I’m going to say something obvious: Racing can be very hard and uncomfortable. An obvious result of this is that people are often tempted to stop running.

So if you’ve ever been in the midst of a competition, on a hot day, on a tough hill, at the course’s halfway point, and thought of dropping out, it’s not just you. As solitary as those moments can feel, they are happening to athletes all around you, too.

Elite runners aren’t immune, either. Conner Mantz said that he entertains the thought in every race, and he’s an American record holder! Author and coach Steve Magness shared in a Twitter thread that the feeling is very common among pro runners. Morgan Beadlescomb confirmed he has, and has overcome these thoughts all of the time.

So these two things can be true – many runners consider stopping, and many of them complete races every year. It’s possible to successfully navigate these thoughts. I’ll give you an example of how I navigated a moment like this that turned into one of the best races of my life.

It was pretty early into a half marathon, and I had dug myself into a hole. The race started at 11am on one of the first warm spring days of the year. I went out way too fast, with a 3:10 first kilometre, followed by a series of tough uphill climbs. By kilometre five, as I was climbing a big hill in the sun, my brain was deep into doubtful thoughts. There’s no way I can keep doing this. I messed up. Maybe today isn’t my day.

Instead of stopping, I started a negotiation with myself. I wasn’t near the start line, and I knew it was going to be a long walk home if I stopped where I was. I made an offer to myself that I would drop out when I got closer to the starting area, around the 6 kilometre mark.

Once I reached 6km, I was a bit more relaxed and still in one piece, so the pitch became: How about we drop out at 11km and we jog back toward the start? Once I got to the 11km mark, the effort was hard, but not overwhelming. So when the course reached a 5km loop, I bargained again, with the option to drop out at 16km. When I hit the 16km mark, it occurred to me that I had actually PB’d in the 16km distance and that I would likely run a decent time even if I slowed down to a jog, so the bargain was that I could back off on effort instead of stopping.

I reached a big hill just before 20km, and the next deal was that I could stop after I got to the top of the hill. But when I got to the top, there was maybe a minute or so of running remaining, and I went in for a massive kick. I finished in 1:08:59, a PB by 32 seconds, in a race where I once had been convinced that I was going to drop out at the 6-kilometre mark.

Looking back, I used two mental tools. Life coaches call them “bargaining” and “chunking.”

The series of negotiations put me in a position to think about the race as a collection of smaller distances within it, or “chunks.” In my head, I was no longer running a half marathon race. Instead, I was racing for a few kilometres at a time. This allowed me to panic less and focus a little more, moment to moment. It helped me to calm down and eventually find my stride. The physical sensations were the same, but committing to race just a few more kays was easier to wrap my head around. I could focus a little more.

Ultimately, the thoughts that I had in the beginning were not ironclad truths, but interpretations of how I was feeling. Reframing them made the same sensations tolerable. You may or may not find chunking or bargaining helpful as a mental tactic. You might prefer another mental framework that works better for you. But the point is that these kinds of thoughts are very normal and there are tools that you can use to navigate them.

So, if your brain wants to stop when you hit the second kilometre of a 5K, for example, don’t assume that the desire to stop is a final offer. Perhaps it might help to think of it as the beginning of a negotiation.

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

The post 2 Mental Tricks to Help You Finish Any Race appeared first on Runner's World.

“The AIU has provisionally suspended reigning World and former Olympic champion, Peres Jepchirchir, after an out-of-competition sample, collected in Kenya before her recent Sydney Marathon victory, returned an adverse analytical finding for EPO,” the organisation said.

At this point, the AIU announcement isn’t a final ruling that Jepchirchir committed an anti-doping violation, and the case still has to work through the formal process.

Jepchirchir has spent years collecting titles across multiple distances.

Jepchirchir has spent years collecting titles across multiple distances. She won Olympic marathon gold at the 2021 Tokyo Games, then returned to Japan four years later to win the world marathon championship. Before either victory, she had already won two world half-marathon titles and set three world records at that distance. Her marathon personal best of 2:14:43 makes her the ninth-fastest woman of all time.

Sydney Marathon organisers responded Friday with a statement of their own, addressing the case and the event’s anti-doping efforts.

“Our commitment to clean sport is unwavering. Every athlete who lines up in Sydney deserves to race on a level playing field, and every participant and spectator deserves to trust the result they see at the finish line,” organisers said. “That conviction is why, alongside our fellow Abbott World Marathon Majors, we have invested in increased out-of-competition testing in partnership with the AIU, and why we will keep standing firmly with the athletes who compete cleanly.”

The World Marathon Majors separately pointed to the potential consequences if Jepchirchir is ultimately found to have committed a doping offence.

“Under our rules, in addition to any punishment imposed by World Athletics, national federations or any national anti-doping agency or government, any runner who has been found by such body to have committed a doping offence (at any competition or out of competition) and has been subject to a ban of three months or more, shall be banned from all WMM events for life unless otherwise agreed by WMM and be ineligible at any time to receive any WMM prize money or WMM points,” the organisation said.

Jepchirchir doesn’t currently meet the rule’s stated conditions: While she has been provisionally suspended, she hasn’t been found to have committed a doping offence or received a ban.

What comes next will depend on how the anti-doping case plays out. Runner’s World also reached out to Jepchirchir’s athlete representative, Gianni Demadonna, for comment.

“I can only say that I feel terrible about what happened,” Demadonna wrote in an email, “and I think it’s only right that an athlete who uses performance-enhancing drugs should be disqualified.”

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

The post Top Marathoner Provisionally Suspended After EPO Finding appeared first on Runner's World.

OOFOS makes footwear for that in-between time. Their sandals, slides and shoes are built with proprietary OOfoam® technology, designed to absorb 37% more impact than traditional foam footwear materials. That softer landing is paired with a patented footbed that cradles and supports the arches. Together, the foam and footbed are designed to take some of the demand off feet and ankles when you walk.

…recovery footwear is more than a soft surface underfoot.

The figures come from a 2018 University of Virginia laboratory study. In that study, the combined design reduced energy exertion in the ankles by up to 47% compared with the footwear tested. It is a useful distinction: recovery footwear is more than a soft surface underfoot. The shape and the material work together.

Imagine finishing a long run on a Saturday morning. You have pushed through the last kilometre, cooled down and reached for a change of shoes. An OOriginal Sandal is an easy option for the journey home and whatever follows. Its classic thong silhouette makes it simple to slip into a gym bag and pull on after training.

Prefer a slide? The OOahh Slide offers the same recovery-focused foundation in an open-toe design. It suits those moments when you want to step out of your running shoes quickly, from the finish area to the kitchen at home. 

For a fuller-coverage option, the OOmy Stride brings OOfoam® technology into a shoe you can wear as you carry on with your day.

The range gives runners a choice of styles without losing the point of the product: give hardworking feet a considered place to land after a session. The best choice depends on how you like your footwear to fit and where the rest of your day takes you.

A post-run routine need not be elaborate. Take a few minutes to ease down, change out of damp kit and think about what your feet will be doing next. If the day includes errands, travel or time spent standing, your footwear stays in the picture long after your training shoes are put away. Some runners want the open feel of a sandal; others prefer the quick convenience of a slide or the coverage of a shoe. OOFOS offers those options within one recovery-focused range, so the change after a run can feel like a natural part of getting on with the day.

There is no shortcut that replaces sleep, sensible training and time to recover. But the small choices around a run matter, too. A change of footwear is one of the simplest to make. When your run is done and the next part of the day begins, OOFOS is ready for the steps that follow.

Explore the South African range here. Availability and styles may vary.

The post Beyond the Run: Why Your Recovery Footwear Matters appeared first on Runner's World.

Both models add meaningful upgrades, including Garmin Epic, a new way to group multiple activities into one shareable story in Garmin Connect™, plus enhanced stamina metrics that help athletes better adjust their training. fēnix 9 Pro models include built-in satellite and LTE connectivity (feature coverage dependent), which enables voice, text, and SOS communication directly from the wrist.

…while superior navigation tools help adventurers stay confidently on course.

“fēnix 9 and fēnix 9 Pro are purpose-built for those who want to perform better and venture farther. Athletes can better understand endurance gains and train smarter with advanced stamina metrics, while superior navigation tools help adventurers stay confidently on course.

With the new Garmin Epic feature, activities are turned into stories for users to relive. With these fēnix smartwatches on their wrist, our customers can redefine what they thought possible.

See the full capabilities of fēnix 9 and fēnix 9 Pro on the Garmin website.

fēnix 9:

Designed to push boundaries, fēnix 9 is packed with new and enhanced tools to take training and exploration to the next level.

• Boasting an AMOLED display that is twice as bright as its predecessor, fēnix 9 also includes a scratch-resistant sapphire lens, leakproof buttons and is dive-rated up to 40 meters.
• Whether it’s a backpacking trip, cycling stage race or strength training plan, the free Garmin Epic feature turns multiple activities into one cohesive story in Garmin Connect. By grouping together activities recorded over several days, weeks or months to create an “Epic”, users can see their health and performance data during that time, add photos and share it all with friends and family.
• New stamina tracking features – including stamina zones and stamina curve – show athletes how their endurance changes over time based on fitness gains and training history and improve their ability to pace themselves during an activity.
• Get even more fitness insights during an indoor rowing activity, like VO2 Max and power curve, to evaluate progress, set goals and dial in the intensity of workouts.
• Expanded rucking features allow users to change their pack weight during an activity, follow GORUCK™ workouts directly on the watch, and set target metrics like calories burned with up to 100kg of pack weight.
• Navigate confidently with built-in routable maps that are smoother and more intuitive than ever before. With 50% more RAM than the fēnix 8 and a more powerful, updated map engine, panning is now up to 30% faster. And a new perspective view allows users to better anticipate what’s coming next by adding more detail, both close-up and further away.
• With 64 GB of memory, adventurers can download twice as many maps compared to fēnix 8 and store up to 7,000 of their favourite songs. fēnix 9 is available in three sizes: 43mm, 47mm and 51mm.

fēnix 9 Pro:

Building on all the premium features of fēnix 9, fēnix 9 Pro also introduces a new design, along with options for phone-free connectivity, solar-charging displays, extra flashlight modes and more.

Innovative Design

• fēnix 9 Pro is the first fēnix smartwatch to feature a titanium watch case, delivering a stunning look without sacrificing rugged performance. Using cutting-edge nano-moulding technology to combine metal and polymer at the molecular level, this design effortlessly merges strength with functionality and reduces the watch’s overall thickness, keeping it lightweight.
• The fēnix 9 Pro AMOLED displays offer up to 3,000 nits of brightness, showcasing stats and maps in easy-to-read detail, even in sunny conditions.
• The 51mm Pro model includes Garmin’s first 1.5-inch AMOLED display, extending the display by 15% over fēnix 8 without increasing the case size.
• Users can spend even more time doing what they love with solar charging displays that offer weeks of battery life on select Pro models.
• For adventures that go into the night, an integrated LED flashlight now adds a green light mode to preserve night vision.

Stay Connected

inReach connectivity (feature coverage dependent) on select fēnix 9 Pro watches helps users keep in touch with friends and family and get emergency help from the 24/7 staffed Garmin Response℠ coordination centre if needed – all while leaving their phone behind. Along with calling, texting and SOS support, an active inReach plan also provides users with these enhancements:

• LiveTrack notifications are now available in the Garmin Messenger™ app through LTE*, notifying loved ones when a user has started an activity and allowing them to follow along as they train. The user can also quickly send messages to pre-selected recipients.
• With an LTE* connection, the new Garmin Locate feature allows loved ones to see a user’s location through the Garmin Messenger app.
• Get weather forecasts for a specific location sent directly to the watch now through satellite, in addition to LTE.

*LTE network coverage and satellite connectivity are not available in Africa. In countries where available, an active subscription is required. Jurisdiction and coverage restrictions may apply

For the first time, inReach connectivity is available on all fēnix 9 Pro size options – 43 mm, 47 mm and 51 mm.

Custom style

New ComfortFit accessory bands are available for fēnix 9 and fēnix 9 Pro, giving users the power to customise their look. The fabric band’s split-weave design combines stretch, durability, softness and moisture resistance with the QuickFit® functionality, making it simple to adjust and switch out bands.

Available now, fēnix 9 starts at R22 499.00 and gets up to 29 days of battery life in smartwatch mode on the largest size. fēnix 9 Pro gets up to 31 days of battery life in smartwatch mode with the largest AMOLED display, while the solar charging models get up to 57 days of battery life.

Engineered on the inside for life on the outside, Garmin products have revolutionised life for adventurers, athletes, off-road explorers, road warriors and outdoor enthusiasts everywhere. Committed to developing products that enhance experiences, enrich lives and help provide peace of mind, Garmin believes every day is an opportunity to innovate and a chance to beat yesterday.

To learn more about all the available colour options, 24/7 health and wellness features and more, visit the website.

The post Garmin Expands its Flagship fēnix® Smartwatch Series appeared first on Runner's World.

With general entries closed for the 2027 Comrades Marathon on 30 September, following the second redraw and debit payment deadline, Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) have shared all the statistics from the field of 28 070 athletes who secured an entry.

