Ted Corbitt, who was called the father of American ultradistance running, passed away on December 12, aged 88. Over the years Ted's pioneering work in participating in and helping to organise races was a crucial factor in the current popularity of ultra distance running. Read more >>
Haile Gabreselassie laid further claim to the title of the greatest distance runner ever, when he broke Paul Tergat's old marathon record by 29 seconds, setting a new time of 2:04:26 in the Berlin Marathon. This makes a total of 25 world records he has set over the years. Read more >>
Asprihanal Aalto, the 36 year old courier from Helsinki, Finland, has shattered his own personal best to finish the 3100 Mile Race in a time of 41 days and 8 hours. At around 10 a.m on Monday morning, he crossed the finish line in front of a crowd of around 150 wellwishers, completing his seventh race, four of which he has won. Receiving his trophy, he was congratulated by all the other runners out there on the course, as well as by the race founder, Sri Chinmoy. Read more >>
Carl Lewis stands out in the annals of athletics history, and not just for being the nine-time Olympic gold medal winner. Like his idol Jesse Owens, he was the 'nice guy' whose goals in life were far more than the mere winning, grabbing the paycheck, and heading out the door we associate with many modern sports stars. Read more >>
Today at approximately 6.00am in Queens, New York, 12 runners lined up to begin the first day of a odyssey that will take them the best part of two months. They are competing in the 3100-Mile Self-Transcendence Race, the longest certified road race in the world. Read more >>
The sub three-hour marathon is the holy grail of many marathon runners, with many aiming to break it before they pass their marathon 'peak' age. Perhaps after reading about Ed Whitlock, they might be inspired to extend that peak age a little further: at the age of 73, Ed ran a time of 2:54 in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. Read more >>
People who run instinctively know there is more to life than just working, eating and sleeping. Deep within them, each person who runs feels some need to better themselves and go further and deeper into their own capacities, either by directly pushing their capacities through running or using the fitness and vitality gained from a more relaxed running regimen to aid in achieving other life goals. Read more >>
Whenever I do a marathon - especially a large one with anything up to 10,000 entrants - I love lining up with all my fellow runners at the starting line and wondering what story each person has to tell. 10,000 runners equals 10,000 ordinary people getting out there and doing the extraordinary; 10,000 different reasons for getting out there and exploring the limits of what you can do. Read more >>
Since its release in 2004, the book 'ChiRunning' by Danny Dreyer has helped many people to stay injury free whilst running and make running a more enjoyable experience. In addition to the actual technique, the book is filled with useful wisdom on everything from stretching to race preparation. Here are a few little nuggets:
Learning from experience: Read more >>
Joggling is (yes, you guessed it) the art of running whilst keeping three balls up in the air. Given enough practice, the experts can joggle with only a 10% decrease in their running speed. Read more >>
Jesse Owens stands out as one of those shining examples of how one man, by excelling in his own field of running, can have a profound impact that goes far beyond running. Read more >>
The following poem was written in 14th century Japan and is of anonymous origin. I include it here for no other reason than it's a nice poem to mull over when you're out covering the miles on a long run, alone on the road, far away from the stresses and strains of civilisation Read more >>
60-year old Rosie Swale-Pope is almost four years into her quest of accomplishing a complete circuit of the globe - on foot. On her 57th birthday, Rosie set off from her home in Wales, aiming to do a circuit of the globe that took her over as much land mass as possible. This meant she would have to go through 7000 miles of Russia and Siberia, as well as Alaska. Read more >>
We all need help with our motivation at times, whether we are training for the Olympics or beginning a jogging program to lose weight. Running has long been seen as a sport where inspiration is the key to both the enjoyment of the sport and the level of performance. These quotations have been selected to help motivate and inspire you on those days when it's hard getting out of the door to train. Read more >>
