When Catherina McKiernan turned to the roads in 1997 she found what she was made to do. A human locomotive whose efficiency saw her record the fastest women’s debut marathon in Berlin and go on to win the London and Amsterdam marathons. “If there is such a thing as a

10 Questions with Rob Heffernan Niall Breslin, or Bressie to you hip youngsters out there, interviews 2013 world 50km walk champion Rob Heffernan about the mental challenges that face an elite athlete like himself. “The mind can have a tendency to drift towards the dark side when you are really

From Child Soldier To Running Trailblazer Mira Rai is a national hero in Nepal who flies largely under the radar. She transformed from child soldier to winning international 50km-100km races, and hopes to inspire the young women of her country. “When peace came, many Maoist fighters were incorporated into a

Fresh doubts have been cast on the legitimacy of the women’s 400m world record after allegations from one of Germany’s leading anti-doping experts that Marita Koch was part of the state-sponsored doping programme in East Germany. Koch, who was Olympic 400m champion in 1980, set the current world record of

1) Run more, lots more It’s these last few weeks, right before your marathon, that count most for accumulating absurd mileage. Never mind what came before, however many 50-mile weeks are in the bag, the time has come not just to increase your mileage, but to make some monstrous jumps.

KIPSIRO AND KIPLAGAT TOP the PODIUM AT THE GREAT SCOTTISH RUN Commonwealth Games 10,000m gold medalist Moses Kipsiro headed the field in Glasgow on Sunday with Kenya’s Edna Kiplagat taking the women’s title. “I enjoyed the run, it was a nice smooth race,” Kipsiro said Full Report here. Kenyan’s Step

When Evan Jager walked off the track at the Zurich Diamond League last month, having finished a tired third in 8:18.39, he knew, there and then, his season was over. The residual fatigue from a summer in which he climbed some lofty peaks — though never quite reached the highest summit

Kenyan police have conducted raids on chemists in Nairobi and Kapsabet over the past two days, stores which are believed to be behind much of the doping problem in the East African nation, arresting five pharmacists and doctors on suspicion of supplying banned performance-enhancing drugs. In Nairobi yesterday, police attempted

Thyroid decision disappoints UK chiefs Wada have decided that thyroid medication does not meet the criteria needed to be added to the banned list – “For a substance or method to be prohibited, it must meet two of three criteria: enhance performance; pose a threat to athlete health; violate the

Once again, the fastest marathon in the world lived up to its renown, producing the 11th quickest performances of all time in both men’s and women’s races, courtesy of a pair of champions worthy of topping any marathon rostrum. Yet again, the morning of the race dawned cool, calm and

How to race in a pack ESPN talks to Shannon Rowbury and Jenny Simpson about the thrills and spills of racing in a pack. “Middle-distance racing is peculiar. Often, runners will bunch up and wait for someone else to push the pace, rather than take charge and run as fast

By Larry Brady of LBFitness for JTG Shin Splints, oh shin splints, how splinting you can be. Anyone — I mean ANYONE — who has experienced shin splints knows that they are debilitating. They stop you from doing just about anything. They give you a huge sense of failurem as anytime

Nike Says Sorry About Marathon Shoe Dysfunction You’ve probably seen images (like above) of Berlin Marathon winner Eliud Kipchoge striding to victory with insoles hanging out of his shoes. Well now Nike have apologised for the malfunctioning footwear. “Nike have offered an apology to Eliud Kipchoge for their malfunctioning shoe

‘Monumental’ Step Forward For USA Athletics Good news for US track & field athletes as their governing body, USATF, will be providing some added cash bonuses for qualification and medal winning performances. “Beginning in 2016, roughly $1.8 million per year in cash will be distributed. In practice, this will mean

James Sullivan for Jumping-The-Gun.com There was success for John Travers at yesterday morning’s Rathfarnham 5K. The Donore Harriers athlete claimed a convincing victory in a time of 14:21 around the streets of Rathfarnham and Terenure in Dublin, defeating DSD’s Brandon Hargreaves (14:37) and Kilkenny City Harriers’ Brian Maher (14:51) into