The extraordinary interest in the Centenary edition prompted the CMA to increase the entry cap to 28000 athletes – up from 22 000 entries in 2026, and 24 000 for the most recent Down Run in 2025 – and the 2027 race will have the largest field in Comrades history after 56 283 entry applications were received.

“The entry framework was informed by a review of participation statistics from 2022 to 2026, as well as the CMA’s long-term strategic goals. We sought to balance recognition of loyalty, support for milestone journeys and charitable causes, growth in female and international participation, and access for the wider running community, within the event’s capacity,” said Race Director Sue Forge.

2027 ENTRANT STATS
Compared with previous editions, the make-up of the 2027 field is very similar. For comparison, both 2026 and 2025 stats are provided, with 2026 as the most recent edition of the race and 2025 as the most recent Down Run. However, the 2027 figures provide a snapshot of the current entry field and may change following the substitution process. Also, many entrants still need to complete a qualifying race by 3 May 2027 to secure their place on the start line.

1 General Data
While the majority of the field will once again be South African, the percentage of entries from the rest of Africa and international countries (outside Africa) has increased – quite substantially in the case of non-African countries.

The gender breakdown shows a bigger swing, with the percentage of female entrants up 7.5%. “Growing female participation is an important strategic priority for the CMA, and we are encouraged that women account for almost 30% of the 2027 field – the largest ever female participation in the history of the race. Beyond securing an entry, we want to support more women through their preparation and onto the start line,” says race director, Sue Forge.

As in previous years, the most common age group in the 2027 field will be 40-49, followed by 50-59. There are also 14 entrants in their 80s, with the oldest being 88. English is the most common language spoken by entrants, and managers and accountants/auditors are the most common occupations.

2 Geographic Data
The entry system for the 2027 race has led to significantly more countries or independent territories being represented in the field, jumping from 81 to 129. This includes 23 countries or territories in the Western Hemisphere, including the North American and South American continents as well as the Caribbean.

“The ballot application window gave runners across different time zones the flexibility to apply without needing to be online at the moment entries opened. Our CMA Ambassadors in several countries shared positive feedback on this welcome change,” says Forge.

Of the 22,979 South African-based runners, Gauteng is once again the most represented province, accounting for 46% of the field, followed by KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape. The biggest change in this subset of the data is the Eastern Cape dropping from third to fourth on this list (the same position it held in 2025), and it is the only province to see a decline in the number of 2027 entries compared to 2026.

The top five SA running clubs from 2026 still make up the top five for 2027, with Hollywood Athletics Club KZN once again leading the way, but with just one entry more than Team Vitality Athletics Club Central Gauteng. (Please note: Since South African runners were not required to list a running club when entering, this sub-set of statistics is not complete, but is included here for interest.)

3 Experience Data
During the entry process, a false rumour spread that Novice runners (entering their first Comrades Marathon) would be given special preference in the ballot draw, at the expense of more experienced runners who had completed the race before. Another rumour was that first-time finishers in 2026 who want to go for their Back2Back medal in 2027, would not have a fair chance to secure an entry for next year. As can be seen in the statistics, the ratio of novices in the field has actually declined from just under 24% to 14%, showing that a larger proportion of previous finishers were drawn by the ballot system, while the number of Back2Back runners in the field has grown considerably from 2026 numbers, but the proportion of the total field remains almost the same.

Another point of contention was that many runners with one to nine medals missed out on a ballot entry, but the statistics show that this is actually the grouping with the highest proportion of entrants, with these runners making up over two-thirds (67.9%) of the field. The next biggest grouping in this sub-set of data is the 16.9% of runners with no medals (2027 Novice entrants plus runners who have previously started but not successfully finished the race), followed by runners with 10-19 medals (12.2%).

Meanwhile, the percentage of Green Number Club runners in the field has grown considerably, from 10.9% to 15.2%, and the CMA can debunk another misconception.

“There were concerns that those runners aiming for a milestone, such as going for their 10th medal to earn their Green Number, or their 20th medal for a Double Green, would not be able to secure an entry, but once again, the statistics show that both the overall number of Green Number runners and the number of milestone runners have increased for 2027,” says Forge. “This is mainly thanks to the first entry window reserved for Green and Yellow Numbers, which contributed to a healthy increase from 2,461 Green Number entrants in 2026, to 4,271 for 2027.”

*  Includes both Novice (first-time) entrants and those runners who have started but not finished the race.

Last Chance
“Runners are reminded that they will have one last chance to secure an entry for the 2027 Comrades Marathon, through the official Comrades Marathon Substitution Process,” said Forge. “We will share more information on the process to be followed closer to the time, and urge those runners who would still like to secure an entry to be ready when the substitution window opens.”

The post Comrades 2027: All the Fascinating Entry Stats appeared first on Runner's World.

…what they see runners do while training for a half marathon that actually sets them back.

To help you avoid common mistakes, we talked with four coaches about what they see runners do while training for a half marathon that actually sets them back. They shared their top tips for what to focus on, avoid, and stop stressing about so you arrive at the starting line strong and ready to race.

1. Squeezing in Missed Miles

When gearing up for a long-distance race, every run can feel crucial to success, especially the long runs you’re tackling each weekend. But if a run or two falls by the wayside because you’re sick, travelling, or just plain busy, don’t stress about fitting those miles back into your schedule.

Your best bet is usually to keep moving forward with your regularly scheduled program and think of those missed days as the rest your body needed.

“The fear of not doing enough leads to cramming in extra miles, and that can lead to injury or a lot of extra fatigue,” says Amanda Brooks, Colorado-based run coach and founder of Run to the Finish. “If you’ve only missed a couple of runs, jump right back into the plan and keep moving forward. That little bit of extra rest might just make everything feel better.”

2. Not Practising Your Goal Race Pace

“Pacing strategy is critical – it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the race and start too fast, resulting in a need to significantly slow down,” says Emily Booth, certified personal trainer and run coach. “You want to be running as fast, or nearly as fast, in the last mile as the first.” The best way to do that, she says, is to practice your goal race pace in training.

Dave Berdan, two-time Baltimore Marathon champion, former elite marathoner, and run coach, agrees and notes that goal-pace workouts are especially important during the last six to eight weeks before the race.

Here’s one workout progression he recommends to help dial in your race pace:

• 7 Weeks Out: 8 x 1600m (1.6km) at 5 to 10 seconds faster than half marathon goal pace with 2-minute jog recovery
• 5 Weeks Out: 4 x 3.2km at 5 to 10 seconds faster than half marathon goal pace with 3-minute jog recovery
• 3 Weeks Out: 2 x 4.8km, then 1 x 3.2km at 5 to 10 seconds faster than half marathon goal pace with 3-minute jog recovery

3. Not Mentally Preparing for the Race

You’re doing all the physical training to get your body ready to run 13.1 miles. But success on race day also depends on having the mental bandwidth to stay positive, adjust your pace, and keep going when things get tough. “Mental preparation before an event like the half marathon is extremely important, and I often suggest that runners do some visualisation practice over the final weeks leading up to the race,” says Berdan.

Here’s how: Look at your race’s course map and do an internet search for any information previous runners have shared about the course—such as elevation or specific sections that get narrow or crowded. Then, think through your entire race morning. “Visualise everything from showing up at the race, making your way to the starting line, starting the race, and hitting the paces you’re supposed to hit,” he says.

Don’t forget to also visualise less-than-ideal circumstances, like if you miss a water station or have to slow your pace through some uphill sections. Imagine these situations happening and tell yourself, “It’s no big deal, as there are several opportunities to make it up,” says Berdan. “Practice reminding yourself that you have put in the work and you are ready!”

4. Ignoring Midrun Nutrition

The training runs leading up to a half are typically not as long and don’t require as much fuel as those you’d complete in preparation for a marathon. But “if you plan to take over 90 minutes to finish the race, you need to plan what type of carbohydrates and fluids you’ll be taking, and then practice this strategy in your training,” says Jeff Gaudette, founder and head coach of RunnersConnect. “While the risk of truly ‘hitting the wall’ is less during a half versus a marathon, nutrition can still play a significant role in performance.”

That’s also true, he adds, because your pace during a half will likely be faster than the pace you’d maintain during a marathon, which can make it harder for your body to process carbs.

“On average, most trained individuals have enough stored glycogen to get through 75 to 90 minutes of running,” says Booth. “However, considering it will take many runners longer than 90 minutes to complete a half marathon, it’s wise to consider eating some easily digestible carbohydrates, such as a 100-calorie energy gel, 15 minutes before the race and then every 30 to 45 minutes during the event.”

To help this go smoothly on race day, Gaudette recommends making a nutrition plan and practising it at least a few times during training.

5. Only Drinking Water

Similar to nutrition, not giving much thought to how you hydrate during longer runs is a common training mistake. Sipping only H₂O may feel adequate for the half marathon distance, but reaching for a sports drink can help give you a boost.

“For athletes sweating and losing sodium, there is a massive benefit to using electrolytes as a part of their hydration strategy,” says Brooks. “Electrolytes can help with preventing that feeling of sloshing in the stomach and may reduce fatigue, brain fog, and even cramping.”

6. Skimping on Strength Training

“Every single runner training for a race, regardless of distance, should be incorporating some type of strength training,” says Berdan. “It helps prevent injury and can have beneficial hormonal effects that help you adapt to your training.”

Getting in your mileage may feel like the most important task on your to-do list, and yes, it should be your main fitness focus right now. But the good news is that strength training doesn’t have to be a big time-suck.

“The reason most runners don’t include strength training is that it takes too much time, but an effective strength plan can take as little as 10 to 15 minutes, three to four days per week,” says Gaudette. “Plus, it doesn’t have to be directly after your run. You can squeeze in 10 minutes after dinner or anytime in the evening if you’re strapped for time.”

Gaudette recommends focusing on moves to strengthen your core, hips, glutes, and lower legs.

7. Sweating the Small Stuff

Aside from logging your miles, there are a lot of strategies you can add to your training plan, such as massages or infrared therapy. But should you worry about those extras? Not necessarily.

“New runners can get really focused on the small things, like foam rolling or trying recovery boots, instead of staying consistent with the basics of getting enough sleep, fuelling before runs, and hydrating all day long,” says Brooks. “It’s easy to believe that those extra tools will have a big impact, but it’s actually so minor compared to the benefits of simply maintaining those basic, overall healthy habits.”

Instead, try thinking big picture, and come race day, remind yourself of all the miles you’ve logged and healthy choices you’ve made in your half marathon training to set yourself up for success.

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

The post Training for a Half Marathon? 7 Mistakes Coaches Want You to Avoid appeared first on Runner's World.

It would likely help to know exactly what holds you back. Are your legs tired, or are you pushing your cardio system too hard? These are two different types of fatigue, and understanding the difference can help you improve your running performance.

…how to tell whether it’s your legs or your lungs and heart keeping you from feeling good…

We spoke with a certified running coach and an exercise physiologist who explain how to tell whether it’s your legs or your lungs and heart keeping you from feeling good on your runs. Plus, how to train so you can fight fatigue overall.

The telltale signs of cardiorespiratory fatigue include elevated heart rate and heavy breathing. Besides huffing, puffing, and feeling like your heart is about to beat out of your chest, you may also be a little groggy, says Will Baldwin, certified running coach. “You’re not as clear in your thoughts, and sometimes your form will start breaking down because you’re losing a little bit of that focus,” Baldwin tells Runner’s World.

In healthy runners, cardiorespiratory fatigue is not an indication of “weak” lungs or a heart that won’t pump fast enough. “It comes down to your body’s ability to take the oxygen that you’re breathing in, transport it to the muscle, and then use it in the muscle,” says Todd Buckingham, Ph.D. exercise physiologist at PTSportsPRO, in the USA.

Just like running and strength training make your leg muscles stronger, consistent aerobic training can strengthen the heart, lowering your heart rate and allowing it to pump more blood with each beat. This makes oxygen delivery throughout the body more efficient.

As research has shown, though, the more consistently you do aerobic exercise, the more efficiently your heart, blood vessels, and mitochondria become at taking in and using oxygen for energy.

While just as unpleasant, muscle fatigue feels different from cardiorespiratory fatigue. Your legs might seem heavy or stiff, as if you’re wearing ankle weights or trudging through mud.

“It’s a common story. You’ll hear people say, ‘I felt fine, but my hamstrings went out, and my quads got really, really tight, and it was hard to move,’” Baldwin says. “That’s happened to me before. My calves got so overworked and tired that they became really rigid and couldn’t function properly, even though aerobically, I wasn’t super overworked. I was somewhat comfortable in that way, but I couldn’t access [my full potential] because there was a roadblock, muscularly,” he recounts.

The dragging sensation associated with tired legs and muscle fatigue can be attributed to a combination of factors, including a buildup of metabolic waste, glycogen depletion, and exercise-induced muscle damage. “When we run, we get micro tears in the muscle fibres, and the longer you run, the more the micro tears become prominent, and it starts causing fatigue,” Buckingham says.

