This week Emma is joined by breathwork coach, mentor, and former professional rugby player David Jackson, known as Jacko.

After a traumatic brain injury ended his rugby career, Jacko discovered breathwork. Now a Master Oxygen Advantage coach, he’s on a mission to make breathwork more accessible and help others use their breath as a tool for self-connection, healing, and high performance. Based in the rugged beauty of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdonia), Jacko is also an ultra runner who thrives on his local trails.

In this episode, we explore Jacko’s deeply personal journey with breathwork, from his TBI recovery to working with elite athletes, and being present for his father’s final breath. His passion for breathing and breathwork is both powerful and moving.

We dive into:

• What breathwork is
• Why learning to breathe better changes everything
• How breathwork enhances both everyday life and peak athletic performance
• The art of nasal breathing
• Breathwork’s role in endurance and ultra running

Whether you're new to breathwork or looking to deepen your understanding of breathing, this episode is absolutely fascinating. Be prepared to be more conscious of your breath even while you listen.

Follow Jacko on instagram @jacko.david.jackson and his Youtube channel @thebreathrunningcoach. You can also access his free foundations of breathwork course here and explore his workshops and other resources here. His book on running and breathwork is out April 2026.

-

✨🎙️ Follow and share the Passion Stories Podcast. Plus make sure you follow your host Emma Cole @emmasecole on socials to find out who the next inspiring and passionate guest is coming to your ears in a fortnight.

This week on the Passion Stories podcast, Emma is joined by Dr Sarah Ruggins, who recently smashed the LEJOGLE there and back overall record - cycling from John O’Groats to Land’s End and back again in just 5 days, 11 hours, and 14 minutes.

That’s over 2,700 kilometres with 18,000 metres of elevation. Insane.

Sarah beat the men’s record by 6 hours 43 minutes, which was previously held by James MacDonald, and the women’s record by 4 days 17 hours 40 minutes which was held by Louise Harris. She also raised over £18,000 for the Bike Project and Bikes for Refugees at the same time.

In this conversation, we dive into:

• How she became an endurance cyclist 2.5 years after first picking up a bike
• What drove her to take on the outright record
• How she refined her mindset
• The highs and lows of the challenge (cue delirium and riding in circles)
• What’s next on her radar

• Sarah’s dream dinner party guest list and menu (spoiler: it’s hilarious)

It’s a wild and inspiring episode filled with grit, honesty and plenty of heart.

Follow Sarah on instagram @sarah_ruggins to keep up to date with her next challenge.

-

✨🎙️ Follow and share the Passion Stories Podcast. Plus make sure you follow your host Emma Cole @emmasecole on socials to find out who the next inspiring and passionate guest is coming to your ears in a fortnight.

Can you be a professional athlete in two different sports?

In the latest episode Emma is joined by Annabel Fisher who is both a pro gravel cyclist and pro nordic skier. From March to October Annabel rides her bike, and in the winter she cross country skies for Switzerland.

Annabel is a real force, from studying at Cambridge university and flying planes in the RAF, to winning the Gravel Earth Series in 2023 and the British gravel championships in 2024, to skiing for Switzerland, but most of all she’s infectiously passionate about what she does and how she does it.

We chat about who she came to be a professional athlete, her skiing career and her gravel cycling career, why she chose those two sports and how she balances it all.

She also shares about coping with pressure, the importance of giving herself space for opportunities, and, of course, the origin of her formidable nickname, Shotgun.

Annabel is full of energy and incredibly inspiring - listen now on all platforms!

-

✨🎙️ Follow and share the Passion Stories Podcast. Plus make sure you follow your host Emma Cole @emmasecole on socials to find out who the next inspiring and passionate guest is coming to your ears in a fortnight.