It&rsquo;s a race that pushes &ndash; and punishes &ndash; athletes in every way imaginable: an 85-kilometre slog up, down and around the rugged terrain of Alpine mountains, at altitudes that would make the more sedentary among us wheeze on a simple hike. It&rsquo;s not for the faint of heart, the brittle of body, the weak of spirit.
At the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Innsbruck-Stubai on Friday (9), the longest race of the programme sees more than 300 of the world&rsquo;s best off-road runners head into thin air for one of the toughest races of all: the trail long.
A race like this offers great rewards, but also comes with risks. Everyone standing on the line accepts this, and those working behind the scenes meanwhile, do everything they can to mitigate it.
There are &ldquo;between 450 and 500&rdquo; people working on the event to ensure its safety, according to Alexander Pitti, head of the organising committee, with 80 people stationed along the course, helping runners stay on track and swiftly available to help if things go awry.
To monitor the athletes&rsquo; progress, organisers developed a traffic-light system, utilising software that monitors their progress at various checkpoints and alerts them to anyone in potential danger. &ldquo;We have different stages, yellow and red, depending on when the athlete should come past,&rdquo; says Pitti. &ldquo;Then we can make sure to go out and protect the athlete in the best way. If it&rsquo;s green, then everything is perfect.&rdquo;
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/64832254970c409e9d3ec90f.jpg" alt="Mountain runners in Innsbruck" />
Mountain runners in Innsbruck (&copy; WMTRC 2023/Roast Media)
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But in a race of such length, with the winners expected to take 9-10 hours to reach the finish, there are other risks besides getting lost.
One of the biggest is heat stroke. At the inaugural edition of the championships last year in Thailand, there were 12 cases of heat stroke among competitors, according to Paolo Emilio Adami, Medical Manager with the World Athletics Health and Science Department.
That event featured hot, humid conditions, though Adami explains that when it comes to heat stroke, it&rsquo;s not so much the overall temperature that poses the big risk as much as the athletes&rsquo; acclimatisation period.
&ldquo;Otherwise, it would not be possible for populations in the Arabic peninsula, or in southeast Asia, where it's always warm and humid, to do any type of exercise or activity,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The risk is the sudden change between temperature and humidity. Having the athletes arriving where the competition will take place as early as possible (is key) &ndash; ideally two weeks in advance.&rdquo;
Conditions at this year&rsquo;s event are far more favourable, so the risk of heat stroke is lower, but not eliminated. Adami and his colleagues at World Athletics&rsquo; Health and Science Department will be waiting at the finish for athletes in Friday&rsquo;s Trail Long and Saturday&rsquo;s Mountain Classic events, with about 30 competitors participating in a research study to learn more about thermal response among elite athletes during such strenuous events.
Those involved will swallow a capsule that will measure their core temperature during the race, while also wearing a sensor to measure skin temperature, and they will have a small cardiac device on their chest that monitors the stress on their heart.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6483236b970c409e9d3ec915.jpg" alt="Mountain runners in Innsbruck" />
Mountain runners in Innsbruck (&copy; WMTRC 2023/Roast Media)
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&ldquo;These are all parameters that play a major role in development of a heat stroke,&rdquo; says Adami. &ldquo;It's about trying to understand what's going on in such endurance events where there&rsquo;s also changing altitude. We will also be measuring some blood parameters, mostly related to coagulation, which we know is influenced by altitude, and of course dehydration.&rdquo;
Similar studies were conducted at the World Athletics Championships in Doha and at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Oman last year, while Adami and his team will do another at the Beach to Beacon 10K race in the US in August.
&ldquo;What we are seeing is that what really matters is that difference between skin temperature and core temperature,&rdquo; says Adami. &ldquo;That's something that was not described before.&rdquo;
He explains that those who already experienced heat stroke are known to be at a higher risk of developing it again, though much of the research is aimed at identifying risk factors that predispose certain athletes to it. They also hope to develop a return-to-training protocol for its aftermath, while World Athletics is also funding a PhD project to develop a thermal stress index that can be used to gauge risk across a variety of activities in different conditions.
Of course, the athletes themselves also have a key part to play in the avoidance of such issues, and the preparations began long before they arrived in Austria. South Africa&rsquo;s Daniel Claassen has had Friday&rsquo;s Trail Long on the horizon for many months, and he should have little trouble in the 24-degree temperatures expected.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re coming out of the summer now in South Africa so we had really warm months with our training, between 30 and 35 degrees Celsius every day.&rdquo;
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Of course, he&rsquo;s well aware how much can go wrong when tackling an 85km race across terrain like this. The biggest risk he sees?
&ldquo;When you have stomach issues or you can't take food in," he says. &ldquo;I mean, when you're tired, you can always carry on walking or slow jog. The race is long so it's okay to have bad patches where you don't move as well. But once your stomach goes, if you can't get food into your body, then your day's over.&rdquo;
To avoid overheating, he'll grab some ice and put it on his neck at aid stations, while also putting some ice in his bottles."
To prepare for the event, Claassen has run 120-130km per week, his longest training run being about six hours, about 60% of the time he'll be out on the course in the race. When it comes to nailing things on race day, fuelling is a key component. He&rsquo;ll drink about one litre for each hour of the race, and took in 13 litres in total during a similar-length race recently.
He prefers to take his energy in via liquids, and will consume about 100 grams of carbohydrate each hour of the race, with each bottle of his energy drink containing 90 grams of carbs.
&ldquo;So I'll aim to have one bottle every hour and then I'll top it up either with something like a banana or an additional gel. But it's a long race, things can go wrong.&rdquo;
Most runners will take a few toilet breaks during a race of this length, but Claassen is the exception. &ldquo;I actually don't think I've ever stopped on the trail for any toilet breaks ever,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;My body just absorbs everything that I take in so I actually don't have to stop.&rdquo;
He and the other competitors will push their bodies to breaking point throughout the day, while off the course, hundreds of others will do everything they can to make sure they come back healthy - ready to push the boundaries of human performance even higher in the future.
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