With adequate recovery, nutrition, and hydration, the body eventually repairs these tears, which leads to bigger, stronger muscles. However, before you get to recovery, “the longer you run, the less your muscles can withstand that constant pulling and pounding,” Buckingham says.

To improve your cardiorespiratory fitness and delay fatigue, Buckingham suggests prioritising slower, steadier runs. “Zone 1 and zone 2 training in a five-zone [heart rate training] model is going to increase the number of mitochondria and capillaries more than running fast,” he says. Having more of both mitochondria and capillaries will inevitably boost your VO2 max, the metric that represents how efficiently your body utilises oxygen.

You can use a heart rate monitor to keep your pace in the appropriate range or employ the talk test: If you’re in zone 2, you should be able to carry on a conversation while running. If you’re gasping for air or struggling to finish a sentence, you need to slow down, even if that means switching to a brisk walk or incorporating walk intervals into your workout.

But don’t ditch your faster runs altogether. “You also need to do some higher-end training because zone 4 and zone 5 increase the size of the mitochondria,” Buckingham explains. The ideal ratio depends on your goal and fitness level, but most recreational endurance runners will benefit from an 80:20 ratio, where 80 percent of runs are slow and easy, and 20 percent are faster and more challenging.

If you need another reason to focus on strength training, this is it. Baldwin explains that sometimes dialling back on running to allow for more time in the gym pays off in increased muscular endurance.

“If [muscular endurance] is your weakest link, it’s not going to matter as much if you increase your mileage, if you can’t get past this one specific muscular issue,” Baldwin says. “Seeking out a professional [personal trainer] and having a real plan where you’re doing some strength work two to three times a week around that specific area can make a difference.”

You can also improve your muscular endurance outside of the gym and your official workouts by clocking more time standing and walking rather than sitting, Buckingham says. “The best way to train muscular endurance is to spend more time on your feet,” he says.

Take walk breaks throughout the day, get a standing or walking desk, do more gardening or yard work – whatever keeps you on your feet will help strengthen your legs and make you more resistant to fatigue.

Here’s a surprise twist: Fatigue and boredom are inextricably linked. Think about the times you’ve struggled to stay awake during a dull movie or a tedious meeting. If a training run seems harder than it should or your tiredness has undertones of angst or dread, the problem may be in your head.

“One of my favourite ways to tackle boredom is to mix it up,” Baldwin says. “I’ll maybe change a run and get on the trails or hit up a social run.” Or jump into a buddy’s workout. Running alongside a friend on their route at their pace forces you to take a mental break from your own training.

Or you could just “suck it up,” Buckingham says, with a laugh. “Honestly, endurance exercise and running marathons is not an exciting thing,” he admits. “You have to be mentally tough to do it.” The best way to build up that toughness, to strengthen that mental muscle, is to keep running even when you don’t want to.

If you can stand it, try using a “bad run” as an opportunity to fine-tune your awareness. “Figure out the cues that your body is giving you because then you can tell, ‘Am I really tired or just bored? Am I checking out because it’s too hard or it’s too easy?’” Buckingham says. “That will allow you to get a better sense of what’s happening and develop that connection with your body.”

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

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At 28, Kimara Solms is proof that the ‘sub-elite’ label isn’t reserved for runners who come up through the school track system. The Cape Town-based film producer started unsure if she could ever run a 10K; went on to run 1:52 for her first half marathon, in 2020; and only found a coach in 2022. 

This year she ran a 10K in 36:08, and finished 10th woman at the Cape Town Marathon’s 10K Peace Run – after being seeded in A batch, <itals>behind the elite field she’d asked to start in. But her road to excellence has run through an eating disorder, a string of injuries, and years of slowly building volume around 18-hour work days. 

Rachel Beaton caught up with Kimara to talk seeding snubs, threshold sessions, and why she doesn’t believe in failure. If you’re the kind of runner who secretly thinks they have the potential to make it to the big leagues, read this. 

Rachel Beaton: Let’s start with the Peace Run. You were seeded in A batch, not the elite batch, and you still came top-10. What happened?

Kimara Solms: Oh my gosh… that was so much drama in itself. I told them I’d run around 36 minutes, and they put me in A batch. 

Then I found out the elite batch would be separate; so I emailed them, and said I thought I qualified. Of course they overlooked me, because they didn’t really know who I was… But I’d run faster than a lot of the women in that field. 

It is what it is. But I think that gave me a fire; I’d told them I could finish in the top 10, and I was going to show them I could. And so I finished 10th, even though I was seeded back, and I overtook quite a few women.

RB: A lot of people found that inspiring. It shows that if you work hard enough, elite status in this country is actually possible.

KS: It definitely is. Compared to other runners running similar times, I didn’t have the same trajectory. I just worked really, really hard. And one thing I do have is the ability to suffer! When you can do that, you can go really far.

RB: There’s plenty online about your running, but not much about you. What do you actually do?

KS: I’m a production manager and producer in the film industry. I got into film because I wanted to be an actor; and I’m still repped by an agent, I just do more producing. 

But if I had to rank what I do, my life revolves around running. That’s where I’d like my life to go. Then acting, then filmmaking.

RB: Take us back to your very first race.

KS: I started school at four, and one of my first memories is of a 100-metre race. I beat everyone! I always ran at school, but casually. 

When you come from an Indian home, the focus is academics; so there was no chance of me pursuing sport. That’s one of my biggest regrets, because there was always raw talent there.

RB: Your Strava bio says, “Running saved my life.” Where does that come from?

KS: When I was 15 or 16, I developed anorexia. I was severely restricting my food, and obsessing over exercise. At university it got worse, and I developed anorexia and bulimia. I really think now that if I hadn’t got a grip on it, my eating disorder would have killed me. 

But when I started running, it became about how fast I could get, not how thin I could be. And you can’t get better at running without fuelling! It took time, but now fuelling myself is such a big part of my life. I also stopped smoking when I got my coach, in 2022. 

I really do believe running saved my life.

RB: So when did the running actually start?

KS: At university, I’d never even run a 5K. Then I started dating my now-husband, and running was how he kept fit. So in my final year, I started running casually. 

I said to him, “I don’t think I could ever run 10 kays,” and he said, “No, you definitely could.” And almost immediately I was much faster than him, and I wasn’t even trying! 

In 2019 I moved to Cape Town and joined Atlantic Athletics; and in 2020 I ran my first half marathon, in 1:52. I just wanted to break two hours.

RB: When did you decide to take it seriously?

KS: In 2022 I went freelance, to have more control over my time; and I found my coach, Neil Macpherson, a world championship triathlon coach. I wanted to see how good I could get. 

Straight away, I got a stress fracture! But I’m a firm believer that there’s no such thing as overtraining; it’s really underfuelling. I was only running about 40km a week. 

I was out for three or four months. Then I ran 1:37 at Gun Run – after two months of structured running, about 50km a week. 

I thought, if I can do this after two months of proper training… I could run really quick.

RB: Then came the marathons.

KS: I improved my PB by 22 minutes in 2022, and again in 2023. But I only run one marathon a year, because I’m so injury-prone. In 2024 I went for a sub-3 at the Cape Town Marathon, and had the worst race of my life – stomach cramps. 3:05. Cape Town Marathon and I have beef! 

But if I don’t believe I can do it, nobody else is going to. And I don’t really believe in failure. Just because I didn’t achieve a goal today. it doesn’t mean I can’t do it tomorrow.

RB: And Valencia last year?

KS: I wanted under 2:55, but I injured my big toe in the build-up; I ran 2:58. I broke three hours, but I was in much faster shape. 

You’ll notice a pattern. Every time I have a goal and don’t reach it, the next year I want it bigger and better.

RB: This year, it all clicked…

KS: I got really comfortable running 100, 120 kays a week, and I hadn’t been injured in almost two and a half years. Before Spar Ladies I ran about 37 minutes for 10K inside a 40-minute tempo run, when my PB was just under 39. 

Then I ran 36:45 at Spar Ladies, and that was a proper breakout race. People started following my running, and I’m now on Nedbank’s elite team. 

And it wasn’t that I did anything different this year. I just kept doing what I’d been doing all along.

RB: What does a normal week look like right now?

KS: I’m training for SA Champs 10K, at 100km a week. Monday is an easy 10 to 12K, plus an easy 30-minute jog with my dog. Tuesday is a long, grindy threshold session, like 8K at about 3:50 a kay. 

Wednesday is my long run: 20 to 27km with Carla Molinaro and others, with some marathon pace work. I’ll move sessions around for company, because running with people makes you faster. 

Thursday and Friday are easy. Saturday is VO2 max work, 800s up to 1.2K reps. Sunday is an easy run, or a bike. 

I don’t do as many reps as other people. I usually do four to six, maybe eight; but they’re really intense. I think that’s helped me get quick without getting injured.

RB: If one of our readers wants a faster 10K, what’s the one session they should do every week?

KS: Hands down, this one. It’s easy. But you need to learn how to be uncomfortable for a long time. 

Do a 2- or 3K warm-up and cool-down; and in the middle, start with 20 minutes at half-marathon pace and try to build it, down towards 10K pace. If you’re really good, you can get to 40 minutes. 

Do that every week, and you’ll get <itals>so quick. A 10K is literally a 5K times two. It hurts just as much, it’s just twice as long.

RB: What have you had to give up?

KS: Alcohol is a big one. I’m not teetotal, but before big races I won’t drink for weeks, because I recover better and feel so much poppier in speed sessions. Sleep, too. Don’t give yourself less than seven hours, and nap if you can. 

I also have Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune illness, so I have to prioritise that. And I never, ever miss workouts. If I have to move things around, I will; but it gets done.

RB: How do you fit 100-kay weeks around the 18-hour work days when you’re shooting?

KS: I have a reputation, in a lot of production offices, for waking up at 3:30am to run. I have to run in the morning, because I can’t predict how the day will go. And if I can’t train on an 18-hour day, I get it done on another. 

Sometimes, I have no social life – all I do is run and work. I don’t even see my husband.

RB: You’ve built close to 10 000 followers on your socials. When did the running content start, and does sharing it add pressure?

KS: When I stopped posting selfies and started posting about running, so many people unfollowed me! But then the running followers came. I’m just genuinely obsessed with running. 

As for pressure, no one puts more on me than I put on myself; and I find sharing super-motivating. But I want people to see how I got here, because I want <itals>them to be able to get here.

RB: What goes on in your head when a race starts to hurt?

KS: The times I’ve raced best are when I was clear-headed, calm, and in the moment. I tell myself: focus on your breathing, focus on staying calm. Because the minute you think about your pace, your body tenses up – you’ll never catch me monitoring my watch. 

Unless it’s the last kilometre, and I want it to end!

RB: If someone wants to improve, what are the top five things they should focus on?

KS: One, get a structured plan. That doesn’t have to mean a coach, because that’s not accessible for everyone; but find structure, otherwise you’ll wake up not knowing what you’re doing. 

Two, build volume safely. I’m a runner who responds to volume, but it took four or five years to get here. If you’re running 50 kays a week, going to 70 will help. 

Three: run your easy days easy, and your hard days hard. I run some easy days at six minutes a kay, because I’m running my hard days faster than most people. But don’t leave your race in a workout. 

Four, fuel your body. Never run fasted, even for 30 minutes. Lots of carbs; and protein and carbs after you run.

And five, stay consistent; and that includes strength work. I <itals>hate strength training, it’s the bane of my existence. But I do at least 20 minutes a week. The only way to get faster is to stay injury-free and consistent.

RB: What do you use most in training, your top picks?

KS: Revive, every single day, with creatine and glutamine. People think creatine is just for building muscle, but it helps runners recover so quickly. 

My favourite everyday trainer is the adidas AdiZero Evo SL. I have three pairs, and I alternate them with the Puma Deviate Nitro 4. 

For racing, I’m a Nike Alphafly die-hard, from 5K to the marathon. But I’ll race my next 10K in the ASICS Metaspeed; it’s a good, stable, fast shoe.

RB: What’s next?

KS: A fast 10K at SA Champs. And before the end of the year I want to break 17 minutes for 5K. 

Next year, I’m working on the Rotterdam Marathon in April, and I really want to run sub-2:45. I was in that shape before I got injured. I’d also love to run under 35 minutes for 10K. 

Long term… I want to be a professional runner – someone who gets paid for running, not for creating content. I’d love to run a sub-2:30 marathon one day. Right now, I’m really good at the 10K; and if you have speed, you can go longer.

RB: Last one. For the reader who wants to break into that sub-elite bracket – what’s your advice?

KS: Find your ‘why’. Is it because running saved your life, because it brings you joy, or because you just want elite status? 

You need unwavering self-belief, because no one else is going to believe it for you. I ran stride for stride with Caster Semenya once – this woman is my icon, I’ve read her autobiography, and I was thinking, what the hell am I doing here? 

And don’t give up. Because often, people give up when they’re so close to a breakthrough. In 2024 and 2025, I was stagnant; and then 2026 came, and everything worked out. 

Just believe in yourself, and keep staying consistent.

The post My Running Life: Kimara Solms appeared first on Runner's World.

A fresh southeasterly breeze and cool conditions made it tough to run fast times, but did not stop any of the participants from loving their morning out on the roads of the Mother City. 4 500 entrants took on the marathon distance, while 22 000 other runners took part in the 21-, 10-, and 5-kilometre events.

