprecating, this episode sets up a series that links long-term sobriety, routine, and movement in a way many people in recovery might recognise. Does running make him a runner, or just a bloke who runs every day? Stewart leaves that question open – and invites future guests to help him answer it.
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