It’s a race that pushes – and punishes – athletes in every way imaginable

How to conquer one of the toughest endurance feats in athletics

This year&rsquo;s stupendous season of outdoor track and field has finally drawn to a close, and goodness me, what a season it has been!
The World Athletics Championships Oregon22 took place only two months ago, but it feels like an eternity has passed since, with the Commonwealth Games, World U20 Championships, European Championships and NACAC Championships giving athletics fans the world over a feast of unforgettable performances.
If you are feeling your athletics fever dwindling somewhat, fear not, because September is always the month when we turn our attention to the roads and (I admit I am biased) the best event of them all &ndash; the marathon!
<img style="float: right;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/632f1427a216e9c661b3a00e.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="291" />The names of iconic marathon host cities &ndash; Berlin, London, Chicago, Valencia &ndash; will soon be in the news. Perhaps you are taking on the 26.2-mile challenge at one of these events? Or thinking about dipping your toe in during 2023 as the northern hemisphere spring marathon season beckons? The lure and appeal of the legendary marathon distance seems as popular as ever. If you haven&rsquo;t tried a marathon yet, naturally I recommend it; and I always advise persevering beyond the first time as it definitely improves with a few attempts.
It is nearly 10 years since I retired from elite competition, so I&rsquo;m thrilled that my first book, Marathon Wisdom, An Elite Athlete&rsquo;s Insights on Running and Life, was published earlier this year by Meyer &amp; Meyer Sport. It is a collection of 42.195 (the number of kilometres in a marathon) nuggets of wisdom which I learned from a lifetime of running &ndash; as a child, a young adult, a world-class athlete, and now as a retired recreational runner.
From setting goals and overcoming setbacks, to making the best of a bad situation and celebrating success when it comes, these insights are universal and relevant for all levels of runner. The following extract &ndash; Insight 1: What Fires You Up? &ndash; gives you a flavour of my book. It can be read from cover to cover, or dipped in and out of when time allows. It is available now from online retailers and in bookshops. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/632f13a7a216e9c661b3a00b.jpg" alt="Runners in the Berlin Marathon" />
Runners in the Berlin Marathon (&copy; AFP / Getty Images)
</div>
<h2>What fires you up?</h2>
When I was a small child growing up in Nairobi, Kenya, I loved playing outdoors. I ran up and down the steep driveway to our house and dived into all kinds of adventures in the garden. The year-round tropical, warm climate lent itself to spending time outside. I grew up loving sports and being physically active. At weekends and during the holidays, my parents took my sister and me on safari, or to the coast and the Indian Ocean, or any number of exciting adventures under Africa&rsquo;s sun and big skies.
Fast-forward to 1984 and my family had moved to Oxford, England. During that summer, at age 11, I remember watching the Los Angeles Olympics on television and being utterly mesmerised by the sports extravaganza taking place on the other side of the world. The enormous stadium, the glitz and glamour, the athletes giving it their all &hellip; I was transfixed by this spectacle and spent many hours watching it all on television. 
Strangely, in hindsight I was not really interested in the women&rsquo;s marathon, which was making its hard-won debut in the Olympic Games. Instead, I was focused on the best all-rounders there are, the decathletes and my hero, Daley Thompson. To be able to compete brilliantly in all those various events inspired awe in me, and encompassed what I wanted to be: an all-round athlete. 
The excitement of watching wore me out and I could not stay awake for the final event, the 1500m. My mother woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me that Daley had won the gold. After the Games were finished, I watched the BBC&rsquo;s highlights on videotape, set to Spandau Ballet&rsquo;s Gold, again and again. After watching those Games, I decided I wanted to be a top-class, world-beating athlete. At age 11, I had no idea how I was going to do it, but from that summer on I had discovered something that really fired me up &ndash; a dream of becoming a sporting champion.
Becoming beside yourself with excitement is one of the wonders of childhood. Many children want to be like the fabulous and attractive people they encounter. But if I can describe in general terms what that summer gave me, it was an enduring, aspirational desire to do something special and specific with my life. This desire never left me and always gave me a clear goal to aim and strive for. 
Between that summer and 17 August 2008, when I finally stood on the start line of my first Olympic marathon in Beijing, 24 years had passed. A quarter of a century! You could say it was not a very motivating or compelling dream since it took me so long to make it happen. But it was not a straightforward journey. I had become side-tracked with other activities along the way, such as earning a living. I believe it is testament to how strong that desire was that it sustained me for so many years to keep going and ensured that I never gave up on my dream. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/632f14aca216e9c661b3a011.jpg" alt="Mara Yamauchi finishes sixth in the marathon at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing" />
Mara Yamauchi finishes sixth in the marathon at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing (&copy; Getty Images)
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What I learnt from this burning desire born all those years ago was that discovering a love for something is immensely valuable and worth spending time on. That having a dream which really inspires you provides the engine for hard work, a motivating goal to focus on, and the ability to keep going through hard times. That a love for a particular activity might hit you at a time when you can&rsquo;t do much about it and you might need to return to it later. And that being clear about what you are aiming for is important because it gives you direction and motivation.
Why did it take me so long to realise my childhood dream? Most world-class athletes become professionals straight after or during their full-time education and retire while they are young adults. For me, it was different. When I left university, I wanted to become a full-time athlete but was nowhere near fast enough to earn a living from it. My parents encouraged me to look for a &lsquo;proper job&rsquo;. Like many students, I had no money. Therefore, on leaving full-time education I had no choice and simply had to find a job. I applied to the British Civil Service&rsquo;s Fast Stream graduate recruitment programme and became a diplomat with the Foreign Office. This too was a fascinating adventure. I travelled to places I had never been, had the opportunity to learn Japanese and the privilege of working with issues that mattered. I was posted to the British Embassy in Tokyo and enjoyed further adventures there &hellip; but during all that time, the dream of becoming a world-class athlete was always there in the back of my mind.
When my Tokyo posting came to an end and I returned to London at the age of 29, I decided that if I was to realise my childhood dream, it was now or never. I spent the next three years working and training hard and finally became a full-time athlete in 2006 at the age of 33. I was 35 when I finished sixth in the 2008 Beijing Olympics women&rsquo;s marathon, the joint best performance ever by a British woman in the Olympic marathon. I was 35 when I set my personal best of 2:23:12 in the 2009 London Marathon. 
It was a long journey of ups and downs, going off on tangents, and spells when realising my dream seemed like a very distant prospect. But throughout that quarter century, I was always clear what my goal was and what I wanted to be.
Sport is not everyone&rsquo;s cup of tea. Nor is spending a large part of your life pursuing one clear goal. I am not claiming that this is the only way to live a life. But this was my experience. My wish is that by sharing it, you will see how you can pursue and achieve an ambitious goal. We all have talents and gifts of one kind or another, whether it&rsquo;s in sport, music or something else.
Having a dream or overall goal provides motivation, direction and meaning. It might take time, but pursuing what you love is an enriching, life-changing journey.
Mara Yamauchi for World Athletics Be Active

Mara Yamauchi shares an extract from her new book on the importance of goal-setting and motivation

Marathon wisdom - what fires you up?

Interval training, repetitions or speed work are terms many people taking up athletics will often hear but what do they mean, where should it fit within your training and what are the potential pitfalls you should avoid when introducing it into your plan?
This guide will help provide some fundamentals.
For the sake of this article, intervals, repetitions and speed work will all be seen as the same general type of training, though in reality some coaches will have slight variances in their interpretations of those different terms.
<h2>The theory behind speed training</h2>
When aiming to lower a personal best time, many coaches believe that running at paces quicker than or around your goal pace is important. This is for a variety of reasons not limited to:
<ul>
<li>Preparing yourself mentally to run at those speeds and learning what it feels like physically</li>
<li>Stimulating the recruitment of fast-twitch muscles fibres</li>
</ul>
Fast-twitch muscle fibres are used for short, explosive movements as opposed to slow-twitch muscle fibres, which are less powerful but fatigue slower.
A higher proportion of fast-twitch muscle fibres will increase your top-end running speed while a higher proportion of slow-twitch muscles may increase your overall endurance. Striking a balance will be important to most runners, competing in all but the most extreme ultra-marathon distances.
<ul>
<li>Improving your running economy (how efficient you are in terms of the way you run) both at top speeds and at slower paces</li>
</ul>
Slower running will likely improve your aerobic fitness but will not stimulate the body to produce fast-twitch muscle fibres in the same way speed training does. This is because the body does not require as many fast-twitch muscles fibres to run at slower speeds.
How important speed training is for you will be depend on the races you are planning to partake in, though most distances will benefit from it to some degree.
Are you aiming to complete an ultra-marathon or is the 1500m your goal race?
Think about how important speed is to your running goals. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61e307e2a450a4c2543ae623.jpg" alt="Athletes training in Kaptagat" />
Athletes training in Kaptagat (&copy; Dan Vernon / NN Running Team)
</div>
<h2> What does speed training look like?</h2>
In the same way that the importance of speed training will depend on what events you are planning for, your speed training will look different based on your planned event.
Runners aiming to run the 1500m may well do fewer shorter reps at higher speeds, with 10,000m runners increasing the length of repetitions and sometimes the volume too.
Please note the sessions detailed below are not introductory sessions and should be worked up to over a period of months not weeks.
<div style="padding: 5px 20px 5px 20px; border: 2px solid #ff873c;">
<h3>Two typical 1500m sessions</h3>
<ul>
<li>3 to 4 x 500m with two to three minutes recovery between repetitions. These may be done at your target 1500m pace</li>
<li>3 x (800m, 200m, 200m) &ndash; three minutes between sets (after completing all the efforts within the brackets), 90 seconds between the repetitions (those within brackets)</li>
</ul>
<h3>Two typical 10,000m sessions</h3>
<ul>
<li>8 x 1000m with two minutes recovery between efforts. All run at 10,000m goal pace.</li>
<li>1600m, 1200m, 800m, 800m, 1200m, 1600m. Two to three minutes between efforts. These would ideally be run slightly outside 10,000m goal pace for the longer efforts, and slightly inside for the shorter efforts. The idea is to keep the paces reasonably even, with a marginal increase in speed for the shorter efforts if possible.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2> How speed training fits with your overall training programme</h2>
It is impossible to sustain these types of sessions day after day, due to the significant impact each session has on your body.
Many runners choose to incorporate some kind of speed training once a week with some experienced and elite-level runners increasing this where they have more time to recover.
It is important to see how your body responds to these sessions, be honest with the impact they have and be conservative where they may cause a risk of injury.
In order to get the maximum benefit from these sessions, allow your body to recover by running slower than you normally would on the day or two following the session.
<h2>The dangers associated with speed training</h2>
Runners should be patient and build up to any speed training they do. If you try it too early without preparing your body through some easier running, muscle injuries can be more likely.
Alongside lighter running, strength and conditioning exercises for your calves, quads and hamstrings can help ensure that you are better prepared when you first start speed training.
As mentioned, these sessions will tire you out significantly more than most slower running, so be sure to watch out for the signs of overtraining, such as increased fatigue, excess soreness and an elevated heart rate when resting.
If you experience any of these, it may indicate it is time to back off your training, and be sure to speak to a qualified professional where possible to provide you the best advice.
Finally running at increased speeds may bring with it the temptation of lighter, faster shoes. These can be useful but the less cushioning can cause greater strain on your leg muscles.
Be sure to slowly introduce these to your sessions so that your legs have time to adapt.
Enjoy the training.
George Mallett for World Athletics Be Active