Both men’s and women’s champions ran new personal bests, despite the blustery conditions. 

The 42-kilometre marathon route took in some of Cape Town’s oldest town’s most famous sights. These included the historic District Six, Company Gardens, and Bo Kaap within the first 10 kilometres, followed by coastal runs along the Sea Point Promenade and the road tracing the Table Bay shoreline to Milnerton’s Woodbridge Island.

The opening kilometres, to the top of District Six, were run into a headwind, before the route turned west and the southeaster pushed the contenders for victory along. After descending from the Bo Kaap into Green Point, the ridgeline linking Signal Hill with Lion’s Head provided welcome shelter from the wind. This helped a group of 30 men stay together through the first 21 kilometres.

Jantjies was firmly ensconced in the group. Then pushed on with Tukiso Motlomelo, Llyod Bosman, Tsépo Ramashamole, Moses Tarakinyu, Simon Sibeko, Siboniso Sikhakhane, Lebenya Nkoka, and Ntsebenza Nake. Once they turned at Woodbridge Island, 33 kilometres into the course, the wind came into play once more and helped splinter the field further.

Leaving the highway and turning back in the city, with 2 kilometres to race, only Ramashamole and Tarakinyu were still in contact with Jantjies. “At the 40-kilometre mark I made my move,” the champion explained. “I thought that was the moment to empty the tank! I love running in Cape Town. The Mother City is very nurturing to me.”

“The plan for today was to try to run a new personal best, and I achieved that, so I’m really happy with how the race went,” Jantjies, who hails from Hopetown in the Northern Cape, added. “I had a few niggles coming into my Nelson Mandela Marathon training camp, but I can look back now and say the camp went really well.”

Jantjies’ winning time was 2 hours, 15 minutes, and 14 seconds, a full 4 and a half minutes quicker than his previous best time over the marathon distance. The title is Jantjies’ third in Cape Town this year, adding to the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon and the 10-kilometre Peace Run victories he achieved in April and May. Ramashamole crossed the finish line in second, just 10 seconds after Jantjies, before Tarakinyu rounded out the podium, 20 seconds down. Sibeko and Sikhakhane stopped the clock within 1 minute of the victor, while Nkoka rounded out the top 5, 3 minutes and 17 seconds back.

In the elite women’s race, Negasa exhibited none of the patience Jantjies had needed to exercise. Running on the shoulder of the pace-maker, the Nedbank Running Club athlete kept a metronomic 3 minutes 40 seconds per kilometre pace virtually throughout. In the first 10 kilometres, Malineo Mahloko, Fortunate Chidzivo, and Ethel Pangiso could match Beyira Negasa, but the runners from Lesotho, South Africa, and Zimbabwe would drop away over the next 11 kilometres. By the halfway mark, Negasa led by nearly 8 minutes.

Mahloko had endured a difficult spell in the middle part of the race, dropping out of the podium places, but surged past both Chidzivo and Pangiso in the home stretch. Her fast finish was not enough to reel in the runaway Negasa. The softly spoken Ethiopian stopped the clock in 2 hours, 36 minutes, and 42 seconds. This time is nearly 4 minutes better than her previous personal best, and 7 minutes and 11 seconds faster than Mahloko’s effort on the day. Chidzivo secured third, but had to fight to hold off another fast finisher, Monique van der Merwe. Pangiso rounded out the top five.

SLAVE ROUTE HALF MARATHON:

In the Slave Route Half Marathon, Kenya’s Stephen Ngigi Kangethe took home the title after a dominant performance. His winning margin was an impressive 2 minutes and 18 seconds over the Go Tyme Bank Run Club duo of Yanga Malusi and Rowhaldo Ratz.

Weynalem Haftu Gebre’s margin of victory in the half marathon’s women’s category was even bigger. The Ethiopian bested Kirsti Bell by 8 minutes and 11 seconds, while trail runner Mila Geldenhuys completed the podium places.

“It’s great to see South Africans and Africans excelling on home soil,” David Bellairs, COO of the Nelson Mandela Marathon’s race organisers Golazo South Africa, said. “A highly competitive men’s race and two personal bests from our champions, despite the difficult conditions, bode well for the future of the Nelson Mandela Marathon as a race which can attract the continent’s best marathoners.

“Beyond the elites, the smiles from runners who clocked 3-, 4-, 5-, and even 6-hour times are really special. We’d love athletes to run for a cause and embrace the ethos of the Nelson Mandela Marathon, but we’d also love them to have fun while doing so. I hope the vibe on the roadside, the support of the City of Cape Town and Capetonians, and the beauty of the route continue to bring runners to our roads in the years to come, and that they have a great time running the Nelson Mandela Marathon. And then take the ethos of the race home with them too,” Bellairs concluded.

2026 Nelson Mandela Marathon Results

Men’s Marathon Results

1. Arthur Jantjies: Pan African Resources Club (2:15:14)
2. Tsépo Ramashamole: Hollywood Athletics Club (2:15:24 | +10)
3. Moses Tarakinyu: Nedbank Running Club (2:15:34 | +20)
4. Simon Sibeko: Nedbank Running Club Central North West (2:15:59 | +45)
5. Siboniso Sikhakhane: Entsika AC CG (2:16:11 | +57)
6. Lebenya Nkoka: Maxed Elite (2:18:31 | +3:17)
7. Ntsebenza Nake: Phantane AC   (2:18:53 | +3:39)
8. Tumelo Motlagale: Phantane AC (2:19:22 | +4:08)
9. Sithembiso Mqhele: Nedbank Club Kwa-Zulu Natal (2:19:47 | +4:33)
10. Benjamin Nyongesa: Nedbank Running Club(2:20:16 | +5:02)

Women’s Marathon Results 

1. Bize Beyira Negasa: Nedbank Running Club International (2:36:42)
2. Malineo Mahloko: Maxed Elite (2:43:53 | +7:11)
3. Fortunate Chidzivo: Nedbank Running Club (2:49:55 | +13:13)
4. Monique van der Merwe: Social Runners Club KZN (2:50:07 | +13:25)
5. Ethel Pangiso: Nedbank Running Club (2:53:24 | +16:42)
6. Ilse Marais: Nedbank Running Club CG (2:55:27 | +18:45)
7. Jenna Spooner: Maverick Athletic Club CGA (2:58:26 | +21:44)
8. Renata Vosloo: Ubora Athletics Club Johannesburg (2:58:59 | +22:17)
9. Gina Pocock: Ubora Athletics Club Johannesburg (3:06:01 | +29:19)
10. Samantha Shabalala: Fourways Road Runners (3:06:56 | +30:14)

1. Stephen Ngigi Kangethe: Nedbank Running Club International (1:03:58)
2. Yanga Malusi: Go Tyme Bank Run Club (1:06:16 | +2:18)
3. Rowhaldo Ratz: Go Tyme Bank Run Club (1:06:19 | +2:21)

Slave Route Half Marathon Women’s Results

1. Weynalem Haftu Gebre: Nedbank Running Club International (1:13:41)
2. Kirsti Bell: Kovsies Club (1:21:52 | +8:11)
3. Mila Geldenhuys: Go Tyme Bank Run Club (1:23:45 | +10:04)

For more information about the inaugural event, please visit the event’s website. The full results from the 2026 Nelson Mandela Marathon can be found here.

The post Arthur Jantjies Wins Inaugural Nelson Mandela Marathon  appeared first on Runner's World.

…the race will see some of South Africa’s leading distance runners go head-to-head with international competitors on a fast and scenic course.

With Table Mountain as its backdrop, the race will see some of South Africa’s leading distance runners go head-to-head with international competitors on a fast and scenic course. Under the banner of Rise. Remember. Run., the event features the inaugural flagship Nelson Mandela Marathon alongside the Slave Route Challenge 21km, 10km and 5km races, allowing runners of all abilities to be part of this landmark occasion.

Among the biggest names toeing the start line in this first edition are Fortunate Chidzivo, Bize Beyira Negasa, Mahloko Malineo, Carla Molinaro, Tete Dijana, Piet Wiersma, and the in-form athletes Simon Sibeko, Thabang Mathebula, and Anthony Timoteus. These elite athletes are competing for a share of the R2-million prize money, with the first man and woman in the marathon each taking home R225 000.00

The course is designed to showcase the beauty of the Mother City, with spectacular views of Table Mountain along the way. For the elite athletes, the scenery may be less important than the predominantly flat nature of the route. Over the 42 kilometres, it rises 250 metres, with the majority of the climbing coming in a tough first 8 kilometres through District Six, the Company’s Garden, and the Bo-Kaap.

After descending towards Sea Point, the Marathon course flattens out for 10 fast kilometres before climbing slightly out of Green Point back into the city centre. Hugging the coast to Milnerton’s Woodbridge Island and then turning back to the heart of Cape Town, hardly a metre is gained until the final push through the Foreshore to the Darling Street finish line. The final 500 metres rise gently, which could produce a thrilling sprint finish.

Tete Dijana, the three-time Comrades Marathon champion, headlines a highly competitive elite men’s field. Though best known for his ultra-running performances, the 38-year-old has run a 2:13:24 marathon and has shown his speed over the 10-kilometre distance in 2026. The Netherlands’ Piet Wiersma brings international flair to the race, as well as more ultra-running pedigree. A three-time Comrades Marathon runner-up, Wiersma claimed the title in 2024 and has a marathon best of 2:18:02 set in February this year.

Wiersma will likely have to shave 6 minutes off that, however, if he is to compete with 2026’s fastest men on the start list, Simon Sibeko, Thabang Mathebula, and Anthony Timoteus. Sibeko ran a 2:13:12 in May, a time that is 1 minute and 7 seconds off his personal best, which he set in 2023. Mathebula posted a personal best of 2:13:56, also in May 2026, and comes into the Nelson Mandela Marathon in fine form. Timoteus is the fastest of the trio this year, having run 8 seconds faster than Sibeko and 52 seconds quicker than Mathebula.

Sboniso Sikhakhane (2:11:49 set in 2021), Khoarahlane Seutloali (2:11:04 set in 2019), and Tsepo Ramashamole (2:12:02 set in 2021) have run faster than Sibeko and Timoteus, though not in the last five years. With so many men capable of running similar times, the inaugural Nelson Mandela Marathon is sure to be fiercely contested.

Bize Beyira Negasa, Mahloko Malineo, Carla Molinaro, and Fortunate Chidzivo are the women to watch in the elite women’s race. Negasa has a personal best of 2:40:50 in the marathon as well as a season’s best of 1:13:42 in the half marathon, showcasing her form ahead of Sunday’s showdown. Malineo’s best, of 2:40:30, was run in 2024.

Molinaro, who hails from Great Britain, clocked 2:38:35 before, in a highly competitive field at the Valencia Marathon in 2024. Chidzivo is arguably the favourite for the title, having run 2:33:30 last year and 2:41:09 in May this year. Given the entirely new course, winning times are difficult to predict, though personal bests by the inaugural champions would augur well for fast times in future editions of the Nelson Mandela Marathon.

Alongside the flagship marathon, the Slave Route Challenge features 21km, 10km and 5km distances, each offering a unique experience through Cape Town’s historic streets. The 21km and 10km races boast strong fields of South African and African talent, with both routes taking runners up the Bo-Kaap’s infamous Koesister Hill. The challenging climb may make fast times harder to achieve but promises competitive and captivating racing. The 5km route offers a flatter, faster course, with a downhill stretch through the Company’s Garden setting the stage for an exciting finish.

The action gets underway with the elite marathon start at 05:30 on Sunday, 18 October. Cool temperatures are predicted for race day, along with a gentle to moderate south-easterly breeze. For the early-starting and fast-finishing elites, this should not affect the racing, but for the steadier-paced amateur athletes, the cool conditions and cooling wind could make the final kilometres a little more comfortable than they otherwise would be.

Running enthusiasts and supporters who cannot make it to the streets of Cape Town can catch the action live on SABC 3 from 05h00 to 11h00 on Sunday 18 October, bringing the excitement of the inaugural event to audiences across South Africa.

For more information, visit the race’s official website.

The post Runners to Watch at the Inaugural Nelson Mandela Marathon appeared first on Runner's World.

…for people who want to train harder, recover smarter and live better.

First Choice High Protein Recovery offers a ready-to-drink protein solution designed to help runners recover after their run.  It is made for people who want to train harder, recover smarter and live better. This high-protein mix offers convenience, great taste and scientifically backed nutrition in one easy-to-enjoy drink. 

Nutrition by numbers

People are quickly realising the value of protein in their training and daily life. According to research by Kantar and Mintel, 37% of South Africans actively look for high-protein content when shopping for food, a figure that has increased by 10% since 2019. In addition, 81% of South Africans say good nutrition drives their food choices, while 86% carefully consider how daily choices affect their physical health.

Protein that fits your training plan

First Choice High Protein Recovery is specially formulated with high-quality milk protein concentrate consisting of 80% casein and 20% whey protein. This combination of both fast- and slow-release proteins supports your recovery throughout the day.

