Not by the Playbook

The story of Nicole Ver Kuilen and her non profit Forrest Stump is a remarkable one. At the age of 10 she made the difficult decision to have her leg amputated and save her life from cancer. Nicole has since become one of the most accomplished endurance athletes on earth. Her achievements include an incredible 1500 miles bike, run and swim down the west coast of America. Sounds tough, but as it turns out the harder battle was the one for the right kind of care and help she needed. In turn she is trying to improve the fate of millions like her throughout in the United States.
On November 29, 1997 Tiffany Yu was being driven home by her dad when he lost control of the car. Her dad lost his life and Tiffany was left with permanent paralysis in one of her arms. Since then she has dedicated her life to creating communities where people with disabilities of every kind can be seen, supported, and celebrated. She's also aiming for a place as the only one armed climber on the US Paralympic team for LA in 2028 where her sport, para climbing will debut. She is also the author of the book "The Anti-Ableist Manifesto."
The clarity that comes with a diagnosis can be incredibly powerful. It can shed light on the challenges and difficulties someone might struggle through on a daily basis. Taylor Swanson always dreamt of becoming an Olympian, and got closer than most. But it was only after a career ending injury that she was offred answers to questions that had baffled and beset her stretching all the way back to childhood. Set free she reached the podium in Paris!
In 2004, the British wheelchair racer, dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, faced the toughest challenge of her career at the Paralympic Games in Athens. Suffering from a loss of form, the great champion was humiliated in her best event leaving her only chance of glory in the 100-metre sprint. She tells us about that race and how becoming a mother gave her a fresh perspective on sport.
Photo: Adventurer, advocate and ultra marathon runner Nicole Ver Kuilen campaigns for better care and help for amputees (Credit www.forreststump.org)

US para cyclist Samantha Bosco who is no stranger to success. In fact she's won seven World Championships on the road, and plenty more medals on the track too! But a Paralympic gold eluded her in Rio and so in Tokyo she was set to put that right until an accident left her with a pair of skull fractures and a traumatic brain injury. She didn't just miss the Games, she nearly died. Her recovery was described as miraculous and she got her Hollywood ending by winning gold in Paris, but now she has a home Games in LA to focus on
Ash Dykes is currently trying to make his way through one of the most difficult, dangerous and deadly places in the world.The Congo Basin. Ash is, amongst other things an adventurer, challenging himself to do remarkable projects and in many cases becoming the first person to complete them. You might have seen one of his videos walking the Yangtze or the length of Madagascar, he documents everything for his many social media followers. So why attempt such dangerous adventures, and how will he survive this time?
Fancy a quick round of golf? Well Nullarbor Links an 18-hole, 72 par golf course in Australia is the wrong place for that! That's because the course spans more than 850 miles, making it comfortably the world's longest golf course! Played along the route of the Eyre Highway that links Western and Southern Australia through the Outback, it would take a very certain type of person to manage the course! Meet Bea and Graeme Wilmot.
Just over 50 years ago teenage Californian Jeff Clark became the first person to surf the dangerous Mavericks waves near San Francisco. Nearly two decades later, the waves killed Mark Foo, one of the most famous surfers in the world. It was a reminder just how dangerous the sport and the Mavericks in particular are. Jeff tells his, and Mark Foo's story.
This episode was edited on 10 October2026. Due to an editing error, two incorrect sections were inadvertently joined together.
Photo: Bellboys from Cunard's Queen Elizabeth cruise ship pose for photos on one of the holes on the Nullarbor Links course (Photo by James D. Morgan/Getty Images for Cunard)

Denise Mueller has gone faster than anyone has ever been on a bike! Eight years ago on Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, she travelled at an average of more than 183 mph, smashing the previous record and setting the mark that still stands today. What makes Denise's story even more remarkable is that she took a 20 year break from cycling before returning in her 40's to break the record. From her home in San Diego she took us back to where it all started, aged 14 when her grandfather bought both her and her dad a bike
Pedro Cueto is a young man achieving remarkable things on and off the race track. At the age of just six Pedro's life changed when he was diagnosed with cancer. Eventually he had his leg amputated, but nothing would stop Pedro's driving dream. He became the first driver without a leg to compete at this level of international karting and now aged 11-years-old has just won the prestigious karting championship, the IAME Series Italy Racing Formula.
Britain's Ollie Millroy and Netherlands' Loek Hartog have always loved racing cars... Le Mans, Formula 2, Gran Turismo Championship. They have done it all... Last month in Shanghai they were racing against each other when Ollie was involved in a crash that resulted in his Ferrari being engulfed in flames. Trapped, the window of opportunity to save him was closing fast when around the corner zoomed Loek... Ditching his desire to win, he stopped, ran over and pulled Ollie out. We hear from Ollie from his hospital bed alongside wife Fern and also Loek the man who saved him
Back in 1983, American motorcyclist "Fast Freddie" Spencer won the world motorcycling championship aged just 21. Spencer won an epic battle against Kenny Roberts, another legendary US rider. Their rivalry is regarded as one of the fiercest in the history of the sport.
Photo: Denise Mueller-Korenek was pulled along to 100 mph using a dragster before breaking the record (CREDIT: Getty Images