The fundamentals of interval training, repetitions and speed work

The benefits and limits of speed training for endurance runners

Finding the right athletics coach for you is important, ensuring they provide advice that fits your needs and lifestyle, and help to create a positive, sustainable relationship with the sport.
But how to go about it? Here&rsquo;s our quick guide on finding the right coach for you.
<h2>Determine the help you need</h2>
Different coaches will be valuable for different people, so finding a coach who matches your needs will help get the most out of your athletics journey.
Some coaches may foster a group with a focus on making sessions as fun as possible. These coaches can be great when first finding your way into the sport, encouraging you to learn its disciplines and make you want to keep coming back.
If part of the reason you are taking up athletics is for the social interactions it creates, these coaches may be the best place to start.
Other coaches may have more of a focus on the performance side of athletics and be more appropriate for those who feel they already have an understanding of the sport and want further guidance on particular aspects of their event.
For those doing multiple disciplines, some may even choose to have more than one coach, with specialists guiding them for jumps, sprints and throws, though there are multi-discipline coaches that focus on all the events.
These performance-focused coaches can take many different forms, from experienced coaches to former athletes as well as those with a science-focused physiology background. Think of what sort of advice you would see as valuable and select your coach accordingly.
To gain a sense of the types of sessions run by coaches, take a look on social media as well as on club and coach websites, or even ask if you can do a trial session.
<h2>Getting guidance on qualified coaches through your governing body</h2>
Many <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/about-iaaf/structure/member-federations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">national athletics federations</a> have a list of qualifications available to coaches on their websites.
See if the coach you hope to work with has any of these, as it will be a good indicator of the experience they have gained.
As well as these qualifications, World Athletics offers an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/news/press-release/elearning-athletics-knowledge-training" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eLearning platform</a>, which provides educational courses and webinars for people within the sport, including those in key stakeholder groups such as technical officials, coaches and medical professionals. Further information can be found <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/news/press-release/elearning-athletics-knowledge-training" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
<h2>Matching personality to your outlook</h2>
Like people in everyday life, coaches will have different personalities. Some people like working with enthusiastic and loud coaches, valuing the support and clear instructions. Others prefer a softly-softly approach, with less-frequent but nonetheless valuable feedback.
Think about what you require in a coach.&nbsp;Speak to current group members already guided by your potential coach to gauge their personality and contemplate whether that would work for you.
<h2>Thinking beyond athletics, how does the coach fit into your life?</h2>
Ensuring you are both on the same page will create a more positive, long-lasting and sustainable relationship for athlete and coach.
Appraise yourself honestly and think about what sort of role you see athletics playing in your life. If family, work and other life commitments may affect your training, make sure you find a coach that understands that. Be honest and up front with that coach when it comes to how you see the relationship working.
A good indicator of this will be finding a coach who works with other athletes with a similar lifestyle to you, and a good way of finding this out will be heading down to the track and trying out a few sessions for yourself.
For tips on finding the right athletics club for you and getting into track running, check out the advice <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/be-active/performance/how-start-track-running" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
George Mallett for World Athletics

Finding a coach who matches your needs will help get the most out of your athletics journey

How to find the right athletics coach for you

Former elite heptathlete, coach, mother, leader, role model and champion of women&rsquo;s sport. Canada&rsquo;s Dr Linda Blade has many talents and a CV bursting with accomplishments, but above all she is a devoted and loyal fan of athletics.
The world&rsquo;s No.1 sport has been a central part of her life since she was a child and her love for it is abundantly clear. Now in her 50s, Blade is president of the board of Athletics Alberta in Canada and coaches numerous athletes across a variety of sports. I caught up with her to learn more about her lifetime of service in athletics, why there are not more women coaches and her ideas for the future of our sport.
Blade has certainly been there and done it in a variety of roles in athletics. Her athletics journey began as a talented child who excelled in the multi events. She competed in pentathlon, high jump and long jump in Bolivia, where she was born and spent her childhood, setting national records in all three events. Later, she enjoyed an international career as a heptathlete representing Canada. After retiring from competition, Blade became a student of athleticism, studying the growth and development of children over time and how the size, shape, proportion and composition of the human body relates to function, as part of her PhD in kinesiology from Simon Fraser University in Columbia.
Coaching and coach education came next, while Blade was living in Kano in northern Nigeria during the 1990s because of her husband&rsquo;s work. Determined to put her PhD studies into practice, Blade became a lecturer and coach at Bayero University in Kano.
An extraordinary and fortuitous coincidence then led to the next step in her career. While in Kano, she wrote to the IAAF (now World Athletics) development director requesting official coaching materials that she could use in her own coaching and to teach others how to coach. The reply that soon came was from Bjorn Wangemann, who had coached her as a child in Bolivia during the mid-1970s. He remembered Blade (then Linda Spenst) very well, since she had won the two medals required of him during his contract as the national coach for Bolivia.
Wangemann&rsquo;s experience in Bolivia led him to develop the IAAF&rsquo;s coaching curriculum, to ensure that coaches from developed countries spending time in developing countries could leave a sustainable legacy in coaching after they left. He encouraged Blade to take the global governing body&rsquo;s&nbsp;coaching course at its centre in Nairobi, Kenya. This was not without its difficulties, but she duly took the course and passed. With her experience of living and working in a Muslim environment in Kano, she then travelled to Iran and Bahrain to deliver training to women on how to coach girls. She also delivered coach training for both men and women in Sri Lanka, Guyana, Puerto Rico, Nigeria and Trinidad and Tobago.
Motherhood followed and Blade returned to Canada and settled in Edmonton, Alberta. Having lived overseas for most of her life until that point, she was a stranger in Edmonton, but soon launched her own private coaching business. She was quickly head-hunted by the talent ID scouts at one of Canada&rsquo;s top ice hockey teams, the Edmonton Oilers. They wanted her expertise in how to go about identifying children who could become, in due course, top hockey players. That led to her coaching plyometrics and foundational movement skills to athletes in 17 different sports, including figure skating. Among her charges were Canada&rsquo;s figure skating pair, Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, who won gold at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002. From there she has never looked back, and her coaching business is thriving.
I asked Blade for her thoughts on why so few women are involved in coaching. The age-old reason of women doing the lion&rsquo;s share of domestic chores came up immediately.
&ldquo;Athletics training often happens in the early evening when most women are at home cooking. It is difficult for women and especially mothers to spend time coaching,&rdquo; she says.
Coaches being paid properly for their skills and expertise is another reason, according to Blade. &ldquo;People expect coaches to have expertise and qualifications, but they don&rsquo;t expect to pay them in return. You have to reward professionalism properly. It also makes coaches accountable &ndash; if coaches are being paid, they have to produce results,&rdquo; she explains. &ldquo;Even if coaches are not paid, their value must be tracked, given credit and recognised in some way.&rdquo;
Blade also believes we should recognise all the people who help to deliver an athlete to elite level, in a similar way to the credits that recognise every individual who helps to create a film. In particular, the people who help children to develop foundational motor skills must be recognised, because many will be women.
Arguably, they are the most important people in an athlete&rsquo;s journey from beginner to elite.
&ldquo;These people are key &ndash; they bring on young athletes, keep them safe from injuries and encourage them to stay in the sport,&rdquo; explains Blade. &ldquo;Too often, the only person recognised as a coach of a successful athlete is the coach who helped them at the end. But they merely build on the work of others up to that point, many of whom will be women.&rdquo;
Reflecting on this point in my own career, it was exactly as Blade described: most of my coaches latterly were men, but my school teachers who gave me the foundations for becoming an elite athlete many years later were all women.
There is no doubt that Blade loves athletics and she is very clear that it is the No.1 sport.
&ldquo;Athletics is the most fundamental sport: run, jump, throw is the core of everything,&rdquo; she says. She believes the value of athletics as the most fundamental of all sports is under valued. &ldquo;It is the foundation of learning athleticism, and yet we have no universal, global system for learning athletic skills.&rdquo;
If she were in a global leadership position in athletics, this is one idea she would implement, along with much greater recognition for coaches.
Her vision for the sport shows how the lack of more women in senior leadership positions means that good ideas like these remain only ideas and are not implemented.
&ldquo;I owe athletics everything in my life, from competing as an athlete, winning scholarships, and now as a coach,&rdquo; Blade adds. &ldquo;The least I can do is give something back. It informs me every day, and reminds me what I need to know.&rdquo;
Mara Yamauchi for World Athletics Be Active