Whey protein is rapidly absorbed by the body, making it ideal immediately after a run when muscles require fast nutritional support for repair and recovery. Casein, meanwhile, digests more slowly and provides a steady release of amino acids over time, helping to support muscle recovery and reduce muscle breakdown throughout your training plan.

High Protein Recovery also contains branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), including leucine, isoleucine and valine, which are essential for muscle protein synthesis, energy production and post-workout recovery.

More than just a muscle-builder

This product is endorsed by professional athletes, that include South African Tag Rugby player Kyle Saunders and sports nutritionist Candice de Mendonca. Available in a variety of indulgent flavours, including chocolate, strawberry vanilla, peanut butter, banana crème and salted caramel, the range proves functional nutrition with a great taste.

Besides the whey/casein and BCAA content, High Protein Recovery is high in calcium, low in fat and has no added sugar or preservatives. It is also fortified with essential vitamins, including vitamins B1, B3, B7, B9 and B12.

Convenience remains central to the range’s appeal. No mixing, measuring or messy scoops are required. Simply shake, twist and enjoy. The resealable, fully recyclable packaging also makes it easy to consume on the move, whether after a track run, a treadmill session or just a busy day.

High Protein Recovery is just one part of First Choice’s protein-powered portfolio. For more information on the range, visit the website.

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What you shouldn’t do? Commit these common mistakes in the days leading up to your big event, some of which show up subtly, while others lead to race-day sabotage. Listed below are the most common mistakes coaches see marathoners make, and how to avoid them, so you can show up fully rested, fuelled, and ready to run your best.

1. Attempt to Squeeze in One Last Workout
We’re all guilty of scrambling to turn something in at the last minute, but race week is not the time for last-minute training. In fact, following a training plan months or weeks in advance sets you up for a successful race day with enough time to let your hard work sink in during your taper period.

Some runners wind up running too much, or ignoring their tapers altogether, says Josh Wessler, ACSM-certified personal trainer and RRCA-certified run coach.

You want to cut back your mileage by about 40 percent during your taper period, which includes race week, says Namrita Brooke, PhD, RDN, endurance coach and sports dietitian. For example, if your speed days consisted of 1600m repeats, your speed day during race week might look like 400-metre reps at the same or lower intensity.

This also isn’t the week for your longest long run, considering a dip in mileage includes a shorter “long” run, typically about a week before your race, adds Maya Ellison, CPT, RRCA-certified run coach and owner of P.A.C.E.D. Coaching Services. “Race week is about preserving energy and sharpening, not building fitness,” she says.

Both Wessler and Brooke suggest taking one extra rest day during your race week. This way, you continue following your typical routine, but with some extra time to rest and decompress before it’s time to head to the start line.

While you should cut back on volume before your race, remember that you shouldn’t rest too much either. It can be tempting to play it safe and rest up so you’re not racing on tired legs, but Wessler explains that if you ditch your training plan during race week, you’re likely not setting yourself up for peak performance. So stick to the plan; it’s created for a reason!

2. Ditch Your Usual Routine
You may have heard the golden rule of races: “nothing new on race day” and it’s a golden rule for a reason, explains Brooke. You don’t want to risk trying too many new things leading up to your race, like new shoes, paces, gels, or fuel alternatives, because it might lead to an upset stomach, poor performance, or worse, injuries.

Lace up that new pair of kicks you’ve been eyeing or snag a couple of gel alternatives when you go for your long run at least two to three weeks out from race day, Brooke suggests, instead of waiting until the last minute. If something doesn’t sit in your stomach or doesn’t fit right, you can readjust the following week with your go-to gear and fuel that works.

3. Ruminate on Pre-race Feelings
With shorter or fewer runs during race week comes more time to chill out, which often leads to thoughts, feelings, and doubts about your training, Wessler explains. To combat this, reflect on all the hard work you’ve done to get to this one point, like successful track workouts, conquered long runs, and a solid peak-week.

Many runners may even find themselves thinking they’re not fit enough or they’re sick or injured. But these feelings typically go away the second you get to the starting line, Wessler explains. If you’ve been considerably healthy throughout weeks or months of training, then your fitness is there, and a random injury is unlikely.

The best way to differentiate a real injury or illness, versus something imagined, is to let the thoughts go and then come back to them after you’ve had some time to forget about it, says Wessler. If an injury or illness progresses, then there might be cause for concern. But if you’re able to get your mind off of it and move on to work, family, and life obligations, or even go for one of your taper runs successfully, then you’re probably just dealing with a bit of pre-race anxiety.

4. Carbo Load at the Last Minute
Race week is an exciting time to plan your favourite pasta dinner, especially if you’re running a longer race, like a half or full marathon. But carb loading should begin days before your race, Brooke notes.

Start carbo loading about two to three days before marathon race day, incorporating more carbs into most of your meals. This looks like swapping some fats and proteins for increased portions of carbs, like filling half your plate with pasta, rice, and sweet potatoes.

Keep in mind, though, this isn’t the time to try foods you’ve never eaten before or follow a new diet. “Race week is about refining, not revolutionising, your nutrition,” says Ellison.

5. Let Hydration Slip Your Mind
Your water bottle should become one of your best friends during any race week, because it’s crucial to stay hydrated for the big day. “Regardless of the race distance, you don’t want to start your race dehydrated, because that can lead to cramping, side stitches, and it can impair your ability to take in nutrition during the race and lead to premature fatigue,” says Brooke.

While you want to drink plenty of water, you also can drink too much. “Overhydration can lead to hyponatremia, a condition where sodium levels become dangerously diluted,” says Ellison. To make sure you’re well-hydrated but not overdoing it, drink when you’re thirsty and pay attention to the colour of your urine, aiming for a clear to pale yellow, she explains.

Just as you shouldn’t put off carb loading until the night before your race, you should hydrate throughout your entire race week, too. “Focus on consistent, moderate hydration throughout the week, and consider electrolyte replacement, especially if it’s hot or humid,” says Ellison.

If you typically dislike drinking plain water, flavoured electrolyte mixes can help encourage hydration with some added flavour, Brooke adds.

6. Stress Out About Your Sleep Schedule
Can’t sleep well the night before a race? You’re not alone. “Not a lot of people will sleep really well the night before a race,” says Brooke. She explains that even if you’re managing your sleep well during race week, race-day nerves can keep you tossing and turning.

The good news: It’s not that big of a deal. “You can have a great performance on one night of low sleep,” says Brooke. “Don’t let that get in your head because you can sleep after the race.”

The key is to focus on what you can control around your sleep. For example, not overdoing caffeine intake the day before (especially later in the day), limiting screen time, eating enough, and maintaining your typical sleeping patterns. “Race week is not the time to drastically alter your sleep schedule or try to ‘catch up’ on lost sleep,” says Ellison.

She also says to avoid trying new sleep aids, like ZzzQuil, and instead prioritise relaxing activities to wind down, like reading or gentle stretching.

7. Forget to Look at the Course Map
Whether you’re in it to compete or simply cross the finish line in one piece, it’s a good idea to study the course ahead of time because it will help you pace yourself accordingly, explains Brooke.

You’ll want to take note of where to expect short hills, steep hills, rolling hills, and downhills. This will help you take note of where to push harder to make moves and pass other runners if your goal is to compete, and plan ahead for your pacing strategy if your goal is to complete the race, explains Brooke.

Taking a look at the course map also helps you take note of aid station locations to stop for water and to refuel, she adds.

8. Focus on What You Can’t Control
It’s tempting to stress over, well, everything before race day. The solution: “Identify the things you can’t control and release those,” says Wessler. Then try managing the things you can control, like sticking to your normal routine, planning your race-day outfit, packing your favourite gels and recovery snacks, and mapping out how you’re going to get to the start line.

“Being able to recognise that and step back is really going to help you manage that last week better,” says Wessler.

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

The post What Not to Do the Week Before Your Marathon appeared first on Runner's World.

The post Use This Marathon Hydration Plan to Get to the Start and Finish Line Feeling Your Best appeared first on Runner's World.

In runners, these types of injuries most often occur in the tibia (shinbone), but they can also happen throughout the lower body, including in the foot, thigh, and hip bones, Todd McGrath, MD, a primary sports medicine physician in New York City, tells Runner’s World.

The post Stress Reaction vs Stress Fracture: What to Know to Avoid Getting Sidelined appeared first on Runner's World.

Each week we will take you through some of our favourites…but for the full rundown of all the shoes, buy the September/October issue of Runner’s World in stores or online.

New Balance Fresh Foam X Hierro v9

Weight: 294g • Stack: 42mm heel / 38mm forefoot • Drop: 4mm

The Hierro has earned a reputation as one of the most comfortable trail shoes available, and the ninth edition continues that tradition. 

A generous layer of Fresh Foam X cushioning delivers a plush, forgiving ride that excels over long training runs and ultra-distance events. Despite its high stack, the shoe remains stable thanks to a broad platform and supportive upper, while the Vibram Megagrip outsole provides dependable traction across a variety of trail conditions. 

Although it isn’t designed for aggressive racing or highly technical mountain terrain, the Hierro shines as a versatile endurance shoe that will encourage runners to spend more time on their feet – in comfort. It’s particularly well suited to those prioritising cushioning over outright speed.

X factor: Luxurious Fresh Foam X cushioning paired with trusted Vibram Megagrip traction.

Price: R3 399 

Visit the New Balance website to find out more.

The post EDITOR’S CHOICE: New Balance Fresh Foam X Hierro v9 appeared first on Runner's World.

The vagus nerve is “the most complicated highway of nervous system information that’s relayed between your brain and most of your body,” says Jamie Tyler, PhD, a professor at the University of Alabama, who has extensively researched vagus nerve stimulation (VNS).

The vagus nerve is responsible for shifting us out of “fight-or-flight” mode and into “rest-and-digest” recovery. VNS, using structured breathing techniques to boost vagal activity, can improve recovery and therefore help you perform better.

To see if the science held up in real life, I spent a month trying a few different VNS techniques. Here’s everything you need to know about how the practice works and the surprising benefits I experienced during my 30-day experiment as a runner.

What Is Vagus Nerve Stimulation, Anyway?
To understand what VNS actually is, it’s important to know more about the vagus nerve.

You have two vagal nerves, which run down each side of your body, from your brainstem to your abdomen, and they go through organs like your heart, lungs, and digestive system, according to sports psychologist Paul McCarthy, PhD.

The main role of the vagus nerve is to help your body shift from states of stress, activation, and effort into states of recovery and restoration, McCarthy explains. “For runners, this matters because training is essentially controlled stress. The ability to switch off effectively after a hard session is a key part of adaptation and recovery,” he says.

Vagus nerve stimulation refers to practices designed to increase vagus nerve activity and encourage your body to move toward a state of recovery more quickly, according to McCarthy. Traditionally, this involved medical devices that deliver electrical stimulation, but many athletes use noninvasive techniques such as:

• Slow diaphragmatic breathing
• Extended exhalation breathing
• Resonance frequency breathing (a slow breathing technique – around six breaths per minute – that synchronises your heart, lungs, and nervous system)
• Mindfulness and meditation
• Cold water exposure
• Humming and singing

How to Stimulate Your Vagus Nerve
Below are three of McCarthy’s favourite VNS exercises for runners. He recommends doing these exercises in the morning, evening, or both. He also suggests doing them immediately after harder runs to encourage recovery.

1. Extended-Exhale Breathing

Why it works: Longer exhalations promote parasympathetic activation, according to McCarthy.

How to do it:

• Sit comfortably.
• Breathe in through the nose for 4 seconds.
• Breathe out slowly through the mouth for 6-8 seconds. Keep shoulders relaxed.
• Continue for 5-10 minutes.

2. Resonance Breathing

Why it works: This focuses on approximately six breaths per minute and is commonly used to improve heart rate variability, according to McCarthy, which can signal improved recovery and training readiness.

How to do it:

• Sit comfortably.
• Breathe in through the nose for 5 seconds.
• Breathe out through the nose for 5 seconds. Maintain a smooth rhythm.
• Continue for 5-10 minutes.

3. Diaphragmatic Breathing

Why it works: Diaphragmatic breathing stimulates the vagus nerve to turn off your body’s stress response and turn on relaxation, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

How to do it:

• Sit comfortably.
• Place one hand on your chest and the other hand on your stomach.
• Allow the stomach to rise more than the chest as you inhale.
• Exhale slowly and completely.
• Continue for 5-10 minutes.

The Techniques I Tried
I tried all three of these vagus nerve stimulation tactics twice a day, cycling between the three every evening and after all my daily workouts. The most challenging part was doing them for five minutes straight.

I’ve never been one for meditation, so I wasn’t used to doing something like this for large chunks of time. (Yes, five minutes is a large chunk of time to do absolutely nothing but breathe!)

So I decided to work my way up to five minutes. I started by setting a timer for one minute, and after I did this successfully for one or two days, I set my timer for two minutes. I continued doing this until I hit five minutes. (My next goal is to work up to 10 minutes per VNS session!)

Consistency is important when it comes to VNS, according to McCarthy. “The goal is not to ‘stimulate’ the vagus nerve occasionally. The goal is to develop a more resilient nervous system over time,” he says.