The thing about Not by the Playbook is you never quite know where we'll end up. What you might not realise is that we have no idea either!  So, we present four guests who took us to completely unexpected places and even surprised themselves!
Cyclist Pete Mitchell, who recently competed at the Commonwealth Games and is riding faster than he ever has all at the ripe old age of thirty-six. Pete's been on a long ride to success which has taken many unusual turns, including giving up his Olympic dream to pilot blind riders to achieve their paralympic dreams. Now back in able bodied sport Pete has been reflecting on his lifelong relationship with the sport of cycling, one that has given him so much, and at times taken its toll.
Emma Wiggs, the most decorated athlete in paracanoeing history. Last month she won her 13th world Paracanoe World Championships to go alongside her gold medals from the Paralympics in Rio, Tokyo and Paris. As such, you might think that Emma's confidence is pretty impenetrable, but it isn't. At forty-six Emma's body is beginning to show the signs of wear a long pro sport career will provide, the most recent a serious shoulder injury has forced her to reevaluate everything, and yet Emma just keeps on going! Emma also explains why she is taking part in the UK's first festival to place elite Paralympic-pathway sport and disabled-led arts and culture on the same stage. The Inclusive Sport & Culture Festival is happening in Liverpool waterfront from 2nd to 8th May 2027.
Connie Henry had a decent athletics career. She won bronze representing England at the Commonwealth Games in 1998, but it's perhaps what she did once she stepped off the track that has left the most significant legacy. For the last 20 years or so Connie has been the silent figure quietly enabling others to achieve their sporting goals whatever they might be. Having seen the influence a positive role model can have, she leaned on some of her friends, who also happen to be some of the most successful sports stars of recent years, from Daly Thompson to Lord Sebastian Coe, and Denise Lewis to write a book "Behind the Brilliance"
In 1977 Englishman Michael Jay became the first foreigner to take part in Japan's "Soma Nomaoi" which celebrates classical martial arts and military horsemanship, and dates back to the 10th Century.
PHOTO: Matt Crampton and Peter Mitchell of Great Britain in the Open Sprint during day four of the British National Cycling Track Championships at Manchester Velodrome on October 1, 2011 (CREDIT: by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

This week athletes who went the extra mile, but the thing that makes them particularly remarkable is they kept going, eventually completing some of the most mind-boggling challenges on earth.
Rob Pope's latest challenge is a 500-mile coast-to-coast run across the British Isles. As ever, he's raising awareness and money for good causes. This time it's food poverty. The previous challenge was in Australia running the route of rock band AC/DC's latest tour, whilst holding an inflatable guitar! But Rob is perhaps most famous for his Forest Gump impression. Actually, less of an impression and more imitation. Exactly 10 years ago he began a 422-day, 15,700-mile run crossing of the United States multiple times to become the first person to trace the route run by Tom Hanks' fictional character.
Three brothers Lachlan, Ewan and Jamie Maclean have now successfully rowed both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, doing it non-stop and without any support whatsoever. They've just written a book about their experiences called "Three Brothers in a Boat: A True Story of Adventure and Purpose Rowing the Pacific" They tell us about their silent retreat in the ocean, a terrifying overboard moment and burning bagpipes
At 200 miles, it might not be the world's longest race, but Tunnel Ultra is certainly the darkest. It is a gruelling two-day endurance event where competitors run underground laps in single file, to a backdrop of classical music. Headphones are banned but hallucinations are all but guaranteed, with sightings of abominable snowmen, giant slugs and orange blobby monsters all reported. So why do people do it? This is the story of those who do, including one who suffered temporary blindness, then thanked the race organiser for the privilege.
In 2002, a middle-aged mother made history by winning one of the toughest races in the world outright. Pam Reed beat all the elite men competing in the 135-mile Badwater marathon through the desert of Death Valley, California. After, her victory was seen by some as a fluke. She responded by defeating all the male runners again the following year!
Photo: Rob Pope aka the real Forest Gump finishes another run (CREDIT: Erik SAMPERS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)