Canada’s Dr Linda Blade has many talents and a CV bursting with accomplishments, but above all she is a devoted and loyal fan of athletics.

Dr Linda Blade and a life in athletics

As many parts of the world start to see the first signs of summer and the outdoor season gets under way, many will see it as a perfect time to make their own introduction to track running.
Taking those first steps can be a daunting task but there are some steps you can take to make the process easier. 
<h2>How to find a club, coach and track races</h2>
Finding an athletics club can be an intimidating prospect but most clubs throughout the world are eager to increase their membership so you will likely be far more welcome than you first think.
Finding local athletics clubs can often be done by going on to the <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/about-iaaf/structure/member-federations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website of your national athletics federation</a> where information is often contained about affiliated clubs as well as the registered coaches who train the athletes.
This is a good way of ensuring the club you are joining is properly trained, qualified and monitored.
Qualifications alone, however, may not show exactly what you&rsquo;re looking for from a club and coach. Nowadays most clubs (and many coaches) will have various social media channels. Check them out and these may well provide a good idea of whether that club would be a good fit for you.
These pages will also often highlight any changes to training times or the right people to get in touch with to ask some questions. These channels are often much more regularly updated than websites so may be the best place to start.
While it is possible to find athletics competitions online, coaches at these clubs will be able to match your level to the appropriate competition. This means when you first decide to compete, you will be competing against people of a similar standard, making the whole experience more enjoyable and getting those competitive juices flowing. 
<h2>Getting the right footwear</h2>
Athletics spikes are generally lighter than those you would use on the road, with a lower stack height and less support. That said, there do exist variances with some models offering more support than others.
The first times you wear spikes can cause a lot of pressure on your legs, especially the calves which are normally more cushioned by less aggressive road shoes.
When training on the track, many will choose to train in lighter road shoes, gradually introducing the spikes when their legs start to get used to the different impact of the track.
Speak to your coach and footwear specialists to decide what&rsquo;s right for you and take time to introduce track spikes into your shoe rotation.
When taking part in competitions, it is important to note that many federations have adopted <a href="https://worldathletics.org/about-iaaf/documents/technical-information" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Athletics' guidance on what shoes are eligible for competitions</a>.
Whether your federation has adopted different rules will be something you should be able to find out from your coaches or the federation website. 
<h2>Track etiquette</h2>
Often it can be intimidating knowing what to do on the track and you may feel self-conscious at the start but it is not as complicated as you might think.
The rules may vary from one facility to the next, but generally speaking if you are doing a workout on a track, you have just as much right as anyone else to use the inside lane (lane one) when carrying out your efforts.
If you are passed by someone, don&rsquo;t feel the need to step into an outside lane as this may confuse the person running behind. Instead, stay on your line and the person approaching behind will normally run outside to overtake.
Equally, if overtaking someone, try not to undercut them and if you feel you might surprise them going past, a gentle call of &ldquo;track&rdquo; may alert them to your presence.
When warming up, it is generally good etiquette not to use the inside lane, instead using the outer lanes and paying attention to anyone else who may be using the track. When you&rsquo;ve finished your session, try to find a spot outside the track to change your shoes or clothing, making sure that if it is on the inside that it does not interfere with anyone practicing their field events. 
<h2>Basic strength and conditioning exercise to avoid injuries associated with first stepping on a track</h2>
As discussed, the less support provided by lighter track spikes can increase the pressure on your calves and other leg muscles. As well as building up gradually, ways of increasing the strength in your calves can include calf raises.
This exercise involves finding something for your hand to hold for balance and then slowly rising to the tips of your toes, and then slowly back down to the ground. This can start with both legs together and when you start to get stronger you can move to a single leg. Try four sets of 10-16 repetitions and build up the volume as and when you begin to get more comfortable.
Some athletes choose to use a calf raise machine, which can be found in some gyms, or alternatively carry weights in their hands to add difficulty and build further strength. With both of these make sure you don&rsquo;t increase the weights too quickly and ensure this is at a weight you can manage.
There are many other exercises that can help get your body used to the extra demands of track running. Speak to a coach or a physiotherapist for more detailed information.
George Mallett for World Athletics

The first move can be daunting, but there are some steps you can take to make the process easier.