How Runners Can Benefit From Vagus Nerve Stimulation, and How It Helped Me
Both Tyler and McCarthy agree that VNS has the biggest effect on recovery between runs. “VNS reduces inflammation and helps promote recovery,” Tyler says.

1. Faster Easy Runs
Greater vagal activity is associated with faster heart rate recovery and improved autonomic nervous system balance after exercise, according to McCarthy. The autonomic nervous system controls automatic functions your body needs to survive, like breathing and your heart rate, meaning VNS helps slow your breathing and heart rate down.

In a small 2026 study in Nature, 60 participants who did auricular transcutaneous VNS (a technique that delivers mild electrical impulses to the outer ear to stimulate the auricular branch of the vagus nerve) for 20 minutes right after walking on a treadmill for 30 minutes saw greater reductions in blood pressure, perceived fatigue, and lactate in their blood compared with those who didn’t do VNS. Additionally, those who did VNS saw improvements in how quickly their heart rate and breathing went back to normal.

I did a few minutes of VNS breathing exercises after my easy runs and interval workouts on the treadmill, and I was shocked at how quickly my heart rate settled back down to baseline afterwards. Just like the study participants, I noticed a difference in my tiredness levels with and without VNS. Before VNS, an intense speed session could leave me feeling wiped out for hours after. But after only a few days of starting VNS, I noticed I had more energy throughout the day.

2. Improved Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
HRV refers to changes in the time between each heartbeat. Your heart isn’t supposed to beat like a metronome. Instead, a healthy heart naturally speeds up and slows down from moment to moment. This constant variation gives your cardiovascular system the flexibility it needs to react instantly whenever you face sudden physical effort or emotional stress.

HRV is often used as an indicator of recovery and readiness for your next workout, according to McCarthy. “Higher vagal activity is linked to higher HRV and greater resilience to training stress,” he says.

3. Better Sleep
Doing VNS on a regular basis can help you fall asleep more easily and improve the quality of your sleep, according to McCarthy. And sleep, he says, is where much of the adaptation to training occurs.

I’ve always been intensely jealous of people who can fall asleep as soon as their head hits the pillow. That’s never been me…until I started incorporating VNS into my daily routine. I’m not exaggerating when I say I was able to doze off within 20 minutes of doing VNS for the first time; a huge difference from the usual one or two hours it typically takes me.

This helped me wake up feeling refreshed as well, which rarely ever happens. Will I ever become a true morning person? I’m going to keep doing VNS before bed to find out, but I have high hopes.

4. Reduced Psychological Stress
Better vagal regulation can help reduce feelings of being wired, anxious, or mentally activated after training or before competition, McCarthy explains. “VNS is particularly useful if you struggle to switch off after evening workout sessions,” he says.

As I mentioned, I’ve never really been a morning person. It’s hard enough waking up for work, never mind a workout. While I usually run in the middle of the day or right after work when it’s light outside, I tend to push cross-training workouts, such as strength training or indoor cycling sessions on my Peloton, until later in the evening.

These workouts usually leave me amped up for hours, and probably (read: definitely) contribute to the fact that I have a hard time falling asleep at night. Doing VNS after these evening workouts has really helped me wind down at night and fall asleep faster.

5. Improved Emotional Regulation
“Athletes with stronger vagal tone tend to demonstrate greater flexibility in responding to pressure and adversity, which can be beneficial during training blocks or races,” McCarthy says.

Indeed, athletes who can easily control their vagus nerve tend to be able to stay right in the sweet spot for peak performance – alert and energised without getting overwhelmed or overly anxious, research shows. This helps them avoid both being too flat and being too stressed out to perform their best.

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

The post The 5-Minute Habit That Helped Me Recover Better and Run Stronger appeared first on Runner's World.

WMTRC Cape Town 2027 will be the first World Mountain and Trail Running Championships ever hosted in Africa and the first World Championship in an athletics discipline staged in South Africa since 1993. Hosted by Golazo South Africa, Athletics South Africa and Western Province Athletics, the championship represents a defining moment for South African athletics, African sport and the continued growth of mountain and trail running worldwide.

…a landmark event that will place Africa at the centre of the global off-road running community.

“With one year to go until the 4^th World Mountain and Trail Running Championship, it is clear that the excitement around the event continues to grow. Member Federations are planning their trials, and athletes and their coaches are training for what will be stunning and competitive races set against the backdrop of Table Mountain.

“As event partners, we have been impressed by the professionalism of the Local Organising Committee, and we continue to work closely with them to deliver a successful event in October 2027,”  say Sarah Rowell, Nadeem Khan and Janet Ng, respective Presidents of the World Mountain Running Association, the International Association of Ultrarunners and the International Trail Running Association.

“Mountain and trail running is experiencing a real boom, and the fourth staging of the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships is another cause for celebration,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe.

“As the first World Mountain and Trail Running Championships to be hosted in Africa, this is an important milestone for our sport and one for which excitement continues to build now the event is only one year away. We look forward to another successful edition of this global championship, one that brings together the world’s best elite athletes and mass participation runners for a festival of off-road running.”

Individual and team world titles will be contested across all disciplines, bringing together the world’s elite mountain and trail runners. The championship programme will feature the sport’s premier disciplines:

• Uphill
• Classic
• Classic U20
• Short Trail
• Long Trail

The event is also developing mass-participation events, allowing over 2 000 amateur runners from South Africa and around the world to experience the championship atmosphere and compete on selected championship terrain. It will make these championships even more memorable and provide many sports enthusiasts with a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Further details on these events will be announced in due course.

“With one year to go, Athletics South Africa is proud to be part of a historic moment as we prepare to welcome the world to the first World Mountain and Trail Running Championships ever hosted in Africa. Cape Town 2027 provides an extraordinary opportunity to showcase South Africa’s athletes, landscapes and hospitality, while creating a lasting legacy for mountain and trail running across our country and continent. Through our national championship and selection pathway, we are committed to ensuring that Team South Africa is ready to compete with the world’s best when the championships arrive next October,” says Terrence Magogodela, Acting CEO, Athletics South Africa

Beyond the world titles, WMTRC Cape Town 2027 aims to leave a lasting legacy through athlete development, greater participation and international exposure. Bringing the championship to Africa creates an opportunity to grow the sport across the continent and introduce more runners to its exceptional mountain and trail destinations.

“I am so proud that Cape Town will host Africa’s first World Mountain and Trail Running Championships. It’s incredibly exciting to welcome the world’s best athletes to experience the energy of this city: its people, our passionate trail and running community, the diversity of our natural spaces and the magical beauty of our rugged trails. Beyond that, this event has the power to make a lasting impact on a new generation of South African runners who dream of one day wearing the green and gold, ” says Toni McCann, South African International Trail Runner.

As the countdown enters its final year, WMTRC Cape Town 2027 is poised to become more than a championship. It is an opportunity to showcase Africa to the world, elevate mountain and trail running across the continent and create a lasting legacy for future generations of athletes.

The post One Year to Go: Countdown to the 2027 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships appeared first on Runner's World.

Take a long, deep breath, as deep as you can, and hold it. Imagine the air in your lungs represents the fitness you’ve accumulated over months of marathon training. Eventually, you’ll need to exhale. But your goal for race day is to toe the starting line with your lungs at max capacity, before you start letting that breath out. In other words, you want to race at your peak fitness.

The key to getting that timing right? Mastering the taper.

Peaking too early in training means you’re racing on the exhale: Your highest level of fitness is already behind you. But that’s not what you want. Instead, you want to peak as close to marathon day as possible so you reap the full benefit of all the kilometres you’ve put in, and that requires nailing a crucial element of training. The key to getting that timing right? Mastering the taper.

Peaking too early happens when you’ve either started your taper too early or you’ve tapered too aggressively, according to Jeff Gaudette, the founder and head coach of RunnersConnect. This can cause your fitness to begin dropping before you get to race day. “Of the two, tapering too aggressively is the more common mistake, and novice marathoners can be more susceptible to this,” he explains.

Still, both experienced and novice runners may struggle to find the optimal reduction in training load during the weeks leading up to a marathon.

But the good news is that peaking too early doesn’t mean you’ve lost your shot at a PB. We talked with two run coaches about how you can prevent it, what signs to watch for, and ways to adjust your training to get back on track.

With the right preparation, timing, and smart taper tweaks, you’ll have the confidence to show up on race day ready to perform at your peak.

How to Prevent Peaking Too Early
As Gaudette says above, peaking too early in marathon training usually happens when a runner either begins their taper too early or overtapers.

Overtapering means that you’ve cut too much mileage or intensity (or both) in the weeks leading up to your race. The result? You miss the window of your highest fitness level, and you toe the starting line with your fitness already on the downswing.

But that also doesn’t mean you should err on the side of undertapering; you just need to ensure your drops in volume and intensity happen at the right times and in the right amounts.

“Tapering is vital, especially for the marathon,” says Janet Hamilton, CSCS, an exercise physiologist and the founder and head coach of Running Strong. “The taper will be unique to each athlete, but a good rule of thumb is to start the process about three weeks out from race day.”

Hamilton emphasises that the taper can take a bit of trial and error over a few training cycles to determine your ideal protocol. Some of Hamilton’s athletes have learned they race better on a shorter taper, while others do better with a longer one.

Many runners will hit their highest volume of training, or close to it, before beginning their taper about three weeks before race day. This is your peak week, explains Hamilton.

The week after your peak, you’ll start slightly decreasing the distance of each of your weekly runs, as well as your long run. “Trim about 20 percent from your long run, but make sure you maintain some intensity throughout the week,” says Hamilton. “You don’t want to cut out speed entirely.” She suggests keeping one or two runs in your training week that include efforts at your marathon goal pace.

With one week left before race week, you’ll cut another 20 to 25 percent of your long-run distance and drop a few more midweek kilometres, but you’ll still do some running at goal marathon pace.

The week of the race, Hamilton tells her athletes to pull the plug on their strength training and add in an extra recovery day.

According to Hamilton, a relatively novice marathoner’s long-run taper could be: 32 to 35 kilometres three weeks out, 25 kilometres at two weeks out, then 16 to 20 kilometres on the weekend before running 42.2 kilometres on race day.

By gradually decreasing mileage and intensity, but still maintaining a modest training stimulus, you’ll be able to recover enough to feel fresh and ready to race hard. This means you won’t lose any fitness, and it’s less likely you’ll feel stale or lethargic.

“You want to toe the line on race day at the sweet spot where you’re fully refreshed and adequately rested, but your body hasn’t yet started to de-adapt,” Hamilton says. “That can leave your legs feeling just a little bit dead and not ready for the task at hand.”

Signs That You’re Peaking Too Early
It can be hard to distinguish between typical taper fatigue and the symptoms of peaking too early, says Gaudette.

“Generally speaking, you’re going to feel lethargic when you’ve overtapered,” Gaudette explains. “During your runs, even your easy runs, you’re going to feel like you don’t have any energy.”

The frustrating part is that some runners may also feel that way even when they’ve tapered correctly, he adds. Sometimes those feelings of unusual tiredness are simply the result of a change in your established running routine and training load.

But overall, Gaudette says that your fatigue will feel much more dramatic if you’ve peaked too early before your marathon. “When you first start a run during your taper, you may feel a little lethargic, but it goes away. Whereas, if you’ve overtapered, you might feel lethargic the whole run or even the whole day,” he explains. If that happens, it can mean you’ll head into race day feeling flat, unless you make some tweaks to your training.

What Can I Do to Fix It?
Don’t panic. You have a few tools at your disposal if you suspect you may have peaked a bit too soon. “It can be a little challenging for runners to adjust on the fly,” says Gaudette, “because you don’t want to do anything too drastic.” The key is to add a bit more mileage and intensity, without overdoing it.

Gaudette typically recommends this workout about a week out from race day:

• 3 kilometres at 10 seconds faster than goal marathon pace, followed by 3 minutes of rest.
• 2 x 3 minutes at roughly your kilometre pace, each followed by 3 minutes of rest.
• 2 x 60 seconds at roughly your kilomtre pace, each followed by 90 seconds of rest.

Doing a little extra volume near your goal marathon pace, followed by some faster intervals that get your legs turning over, can provide just enough of a stimulus before the marathon, he explains. “But the long rests and short durations mean you won’t build up any fatigue.” The last thing you want is to overcorrect by running too much or too hard, leaving yourself under-recovered on race day.

Besides that quick fine-tuning workout, Gaudette cautions against adjusting training too much when you’re feeling fatigued. “It can lead to overanalysing,” he says. “It’s possible that you’re not actually overtapered – this may just be how your body responds to the change in your training.” For that reason, it can be smart to just wait and see how the race goes, and then take those learnings into your next marathon training cycle.

The best way to do that? Keep a training log, Hamilton says. “It’s so important to make notes of what worked and what didn’t work throughout training. You’re an experiment of one: Coaches can give you guidelines, but ultimately how your body responds may be very unique to you.”