How to get into track running

A global study has shown a direct positive link between exercise and mental health, but it also uncovers the worrying potential impact of lower levels of activity in younger generations across the world.
<a href="https://www.asics.com/smsb-state-of-mind-index" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Global State of Mind Index</a>, which was undertaken by ASICS and tracks the mental state of 37,000 people from 16 countries around the world, found that people who move the most have a higher state of mind score. Active individuals have an average state of mind score of 68/100, in relation to just 56/100 for those that are inactive.
The study also highlights dramatic differences in physical activity between generations, with older generations (those aged 57+) moving on average for almost one hour (53 minutes) more than Gen Z a week. This in turn is shown to be having a big impact on each group&rsquo;s collective state of mind score.
The study found that 54% of the global older population are active and feel the uplifting benefits, reporting an average state of mind score of 67/100. In contrast, just 45% of the global Gen Z (aged 18-24) population are currently active and, as a result, have a considerably lower average state of mind score than their older counterparts of 59/100.
And while the global population perceives 30 minutes as the minimum amount of exercise required to experience the uplifting impact of movement, new research by ASICS proves that just 15 minutes and nine seconds of movement is all it can take to begin feeling the mood-boosting effects.
Dr Brendon Stubbs, a leading exercise and mental health researcher from King&rsquo;s College London who led the study, said: &ldquo;There is a common perception that you need to move for a long time to experience the uplifting benefit. However, our new research proves this is not the case &ndash; just over 15 minutes of movement is actually all it can take to experience the positive impact. Coinciding with the state of mind index, which demonstrates the positive link between movement and mental health on a global scale like never before, we hope it will be inspiring for many to see the impact that such a small amount of movement can have.&rdquo; 
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 Inspired by its 15:09 finding, ASICS now aims to get the world moving with the launch of a <a href="https://www.asics.com/nl/en-nl/mk/1509-uplift-challenge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">15:09 Uplift Challenge</a>, which will be kicked off by the 15:09 Uplift Ambassadors &ndash; ASICS&rsquo; latest athlete signings with a difference. The club&rsquo;s founding members &ndash; including Britain&rsquo;s 1991 world 10,000m champion Liz McColgan, Japan&rsquo;s 2004 Olympic marathon champion Mizuki Noguchi, and USA&rsquo;s 2004 Olympic marathon bronze medallist Deena Kastor &ndash; are a celebration of the uplifted older generation&rsquo;s approach to movement and exercise, as revealed by the state of mind index study results.
Tomoko Koda, Managing Executive Officer, Senior General Manager, Marketing at ASICS, said: &ldquo;At ASICS, it has long been our belief that sport has the power to uplift both an individual and the world like nothing else. While the results of our global State of Mind Index prove just how intrinsic the link between regular movement and positive mental health is, they also show the potential impact a small amount of movement could have in raising the world&rsquo;s collective state of mind. Our 15:09 Challenge sets out to do just that, calling on everyone to move and in doing so experience those all-important benefits first-hand. We&rsquo;re delighted that our inspiring new ASICS 15:09 Uplift Ambassadors are going to be joining us in taking part in and sharing this challenge too.&rdquo;
ASICS is inviting everyone to get involved by taking part in their own 15:09 challenge throughout June by moving for 15:09 minutes and sharing how they get on using #LiveUplifted.

Study shows direct positive link between exercise and mental health, but also highlights impact of lower levels of activity in younger generations

State of mind study proves positive impact of movement on mental health

<h3>&bull; One week of physical inactivity has similar impact as week of broken sleep on our state of mind</h3>
<h3>&bull; Little more than 15 minutes of physical activity a week can trigger a mental uplift</h3>
&nbsp;
The impact of physical inactivity on our mental state has been revealed for the first time in the Mind Race &ndash; an ASICS experiment in which regular exercisers paused their normal fitness routines for one week.
The impact on their state of mind was found to be similar to a week of broken sleep, with participants reporting a 23% increase in racing thoughts.
Reassuringly, the results of ASICS&rsquo; Uplifting Minds Study , involving thousands of participants from across the world, proves it can take just 15:09 minutes of physical activity to lift our mental state &ndash; even after periods of inactivity.
Professor Brendon Stubbs, a leading researcher in movement and the mind, monitored the State of Mind scores of healthy participants who agreed to pause their regular exercise routines for just one week. The results are significant with both their cognitive and emotional wellbeing being impacted.
When active people stopped moving, their confidence dropped by 20%; positivity fell by 16%, energy levels slumped by 23% and their ability to cope with stress reduced by 22%. 
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 In fact, after just one week of no exercise, participants&rsquo; overall State of Mind score dropped by an average of 18% &ndash; decreasing from a high 68 out of 100 when physically active to a mediocre 55 out of 100 when they stopped exercising. The effects of this inactivity are captured in the Mind Race experiment film following a group of study participants.
But there is good news: participants were monitored when they returned to their regular exercise regime and all experienced immediate improvements in their state of mind, showing how quickly the negative effects of inactivity can be reversed.
Stubbs also analysed data from thousands of people who participated in ASICS' ongoing Uplifting Minds Study since June 2021. The study uses cutting edge technology to mimic EEG and capture the impact of exercise on people&rsquo;s state of mind. Based on data from across sports and across regions, just 15 minutes and nine seconds of exercise can significantly impact our mental state.
&ldquo;We know that exercise is good for our mental health but the impact of rest and restarting exercise is less clear,&rdquo; said Stubbs. &ldquo;Now, thanks to new technology and the contribution of thousands of people, we&rsquo;ve been able to pinpoint just how much exercise is needed to trigger a positive mental impact. This ASICS study helps to quantify the amount of exercise to improve mental health and make it more tangible. Taking time to rest is very important. This novel study shows that people&rsquo;s wellbeing bounces back very quickly after a period of rest when people resume regular exercise again.&rdquo;
Gary Raucher, EVP, ASICS EMEA said: &ldquo;Our founding philosophy is literally in our name, Anima Sana In Corpore Sano or a Sound Mind in a Sound Body. And we believe our focus on the benefits of sport and movement, not just on the body, but also on the mind, has never been more relevant. We know the last two years have been tough on the mental state of many. And while not the answer for everyone, we know exercise can make a difference. We hope to inspire more people to move with ASICS, even for just 15:09 minutes to feel the benefits on body and mind.&rdquo;
<a href="https://minduplifter.asics.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Take part in ASICS&rsquo; ongoing Uplifting Minds Study</a> and see the impact of exercise on your own State of Mind.

Little more than 15 minutes of physical activity a week can trigger a mental uplift

Experiment reveals full impact of inactivity on mind and body

For several generations now, Kenya has produced many of the world&rsquo;s greatest distance runners.
Many athletes from elsewhere in the world, meanwhile, have tried to tap into the secrets of Kenya&rsquo;s success as they try to play catch-up &ndash; quite literally &ndash; with the east African nation that continues to churn out global medallists and world record-breakers.
The truth is, there is no one single reason why Kenya is so dominant in distance events. It&rsquo;s more down to a combination of factors, many of which were explained during a recent trip to the NN Running training camp in Kaptagat, about 24km east of Eldoret, where the likes of Eliud Kipchoge trains for 11 months of the year.
&nbsp;
<h2>A way of life</h2>
There are few countries where people live and breathe athletics, and where the No.1 Olympic sport can claim to be more popular than football, filling entire stadiums even for age-group championships.
And while Kenya isn&rsquo;t the only country in the world where kids run long distances to get to school, running has a whole different meaning to many people in the country. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61b34df33d473de56e7743a5.jpg" alt="" width="100%" height="" /> Local school children look on while Eliud Kipchoge runs past (&copy; Dan Vernon / NN Running Team)
&nbsp;
&ldquo;Running is something that comes naturally to us as it&rsquo;s something that has been part of our lifestyle since we were born,&rdquo; says three-time world half marathon champion and two-time New York City Marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor. &ldquo;As a kid, I used to run from home to my school three kilometres away back and forth each day, so you end up running sometimes 12 kilometres a day as a teen without even realising it.&rdquo;
Beyond being a means to an end, there is also a genuine love for running among the Kenyan population.
&ldquo;As a kid, I would always go and watch athletics competitions when not at school and I enjoyed watching people competing,&rdquo; added Kamworor. &ldquo;It awoke my passion for running, especially seeing people cross the finish line and winning a trophy. In high school, it was always a fun and proud moment to represent your class and win a cup. I found it very encouraging.&rdquo;
Having running embedded into day-to-day life sets Kenya apart from many other nations. But it&rsquo;s just one of the many reasons why it is known as being the &lsquo;home of the champions&rsquo;.
&nbsp;
<h2>Genetics</h2>
Simply running to school each day doesn&rsquo;t automatically turn everyone into a world-class athlete. Genetics, as it does for every elite athlete, likely play a significant part.
Many people in the Rift Valley, where most of Kenya&rsquo;s top distance runners originate, belong to the Kalenjin tribe. When compared to other Kenyan tribes, Kalenjin people are often described as having good natural running attributes: namely lean bodies and long legs.
Kipchoge, for example, isn&rsquo;t particularly tall (1.67m / 5ft 6in), but the muscles on his legs are incredibly lean, his body fat percentage is low, and the strength in his feet make it appear as though he bounces along the grass.
But attributing all of Kenya&rsquo;s success to just their genetics would be a gross over-simplification. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61b34d923d473de56e77439f.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> Eliud Kipchoge during a track training session (&copy; Dan Vernon / NN Running Team)
&nbsp;
<h2>Conditions</h2>
Another element that helps Kenyan athletes in their training and preparation is the unique climate and surroundings in this part of the country. It also probably explains why there are so many training camps between Kaptagat and Iten, and why some people refer to it as the &lsquo;Hollywood of elite runners&rsquo;.
This region is located at 2500 metres above sea level, which, given the lack of oxygen, helps athletes produce a higher concentration of red blood cells and haemoglobin when training. This, in turn, gives runners an advantage when they return to lower altitudes to race.
The Eldoret region is also full of endless forests and dirt roads for athletes to use when running, while the area also enjoys a temperate climate with daytime temperatures ranging between 22-26C throughout the year, dropping to 10-12C at night time. That, combined with the good air quality, makes the area something of a distance-running paradise. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61992540fa537ffdbdfda240.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> The NN Running Team on a training run (&copy; Dan Vernon / NN Running Team)
&nbsp;
But as Kenya&rsquo;s economy continues to develop, so do the local villages and the wider region, meaning many of the local dirt paths are now being made into proper roads &ndash; which is great for facilitating transport and access from other points of the country, but less so for athletes seeking a run-friendly surface.
Athletes are adapting well to this evolving environment, though, while remaining in close contact with nature. The Kalenjin community, Kipchoge and Kamworor included, are running many tree-planting initiatives. &ldquo;We evolve in a very natural environment which is a great advantage when it comes to training,&rdquo; says Kamworor.
Patrick Sang, the 1992 Olympic silver steeplechase medallist and head coach at the Kaptagat training camp, explains how the new generation of running shoes can help counter the effects of running on harder roads.
&ldquo;New running shoes help a lot because athletes can now do a lot more training on a hard surface and still recover on time to do their next hard session,&rdquo; says Sang. &ldquo;Overall, you can get more work done to help improve performance.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61e30793a450a4c2543ae61d.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> Athletes prepare for a training session in Kaptagat (&copy; Dan Vernon / NN Running Team)
&nbsp;
<h2>Sleep, eat, train, repeat</h2>
Most world-class athletes are fully committed to their sport, but the elite runners at the Kaptagat training camp in particular take dedication to a whole new level.
Many of these athletes &ndash; including young mothers such as two-time Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon &ndash; have children who are at home during the week so that they can entirely focus on their training at the camp.
&ldquo;Of course, it&rsquo;s very hard but that&rsquo;s the only way to be fully dedicated to being the best athlete you can and avoid any distraction,&rdquo; said Kipyegon. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61e30743a450a4c2543ae617.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> Faith Kipyegon at the Kaptagat training camp (&copy; Dan Vernon / NN Running Team)
&nbsp;
When not running, athletes at the Kaptagat training camp are focused entirely on other elements of their training, namely recovery and nutrition.
&ldquo;When you are at the camp, your sole focus is on running and you are not distracted by anything else,&rdquo; says Kamworor, father to five children, including young triplets. &ldquo;You are away from your family, your wife and your kids during the whole week, and that makes you take your training very seriously as you are making sacrifices to achieve your goals. That&rsquo;s the only way to be focused 100% on running and to give your very best.&rdquo;
As in any walk of life, hard work and having the right mind-set are key to success. Kipchoge might be the most successful athlete at the camp, but Sang says that&rsquo;s not just down to his talent. &ldquo;Eliud isn&rsquo;t the most gifted athlete within his training group but certainly the most dedicated,&rdquo; Sang says of Kipchoge, who is always the first one ready for training and the last one to leave.
In an average week, athletes at the Kaptagat camp do one long run of 30km (once a month it will be 40km), which usually takes place early on a Thursday morning. Typical track sessions, meanwhile, would be something like 8x1600m (each rep completed in 4:40) and 8x400m (at an average of 65 seconds) on their local 380m cinder track.
&ldquo;Have you seen him?&rdquo; Sang says when watching Kipchoge train. &ldquo;This guy is a machine.&rdquo;
Athletes are religious in their approach to punctuality and producing their best effort in training. And other local athletes from outside the NN Running team are welcome to join in the sessions, provided they arrive on time. After all, no one wants to be playing catch-up with the likes of Kipchoge and Kamworor. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/677dd131-ce93-4668-97b8-800943b96418.png" alt="" width="100%" /> Patrick Sang (&copy; Dan Vernon / NN Running Team)
&nbsp;
<h2>Community</h2>
The Kaptagat training camp is run entirely by the 25 athletes who live there for 11 months a year from Monday to Saturday morning before going back to spend quality time with their family, often in the big city of Eldoret. In and around the 12 training runs they do in a typical week, the resident athletes to everything at the camp.
&ldquo;If you look at life at the camp, the one making bread is an athlete, the cleaning is done by the athletes, the one doing shopping for the camp is an athlete,&rdquo; says Sang. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t want athletes to live on another island.
&ldquo;The whole idea is to make sure these athletes become well-rounded people. You wouldn&rsquo;t want to help someone become a great athlete who lacks social skills or is out of touch with society.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61e307a8a450a4c2543ae620.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> Life at the Kaptagat training camp (&copy; Dan Vernon / NN Running Team)
&nbsp;
Kipchoge, whose wife and three children live just 45 minutes away from the training camp, could easily go and spend time with his family during his time off, but instead he chooses to stay at the camp with the rest of the group, monastically isolated from the rest of the world.
Kipchoge is rarely bored, too. When he&rsquo;s not training or resting, he will be reading or working at the camp.
The sense of community extends to caring about the environment. Every athlete at the camp gets a tree planted at the entrance as a welcome gesture and to symbolise their connection to nature. Some special guests to the camp &ndash; including Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie &ndash; have also had a tree planted for them in Kaptagat.
Occasionally, athletes at the camp will give each other lessons, or they will engage in real debates around serious issues, helping them develop holistically as people.
&nbsp;
<h2>Simplicity</h2>
Far away from the latest technological innovations you often hear about in other parts of the world, daily life at the camp is basic.
Upon entering the gates at the Kaptagat training camp, the 380m cinder track is located on the left. It has a slight incline on the first bend and a couple of cows as spectators, but it meets all their needs.
&ldquo;A synthetic track isn&rsquo;t needed for what we do and the way we train,&rdquo; says Marc Roig, a former international runner from Spain, who now works as a jack of all trades for NN Running, acting as a fitness coach, physio, runner, mentor and pacemaker. &ldquo;If our athletes need a synthetic track, they can go to the one in Eldoret an hour away.&rdquo; In fact, there are just four synthetic tracks in the whole of Kenya, but it&rsquo;s clearly not a barrier to producing top athletes.
The runners at the camp rarely lift weights or spend time stretching, but twice a week they will do core strength sessions. Instead of water, they drink mursik &ndash; a nutritious fermented milk &ndash; in the morning and Kenyan tea in the afternoon. And not a single drop of water during their 30km long run. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s okay,&rdquo; says Sang. &ldquo;They don&rsquo;t need it.&rdquo;
Within the camp itself, there is a TV room with a small library corner with a few books there for the athletes, a living room for their meals, the dormitory (one for women and another for men), a basic gym comprising a bike, a treadmill, some elastic bands and a light weightlifting bar (with maximum 40kg available) and a big blue plastic drum outside used for ice baths.
It&rsquo;s all quite rudimentary, but they don&rsquo;t need more, and it seems to work. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61e308dba450a4c2543ae626.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> Selly Chepyego at the Kaptagat training camp (&copy; Dan Vernon / NN Running Team)
&nbsp;
The only visible &lsquo;luxury&rsquo; &ndash; aside from the eco-friendly solar panels to get hot water &ndash; is that Kipchoge has his own bedroom. But even the king of the marathon does his fair share of the chores. He prepares tea for other athletes, and there&rsquo;s a strict cleaning schedule that all athletes must stick to.
&ldquo;I think that when you stop leading a simple life, your mind-set loses contact with the outside world and you lose your focus on your actual goals,&rdquo; says Kipchoge. &ldquo;At this point, you run the risk of forgetting about the really important things in life.&rdquo;
Life at the camp is minimalistic, but nobody complains. Indeed, this simplicity is what defines them and enables the athletes to keep their focus and remain humble about who they are, where they come from and what they are here for.
&nbsp;
<h2>Hollywood of running</h2>
To be the best, you need to surround yourself with the best &ndash; which is another reason why the Rift Valley continues to produce champion athletes.
The likes of Kipchoge, Kamworor and Kipyegon are true A-listers, but Kaptagat is filled with talented athletes who have achieved podium finishes at major championships and big city marathons. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61b34e343d473de56e7743a8.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> Eliud Kipchoge and his training partners run through Kaptagat (&copy; Dan Vernon / NN Running Team)
&nbsp;
Roig, who has a 2:18:05 marathon PB, moved to Kenya several years ago. &ldquo;When I take my kids to school, I feel ashamed saying I am a runner as many of the dads there have 2:05 marathon PBs,&rdquo; jokes Roig, who is now the race director for the Valencia Marathon. &ldquo;There is even a mother at the school who has a PB similar to mine!&rdquo;
But the Kaptagat camp isn&rsquo;t the only leading training venue in the area. Iten, a small town at 2400 metres above sea level about an hour north of Kaptagat, is often referred to as the &lsquo;home of champions&rsquo; or the &lsquo;Hollywood of distance running&rsquo;.
One of the drivers used for NN Running Team&rsquo;s trip to Kenya, for example, was a former 1:06 half marathon runner. His wife, meanwhile, was a 2:21 marathon runner who finished second at the Rotterdam Marathon a couple of years ago. His neighbour is Emmanuel Korir, the Olympic 800m champion, and he is good friends with Joyciline Jepkosgei, the multiple world record-breaker and 2021 London Marathon champion. Abdi Nageeye, the Olympic marathon silver medallist, also happened to be in Iten at the time of the trip. While ferrying around members of the media, the driver passed by a gas station named &lsquo;Oslo&rsquo;, which is one of many local businesses owned by Vivian Cheruiyot. The 2016 Olympic 5000m champion opened the station after winning at the Oslo Diamond League meeting.
One of the biggest training venues in Iten is the High Altitude Training Centre founded by multiple world half marathon champion Lornah Kiplagat, who herself is part of a highly successful family of runners, including Sylvia Kibet, Hilda Kibet and Susan Sirma. Many international athletes, including the likes of Mo Farah and Paula Radcliffe, have previously stayed there, while former steeplechaser Bob Tahri of France opened his own training centre in Iten a few years ago.
The Rift Valley &ndash; Iten and Kaptagat in particular &ndash; is like nowhere else on earth. Everybody knows a champion who is friends with another champion, who is the neighbour of another champion.
It&rsquo;s yet another way &ndash; and one of the many &ndash; of becoming a great runner.
Loic Malroux for World Athletics