Maintaining a detailed training log is the only way you can make those game-changing realisations. For example, lessons like “I ran my best races when I followed this taper pattern versus that other taper pattern” or “those energy gels didn’t sit well at all, but these other ones worked great over the final kays” are incredibly valuable to take from one training block to the next.

Finally, Hamilton says it’s crucial to train with patience as you prepare for your marathon. “The single most common error I see in all the athletes I’ve coached over the decades is that they beat themselves up in training. They run at, or near, race pace too often or ramp up intensity too quickly,” she explains.

“Train smart. Listen to your body. Respect the process and what your body is trying to accomplish,” Hamilton adds. “If you give your body what it needs, it will reward you with truly amazing improvements.”

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

The post Are You Peaking Too Early for Your Marathon? appeared first on Runner's World.

So it’s only natural to question whether your regular running routine is helping to maximise your performance, or if it’s actually holding you back. And one common cause for concern has to do with where you choose to run: Do treadmill runs train your body just as well as outdoor sessions, or might you be leaving some benefits on the table if you default to indoors?

…a new study suggests outdoor running simply pushes your body harder than treadmill running does…

The topic of treadmill runs versus outdoor runs has been highly debated for years among runners, and researchers join in the conversation, too. Most recently, a new study suggests outdoor running simply pushes your body harder than treadmill running does, even if you use a slight incline to try to narrow the gap.

But does that mean running outdoors is always the better option compared to the treadmill? Below, running experts dig into what you need to know about treadmill versus outdoor running, and how to make the most of your training, wherever you’re clocking miles.

The Energy Cost of Running Outside vs. Treadmill
In a recent study, which was published in the journal PLOS One, researchers recruited 12 young, highly trained male runners who regularly ran at least five days a week, averaging about 40 to 50 miles. They had them complete two running tests, one on a treadmill with a 1 percent incline and the other on an outdoor track.

Each used a progressive protocol, starting easy and getting faster with each three-minute stage. The tests began at a 12:00 mile pace and ended at just under a 6:30 pace. Throughout the trials, researchers measured the runners’ oxygen cost and other metabolic responses.

The researchers found energy cost and oxygen cost were higher and running economy was worse when participants ran outdoors versus indoors. The differences in running economy were most apparent when the runners approached their second ventilatory threshold (which they reached, on average, when running a pace of about 4:27 to 4:35), meaning as they picked up the intensity.

“That second ventilatory threshold separates the hard work from the very, very hard work,” says Grace Horan, MS, an exercise physiologist who was not affiliated with the study. “So as they approached that threshold between hard and very hard, the difference did become more apparent based on their data.”

This roughly falls in line with prior research suggesting that differences in energy cost between treadmill and outdoor running can depend on how hard you’re running, which is when tweaking the incline can come into play.

In particular, a 2019 meta-analysis in Sports Medicine that looked at 34 studies found that the two had similar oxygen demands at easy or moderate paces. But at near-maximal intensities – above 80 percent of VO₂ max, or roughly a 3:44 to 4:40 pace for the runners included in the review – oxygen consumption was lower on a treadmill with a 0 percent incline than during outdoor running. When the incline was bumped up to 1 percent, though, the oxygen cost was similar.

Oxygen demand can play a role in performance, as it contributes to fatigue. “Lower oxygen consumption at a given submaximal pace is beneficial,” says Horan. “It basically means that you’re able to save some energy – you don’t have to spend as much energy or utilise as much oxygen to maintain the same submaximal pace.” So that means you may be able to hit faster paces on a treadmill without feeling like you’re working quite so hard.

While the more recent study’s results do lean in favour of outdoor running being “harder,” there are a few important limitations to keep in mind before drawing sweeping conclusions. For one, the recent study was small and enrolled only young, male runners, so it’s not possible to say whether the findings would be generalizable to different demographics. And the device they used to measure metabolic metrics tends to overestimate readings, particularly at higher intensities, which could overinflate the differences, says Horan.

Finally, the directive to maintain exact pacing outdoors, plus the audio reminders piped into the participants’ ears every 100 meters, could have contributed to the higher strain of outdoor running, too. “It’s incredibly hard for humans to be able to achieve [precise pace] without any kind of deviation,” she says, which can lead to a more stressful environment.

All in all, the findings shouldn’t lead you to change anything about your training, Horan says. Both outdoor and indoor runs have a place on your plan.

How Is Running Outdoors Different Than Running on a Treadmill?
In addition to how hard you’re physically working, a few key points create slightly different experiences between running outdoors and hitting the belt.

The big one is wind resistance: “There’s a lot more air resistance and aerodynamic drag that a runner has to fight against to propel themselves forward outside on the ground,” says Horan. “With a treadmill, that’s kind of keeping that forward propulsion for you or keeping that pace for you.”

And the differences in outdoor running versus treadmill running are likely to become greater the harder you go and the more pronounced the effects of air resistance become, per a review in Sports Medicine. “The faster you run, the stronger the wind feels, and the more work that’s required to move against that wind,” RRCA-certified running coach Alysha Flynn, founder of What Runs You and official training advisor for Every Woman’s Marathon, tells Runner’s World.

Outdoor running also brings constant surface and elevation changes. The most obvious would be hills, which demand a lot more from your glutes and hamstrings to power you up, says Flynn. Of course, you can add incline to your treadmill, but outdoor hills are more consistently variable, which can ask more of your body, and the eccentric nature of actual downhills means your quads work overtime, too.

But even if your route seems relatively flat, you’re still dealing with subtle variations that you don’t have to worry about on a treadmill belt, she says. This includes surface changes as you hop onto a sidewalk from asphalt, the slight pitch or camber on streets, or the turns you make to round a track or move onto another street. “Changes in your footing and all of that adds more demand to your body,” says Flynn. “Your body has to adjust for it in real time to control your balance and the direction you’re going.”

These slight changes also require more out of your small, stabilising muscles, says Horan, which don’t get challenged as much on a treadmill. For instance, a PLOS One study found reduced activation of ankle-stabilising muscles when running on a treadmill versus outdoors.

These variations, along with the fact that humans are not robots, can make it tougher to hold exact paces outdoors, whereas a treadmill takes care of that for you.

But on the flip side, holding an exact pace for an entire run can make treadmill running feel harder for some folks. “Outdoors, runners naturally speed up and slow down slightly,” says Flynn. On the treadmill, you don’t have that slight variation, which can be tiring physically and mentally.

The boredom of staring at the same four, unchanging walls around you can also make treadmill running feel harder. So too can simply doing something your body is not used to. “I think a lot of it is psychological,” says Horan. “A lot of it is like, ‘I’m running on a belt that is moving for me, and I don’t typically do that. This feels wild.’ And that certainly can drive up the rates of perceived exertion.” And that psychological aspect can make it seem more taxing, even if physiological measures still give outdoor running the “harder” edge.

How to Make the Most Out of Your Treadmill Runs
“The treadmill and outdoor running are two different environments for training,” says Flynn. “You just have to understand what each offers, then choose the one that better supports the purpose of your workout and what you need that day.”

In fact, there are some situations in which a treadmill may be better able to help you hit that workout goal. For instance:

Hard, Precisely Timed Runs: Workouts that require you to hold specific, hard paces can be a great choice on a treadmill, whether we’re talking about short intervals or longer tempos. “Doing it on a treadmill will allow for that pace precision and take some thought out of it for yourself, rather than trying to do it on the road,” says Horan.

You don’t have to keep checking your watch to make sure you’re on target; as long as you haven’t flown off the belt, you know you’re on pace.

Truly Easy Runs: On the other hand, treadmills can also be a solid tool to ensure you actually take an easy run easy. While you might be tempted to speed it up on the road, you’re locked into the pace you chose on a treadmill unless you physically push the buttons to change it. “I might lean into that for an athlete who is really struggling to manage their pace to learn better pacing,” Flynn says. “It’s a nice tool to reinforce effort-based running.”

Progression Runs to Find a Flow: If you live in a city or run on a route where there are lots of people or traffic, you know all too well how it feels to have to slam on the brakes right when you’re getting into a rhythm. Usually, a quick pause isn’t a problem, but if you’re doing a progression run, it can really pull you out of your flow.

“For some runs, we really want them getting to a pace and being able to hold that or progress their pace without any interruptions,” Flynn says. “Getting on a treadmill would help them be able to do that; otherwise that run would be broken up because of their environment.”

Hill Work in Flat Areas: Outdoor routes often come with elevation changes, but depending on where you live, you might not have that option, which can be a problem if you’ve signed up for a race that’s rich in hills.

A treadmill allows you to play around with the incline and train with the hill stimulus, says Flynn. That way, you can learn how it feels to approach an incline when you’re already gassed, or to call on more from your glutes and hamstrings when they’re already feeling it. “For at least part of the run, you can focus on pulling back the pace and intensity during the upward incline and coming back to race pace for the descent,” Horan adds.

Safety: “The best training tool is sometimes the one that makes consistency possible,” says Flynn. A treadmill allows you to continue your scheduled workout when environmental factors may have led you to skip outdoors. These include: super cold, snowy, or icy weather; heavy downpours; or wildfire smoke.

Plus, if you need to run in early morning or evening hours, loss of daylight could make you feel less safe; so taking it inside might be the option that lets you get that run done.

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

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A few years ago, my motivation was in the tank, and I wasn’t having fun. I was dealing with an odd case of sciatic nerve pain that derailed training. The discomfort caused me to miss workouts, and I was left in an injury purgatory, where I could run but not really train, and eventually I had to pull out of the upcoming Boston Marathon.

Every run became confirmation that I wasn’t where I wanted to be, instead of embracing where I was.

After many doctor visits and strength sessions, the pain subsided. However, so did my enjoyment and fitness. I spent many runs worried about the pain returning and dwelling on lost time and opportunities. I kept thinking about why the pace data I saw on my watch felt so hard. Every run became confirmation that I wasn’t where I wanted to be, instead of embracing where I was. I was miserable.

In time, I found a remedy in an unexpected place: a busy highway in Boston.

I wanted to find a low-stakes and fun race to reconnect with, and I came across an Instagram post from a local friend about an opportunity to race on a busy highway. For one day a year, on the Fourth of July, it is closed to cars.

Last year, a running community leader, Devin Miller, took advantage of the highway closure and started a race called the Miller Mile. He wheeled out a mile that went down Storrow Drive. The instructions were simple: Show up at the Mass Avenue bridge ready to race. I got there at 8am, did some strides and drills, then joined a congregation of people gathered to run.  There was no timer, just Devin with a starting siren and a crowd of people ready to compete.

This race felt like a game. I went out with the leaders and eventually got dropped by the winner. The pack stayed together until around the 1.2km mark, and then I kicked hard against two guys to finish second. There was a finish-line tape, and everyone got a free Red Bull. At no point did I know how fast I was going, nor did I think about my self-worth or fitness. In staying lost in the moment, it felt like I was playing Mario Kart. It put me back in the headspace to love racing again.

The Miller Mile taught me there’s value in periodically toning down the seriousness of training and focusing on having fun while racing. It doesn’t mean you can’t ever get intense with it, so long as you remember one of the most important parts of racing, and a lot of life: It’s just a game at the end of the day.

If you have been struggling with motivation or have lost the fun element of running, find a Parkrun near you, or join a run club or crew and learn to find the joy in running again.

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

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Each week we will take you through some of our favourites…but for the full rundown of all the shoes, buy the September/October issue of Runner’s World in stores or online.

adidas Terrex Agravic TT

Weight: 272g • Stack: 39mm heel / 31mm forefoot • Drop: 8mm

The Agravic TT is an approachable, versatile trail shoe that comfortably bridges the gap between road and trail. Its balanced cushioning offers enough comfort for everyday training while maintaining the stability needed on uneven terrain. The shoe feels predictable underfoot, with a secure upper that holds the foot well during cornering and off-camber sections. 

Underneath, the Continental rubber outsole delivers reliable traction across dirt paths, gravel roads and moderate technical trails, making it a dependable option for runners who regularly mix surfaces. While it lacks the explosive ride of adidas’ premium racing models, its versatility and durability make it an excellent choice for runners seeking one trail shoe capable of handling a wide variety of adventures.

X-factor: A dependable all-rounder that transitions effortlessly between road and trail.

Price: R3 499

Find out more here.

The post EDITOR’S CHOICE: adidas Terrex Agravic TT appeared first on Runner's World.

Spring is in full swing, the days are getting longer, and South Africa’s race calendar is heating up. From scenic trail adventures and tough mountain challenges to fast road races and big-city events, October has something for every kind of runner.

The Runner’s World team has picked our favourite events happening around the country this month. Whether you’re chasing a PB, looking for a new trail to explore, or want a good excuse to lace up and hit the start line. Here are the races we think deserve a spot on your October calendar.

03 October – Hout Bay Twin Peaks: Starts and finishes at Dunes Restaurant in Hout Bay and offers beautiful scenery, adventurous trails, strong coffee, cold beer and great vibes! You can run the full 42km, 30km, or just the first loop of 16km.

04 October – SPAR Women’s Challenge:  The Johannesburg leg of the SPAR Women’s Challenge gives women of all ages, shapes, and fitness levels the opportunity to lace up and take part in either a 5km or 10km run/walk – no pressure, just purpose. The event takes place at Marks Park Sports Club, Randburg, starting at 08h00. Get there early!