An insight into what makes Kenya such a successful distance-running nation

What it takes to become a Kenyan distance champion

Neeraj Chopra's ambition is to inspire the next generation of javelin stars, and his performances &ndash; including his Olympic title win in Tokyo &ndash; have helped to launch the sport into the spotlight.
Here the 24-year-old, who this year became India&rsquo;s first ever Olympic champion in athletics, shares his top five tips for beginner javelin throwers. 
<h2>1 Make the most of the facilities you have</h2>
&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t need to have the most fancy facilities to train in. Wherever you are, whatever facility you have, just keep training and keep at it.&rdquo;
Growing up, no one did athletics in Chopra&rsquo;s home village. For a long time, he didn&rsquo;t even know what a javelin was. That changed when he became a teenager and he would go to the local sports stadium to run and be active.
&ldquo;One day at the stadium, I saw some others throwing the javelin so I tried it out,&rdquo; he told <a href="https://spikes.worldathletics.org/post/neera-chopra-javelin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spikes</a>. &ldquo;Within 10 days, I was throwing 40-45 metres and others started to tell me I had a natural talent for it.&rdquo;
<h2> 2 Have patience</h2>
&ldquo;In a sport like javelin, you need to give yourself time to make things happen, so be patient.&rdquo;
About five years after taking up javelin throwing, Chopra broke the world U20 record in Bydgoszcz to win India&rsquo;s first ever gold medal at the World Athletics U20 Championships. Another five years later, Chopra became India&rsquo;s first ever Olympic champion in athletics as he gained gold in Tokyo with a throw of 87.58m. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61c58b5aea29f7fc1ef31561.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
<h2> 3 Work hard</h2>
&ldquo;There are no shortcuts to success, as they say. So, keep the grind, keep at it, and put in the hard work.&rdquo;
Chopra has said it took him at least two years to learn the proper technique for javelin throwing. In the lead up to Tokyo, he would train for six or seven hours some days, with lighter sessions in the morning and heavier work in the evenings. He would have Wednesday and Saturday evenings off, with Sunday being a rest day.
&ldquo;Most of the other times I&rsquo;m working on something, from strength and conditioning to gymnastics to technical training,&rdquo; he explained.
<h2> 4 Have a good guide</h2>
&ldquo;Because javelin is a technical event, make sure you have somebody with you like a good coach or an experienced mentor who can guide you and show you that you are going the right way.&rdquo;
Chopra was coached by Gary Calvert to his world U20 title and for the past few years has been working with biomechanics expert Klaus Bartonietz. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61c58b1cea29f7fc1ef3155e.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
<h2> 5 Have self belief</h2>
&ldquo;Lastly and most importantly, believe in yourself. Have faith in your own ability, and your ability to do well for yourself and for your country.&rdquo;
Chopra is passionate about the future of javelin throwing and athletics in his country and hopes his performances, including his major title wins, encourage children to take up the sport.
&ldquo;I see so much potential for Indians with the javelin,&rdquo; he has said. &ldquo;To succeed you need strength and speed, and Indian kids have that. I think, more and more, they'll see what we&rsquo;re achieving and be inspired to pick up a javelin themselves.&rdquo;
World Athletics Be Active

India’s first ever Olympic champion in athletics shares his top tips for beginner javelin throwers.

Chopra's top five javelin tips

Three weeks ago, I wrote about the <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/be-active/performance/basics-off-season-winter-training" target="_blank" rel="noopener">basics of off-season, or winter training</a>. From where I am writing this in the UK, days are short, cold and grey &ndash; winter is definitely here! I wrote that article on the basis that the track season takes place during the summer, and the marathon seasons in the spring and autumn, in the northern hemisphere. But what about the southern hemisphere, I hear you ask? Athletics and road running are global sports, but competitions, for example the World Marathon Majors, mostly take place in northern hemisphere countries. If you live in the southern hemisphere and want to compete overseas, planning your preparation becomes a little more complicated.&nbsp;
Periodising training and peaking for competitions are two well-known features of being an athlete or runner. There is a wealth of knowledge available about both, including from coaching giants such as Arthur Lydiard. The former involves carefully prioritising elements such as aerobic training, anaerobic training, total training volume, strength and conditioning, and rest at different times, with the goal of arriving at the day of competition optimally prepared.
Whether your goal is completing your first 5km, becoming a world champion or anything in between, periodising your training over time is a valuable way of organising your efforts in the most efficient and productive way. This need not be complicated. Keeping things simple and maintaining a laser-like focus on your priorities is a good rule of thumb. Often less is more &ndash; doing the most you can in a limited amount of training time. &nbsp;&nbsp;
If you are preparing for a competition far away, suddenly things become more complicated. Long-haul travel, a different time zone and weather you are not used to are all new challenges that you&rsquo;ll have to plan for. While these factors might feel like distractions from the important business of training, they can have a major impact on performance. It is worth spending time and effort getting them right. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Australia&rsquo;s Benita Willis is one athlete who mastered all this impeccably on the biggest stage of all. She won the World Cross Country Championships senior women&rsquo;s race in 2004, which was held in Brussels, Belgium. I caught up with her to find out how she planned for this race half-way round the world from her home near Melbourne, Australia. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61bdb83ff27bb9b50fa08195.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 In the months leading up to the World Cross, Willis mostly trained at 1600m altitude in Falls Creek, Australia. There was no track, proper gym or even a big supermarket back then. &ldquo;It was all very basic &ndash; hilly trails with some flat running for sessions. I loved this because it allowed me to really focus on training, rest and recovery without other distractions. For &lsquo;ice baths&rsquo; we used cold streams!&rdquo; she explains. 
Willis did three speed sessions and one long run per week, plus easy running. She used two intermediate races, a track 5km in Melbourne, and the Chiba International Cross Country race in Japan, in the weeks before the World Cross to sharpen up. These gave her a lot of confidence as she headed to Brussels. 
&ldquo;I flew into my training base of London, UK, about eight days before race day. I coped best with long haul flights if I arrived in the race time zone at least seven days out. I ran a key session about four to five days out of 4-5 x 1km with 90 seconds slow jog recovery, and flew on to Brussels with three days to go,&rdquo; she says. 
&ldquo;My advice for coping with travel before competing is to get on to the new time zone as soon as you arrive, and do some light jogging, rather than hard training, in the first few days.&rdquo; 
<h2>Top training tips</h2>
Willis founded and runs Lace Up Running, a fun and social fitness group based on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane. So I asked Willis what her tips are for recreational runners who are trying to plan their training long-term, for example up to a year ahead.
&ldquo;My top tip is not to train too hard too soon. Combine walking with running initially until you can run for thirty minutes comfortably before adding in any intensity,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;The key to running long term is to stay injury free in order to progress and stay excited about your running &ndash; small steps at first. Looking ahead six to twelve months, having a goal is great as it gives you something to focus on and structure for your training.&rdquo;
Willis recommends always starting with a small goal such as to finish your first 5km or 10km before going for something harder, like a half marathon, over the following year. &ldquo;But pick a goal which is meaningful to you &ndash; we are all different and get excited about different races and distances.&rdquo;
Of course, the southern hemisphere is home to some iconic and historic events, including the Comrades Marathon, Sydney&rsquo;s City2Surf and the Corrida Internacional de Sao Silvestre in Sao Paulo. If you live in the northern hemisphere and are looking for a new and exciting challenge, these races could be for you!
Mara Yamauchi for World Athletics Be Active

If you live in the southern hemisphere and want to compete overseas, planning your preparation becomes a little more complicated.

Peaking and periodisation for southern hemisphere athletes

At moments, running can be a monotonous sport. The same routes traversed time and again over a long winter block of training. Sometimes all it takes to relight that fire is a good book.
Here are five that will inspire you to get the trainers on once more.
&nbsp;
<div style="float: right; margin-left: 20px;"><img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/P/B08B4751R9.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SX500_.jpg" alt="" width="170" /></div>
<h2><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Out_of_Thin_Air/eT3rDwAAQBAJ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Out of Thin Air</a> by Michael Crawley</h2>
Michael Crawley is a talented marathon runner who has competed internationally for Scotland, but it was his trip to Ethiopia that made him fall back in love with the sport. Living with some of the nation&rsquo;s best athletes, Crawley provides a fascinating insight into one of running&rsquo;s most fabled heartlands.
From travelling to altitudes where it is difficult to breathe all in search of almost mythical mountain air, to zig-zag runs through dense forests, Crawley introduces us to the almost spiritual association Ethiopia has with the sport.
An awe-inspiring, uplifting read, Out Of Thin Air will bring purpose to those daily runs and a spring in the step for anyone hoping to follow in their footsteps.
&nbsp;
<div style="float: right; margin-left: 20px;"><img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/P/1787839818.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SX500_.jpg" alt="" width="170" /></div>
<h2><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Coasting/sRlizgEACAAJ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coasting</a> by Elise Downing</h2>
Elise Downing&rsquo;s book starts with the familiar conundrum. A university graduate finding her feet in the working world, Downing faces up to the reality of what her future holds. Her solution, however, is not the typical.
Deciding to run the coast of Britain, Coasting follows her journey round the nation&rsquo;s shores. It charts the highs and lows of the entire 5000-mile journey, the people she meets along the way and the truths she discovers about herself.
Coasting serves a fitting reminder of how running can provide a great platform to unwind your thoughts, to reflect and ultimately to move forward in a better place than when you headed out the door.
&nbsp;
<div style="float: right; margin-left: 20px;"><img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/P/1861978774.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SX500_.jpg" alt="" width="170" /></div>
<h2><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Born_to_Run/_onEr-4TXJsC" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Born to Run</a> by Christopher McDougall</h2>
An injury to his foot has McDougall in pursuit of a fix. But in searching for an answer, the author draws us to what many see as the birthplace of North American endurance: the Tarahumara tribe and their incredible ultra-running exploits.
The book follows McDougall in his attempt to complete a 50-mile race in Tarahumara territory and sees him try to answer how humans are capable of such extraordinary feats.
A mixture of high-level sports science and nostalgic romanticism will see you plodding along wondering whether you were born to do this.
&nbsp;
<div style="float: right; margin-left: 20px;"><img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/P/B0077FAWAE.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SX500_.jpg" alt="" width="170" /></div>
<h2><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Feet_in_the_Clouds/lSvBAgAAQBAJ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Feet in the Clouds</a> by Richard Askwith</h2>
Richard Askwith is, by his own admission, no fell-running superstar but his book on the sport provides a compelling illustration of just why so many find the sport so special. One in which the sport&rsquo;s best and the rest face the same trials and tribulations.
Along his journey trying to complete the Bob Graham Round, a fell-running endurance challenge in the UK&rsquo;s Lake District, Askwith tells the story of fell-running&rsquo;s understated stars.
If a book can summarise what it means to be out on the fells, plotting your path, this is probably it.
Feet in the Clouds will have you searching for the tallest hill and making it your mission to climb it.
&nbsp;
<div style="float: right; margin-left: 20px;"><img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/P/1635653436.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SX500_.jpg" alt="" width="170" /></div>
<h2><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Passion_Paradox/GdhhDwAAQBAJ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Passion Paradox</a> by Brad Stulberg &amp; Steve Magness</h2>
In pursing your running goals, it can often feel like you lose balance in your life. When you don&rsquo;t quite achieve what you are looking for, then it can have a big impact on how you feel. Not just about your running but also about your self-worth.
Stulberg and Magness tackle the notion of passion, how it is important for success but how it needs to be harnessed so as to avoid becoming something obsessive. They talk about the warning signs, how an element of imbalance is necessary but ultimately how you can channel it to your advantage.
Although this book isn&rsquo;t just about running, it is for all those who feel they&rsquo;re stuck in a rut and looking for something to freshen up their perspective to their passions. 
George Mallett for World Athletics Be Active

Five good reads to inspire you to get the trainers on once more

Gift guide for athletics fans

Remarkable Runners: Siobhan Coleman

Remarkable Runners: Lindsay Walter

Lessons from the long run – with Kipyegon, Kipchoge and Sang

On track with Kipyegon and Kipchoge