04 October – Midvaal MADMAC Marathon (42.2km, 22km, 11km, 5km): A comprehensive, multi-distance day hosting full marathons down to short fun runs, starting at Café du Cirque in Meyerton.

09-11 October – Glencairn Trail Run: A weekend of trail running, catering for all abilities, at the foothills of the majestic Sani Pass Valley. Based at Glencairn Farm, Himeville, South Africa.

10 October – Bakgat 10km: A swift, local community road race held at Bellville High School.

11 October – Township 2 Township Marathon (42.2km & 21.1km): A legendary local road running fixture. The full marathon starts at Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu, the half marathon kicks off in Chesterville, and both routes conclude beautifully at King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi.

11 October – Ommiedraai 10km & 5km: A highly popular, fast community favourite held annually in Kenilworth.

18 October – JRAC Half Marathon (21.1km & 5km): A great regional half-marathon challenge that winds through Centurion, starting at Sutherland High School.

18 October – Nelson Mandela Marathon: 42km fast and flat marathon with a 6:30 cut-off; 21km – the old Slave Route Challenge half marathon; a flat 10km run/walk through historical city landmarks and a 5km run/walk through the heart of the Mother City. Starts and finishes outside the City Hall on the Grand Parade.

31 October – Jetour Nedbank 10km & 5km Fun Run: A fast end-of-month suburban loop running from the Cape Gate Lifestyle Centre in Brackenfell.

The post October’s Best Runs: Our Picks of the Month appeared first on Runner's World.

Tarboton secured a record-extending fifth victory in six years…

Tarboton secured a record-extending fifth victory in six years, leading from the start and steadily building her advantage over the chasing pack to win the marathon-length race in 4:55:24 – almost 17 minutes clear of runner-up Mila Geldenhuys. Her latest triumph adds to her 2021 win and four consecutive victories from 2023 to 2026.

In the men’s race, patience and perseverance finally paid off for Rorich, who drew on his renowned technical skills and experience from seven previous Otter outings to overtake debutant Philani Sengce in the final kilometres. Rorich crossed the line in 4:08:11 to claim his first Otter victory, after finishing runner-up in 2025 and third in 2017 and 2022.

With South Africans filling the top spots across both races, this year’s Otter was a strong showcase of homegrown trail-running talent. 

Rightly Considered the Grail of Trail
Known as the Grail of Trail, Otter offers runners the only chance each year to run the iconic Otter Trail on the Tsitsikamma Coast in the Southern Cape. Usually, it is strictly reserved for hikers, who cover the distance in five days with overnight stops.

The technical nature of the trail makes this course one of the hardest in the country to race on, with gnarly coastline pathways, narrow forest single tracks, river crossings, fields of rocks and boulders, gruelling climbs that total 2 600m of elevation gain, including three climbs that rise more than 100m each, and nearly 7 000 ascending stairs!

This year the race was run from Nature’s Valley to Storms River – the reverse direction known as the Retto (Otter in reverse), which alternates every second year with the original Classic direction. Cool, misty and overcast conditions that brought light rain later in the day provided ideal racing conditions, but the muddy condition of the trails following recent rains in the area did slow the runners down somewhat.

Tarboton Dominates Women’s Race
With four wins already to her name as well as two runner-up finishes in her seven previous Otters, Bianca Tarboton lined up as firm favourite for this year’s race, even if she did try to downplay her form. She said before the time, “I’ve been struggling this whole year with my racing, but with Otter being my favourite trail, I’m hoping I will be able to find that extra gear.”

That proved to be the case, as she dominated the women’s race from start to finish. By the time she reached the Bloukrans crossing, she was already seven minutes 34 seconds ahead of second-placed Mila Geldenhuys, with Switzerland’s Julika Pahl lying third, followed by Otter debutant Nadia Booyens. That lead had nearly doubled to 14:07 by the time Tarboton reached the Oakhurst checkpoint (22.2km), and she just kept pulling away, in spite of the muddy conditions, going on to win the race in 4:55:22.

“I had to work really hard to stay in it and to keep pushing, so it definitely was not an easy day for me. I slipped a lot of times, but that’s Otter… You can have really great days, and you can have days that don’t quite go your way, so today was a different experience, and it’s always such a privilege to race on this trail,” says Tarboton. “Of course, it’s special every time I get to be on the podium here, but it’s difficult to compare my wins, because each one feels so different, but they’re all special!”

Geldenhuys was second home in 5:14:12, in her second Otter run. (She finished eighth in her debut in 2023.) She had a steady run, holding down second place throughout the race and slowly stretching her lead over the third-placed runner as the day went on. The top three were rounded off by Booyens, who crossed the line in 5:16:05. She was in fourth place for much of the race, but ran herself into the podium positions in the second half of the race, having said before the race that she was feeling no pressure due to being an unknown “underdog” in the Otter.

Fourth place went to Lijan Burger in 5:19:29. Having finished second in 2023 and sixth in 2022, she used her previous Otter experience to start slightly more conservatively, sitting just inside the top 10 in the early stages and then steadily pushing up through the field to climb into the prize money. She was followed home by Pahl, who had held down third position for the first half of the race, but had to settle for fifth place in 5:27:18. In her previous Otter runs, the Swiss trail star finished second in 2021 and fourth in 2019.

Sting in the Tail in Men’s Race
Remaketse Lekaka set the pace in the opening stages of the men’s race, arriving at the Bloukrans River crossing 13 seconds ahead of Jacques Buys, with Kane Reilly, Jacques Du Plessis, Frenchman Bastien Perez and Robbie Rorich all within a minute of the leader. At that stage, 12km into the race, the winner of the Prologue, Kenyan debutant Simon Ngumbau was lying seventh, and Philani Sengce was eighth, around a minute and a half off the pace.

Reilly took the lead in the next section, arriving at the Oakhurst checkpoint (22.2km) a few seconds ahead of Buys, with Lekaka and Du Plessis a further 10 seconds back. Rorich and Sengce were just over a minute behind the leader, with Perez and Ngumbau slowly dropping down the order. By the Scott checkpoint (29.7km), Sengce was a few seconds ahead of Reilly, with Du Plessis another seven seconds adrift, but Rorich was beginning to close them all down, now just 30 seconds behind the leader.

Sengce, Reilly and Rorich all took turns to lead the race in the final 10km, but it was Sengce in the lead at the final checkpoint at the Waterfall (39.4km), with Rorich 37 seconds adrift, whereas Reilly had dropped nearly two and a half minutes back, but it was here that Rorich put both his technical skills and experience of seven previous Otters to full use – and enjoyed a bit of luck as well.

“The last ten kays were wild, and we all took turns leading the race. First it was Kane, then Philani, then me…but after Philani and I passed the hut together, he put in a big charge and opened the gap, so the rocks helped me to catch up again. But I only passed Philani because he got a bit lost,” recounts Rorich.

“The trail goes up a double staircase, and we both went right, but I realised that was wrong and went left. Next thing I knew, I was up top, and Philani was below me, still climbing. He stopped because he obviously didn’t know what to do, and I shouted at him to carry on running, but that was it; I was now ahead of him. I don’t know if I would have caught him if he didn’t take that wrong turn.”

With Rorich first over the line in 4:08:11, Sengce was second home in 4:09:16. In spite of the disappointing way he lost the lead so near the finish, Sengce remained upbeat about his first Otter experience. “I dreamed last night of a top five finish, and here I have managed to get top three!” he says with a big smile.

“I’ve done a lot of races, but this one is crazy. The whole race, from the start, from kilometre one, a lot of things happened, so I picked up a lot of experience today, and in the coming years, I believe I can break the course record, or the South African record. Today I learnt a lot of things, which I will use when I come back,” he adds.

Reilly claimed third in 4:12:00, adding an incredible 10th podium finish in his 14th Otter. He has now finished runner-up six times and third a total of four times, with a fourth place and two fifth-place finishes as well. While a win at Otter still eludes him, his record is unmatched by any other runner in Otter history. Fourth place went to Du Plessis (4:16:07), improving on his sixth place in 2024, and Buys took fifth place in 4:21:01. He was runner-up in 2024, as well as fourth in 2021 and fifth in 2025.

Rich Rewards for Top Five
Thanks to the generous support of presenting sponsor EasyEquities, the Otter offers one of the most significant prize purses for trail running in Africa, structured deliberately to include an investment component, with part of the prize money placed into an EasyEquities account for each winning athlete.

“We want athletes to receive immediate reward, but also to experience the idea of longer-term financial growth, which is core to who we are,” says EasyEquities’ Chief Enablement Officer, Carel Nolte. “We don’t want to just hand over a cheque and disappear. At EasyEquities, we invest in companies, but we also invest in people. Excellence deserves recognition, and athletes need more than applause.”

As the first man and woman across the finish line, Rorich and Tarboton will each receive R100 000 in prize money, while second-placed Sengce and Geldenhuys have earned themselves R50 000 each. The prize money for third to fifth is R25 000, R12 000 and R10 000 respectively.

Treasured Memories Made
By the time the nine-hour bell was rung, a total of 241 runners had made it home as official Race finishers, with Danielle Lubbe the last runner home. This brought to a close another drama-filled edition of the Grail of Trail, leaving runners, spectators, sponsors and crew with another treasure trove of priceless trail running memories on the Tsitsikamma coastline.

Vital to the success of the event was the large support crew working all along the route, and Race Director Nina Weiss says they all deserve a huge note of thanks for their hard work. “We had 118 crew here this week to support the runners, with a ratio of around one crew member for every three runners, showing how much goes into this event. We also do everything to leave the trail better for us having participated here, which has always been a core aim of the event.”

2026 RACE RESULTS
All athletes are South African except where another nationality is listed.

Men’s Race
1 Robbie Rorich 4:08:11 Open
2 Philani Sengce 4:09:16 Open
3 Kane Reilly 4:12:00 Open
4 Jacques Du Plessis 4:16:07 Open
5 Jacques Buys 4:21:01 Open
6 Remaketse Lekaka 4:28:37 Open
7 Kelton Miller 4:53:08 Open
8 Brendan Lombard 4:54:39 Open
9 Andreas van Heerden 4:54:39 Open
10 Sinovuyo Ngcobo 4:57:26 Open

Women’s Race
1 Bianca Tarboton 4:55:22 Open
2 Mila Geldenhuys 5:14:12 Open
3 Nadia Booyens 5:16:05 Open
4 Lijan Burger 5:19:29 Open
5 Julika Pahl (Switzerland) 5:27:18 Open
6 Julia Hunter 5:29:43 40-49
7 Emilie Vidal 5:33:38 Open
8 Samantha Kruger 5:41:43 Open
9 Samantha Pringle 5:43:06 Open
10 Maryke van Zyl 5:44:14 Open

The post South Africans Dominate the Grail of Trail Podium Spots appeared first on Runner's World.

Just how slowly should you do your long runs?

“It’s extremely important not to shock your body by going on a longer-than-average run at a pace normally used for shorter runs or races—so we do these runs at a pace that’s more manageable for a longer period while keeping proper running form,” says Seth Buchwalter, certified running coach and director of training at Alloy Personal Training in Oregon. “That’s especially important for anyone new to running or starting a marathon programme.”

Just how slowly, exactly, should you do your long runs? And is it possible to run too slow? Let this expert advice guide you.

Why Long Runs Should Be Done at a Slow Pace
Running high-mileage sessions slowly—what you might have heard of as zone 2 running—is good for both body and mind.

“Long runs are typically run at a low intensity, which provides lots of benefits physiologically—like building resistance to injury, strengthening your heart, and increasing your muscles’ ability to process oxygen,” explains Brian Rosetti, running coach and founder of V.O2.

You need endurance for race day—whether you’re doing a 5K or a marathon—and going slow allows you to build that, making these aerobic efforts easier on the heart, lungs, and muscles. Slow runs also improve your mitochondria, or the powerhouse of the cells that help you produce energy, which allows exercise (at both low and high intensities) to feel easier.

Doing long runs at a relaxed effort gives you a mental boost, too, because it lets you feel at ease and in control throughout the run. “Long runs are also useful to build confidence and strength when preparing for longer distance races,” Rosetti adds.

Go too fast on long runs, and you tap into lactate threshold or anaerobic work. While this has its place on a training plan, pushing long runs to a high level makes it more difficult to hit longer distances and therefore gain endurance benefits—the main goal of a long run. It also makes it more difficult to recover afterwards and get ready for the next workout.

“If you take a long run faster than what your body is used to, you could wind up injured or might tire yourself out and not achieve the time on your feet that your body needs to advance,” Buchwalter says.

How to Find the Right Slow Pace for Long Runs
The ideal pace for a long training run is generally about 90 seconds to 2 minutes per mile slower than your goal race pace, says Buchwalter. If you’re not sure what exactly your goal race pace should be, you can find paces for long runs and other types of training workouts based on your performance in shorter distances with the VDOT Calculator.

Alternatively, you can go by heart rate for your long run pace. Your target heart rate for a long run should be about 60 to 75 percent of your max.

Or if you’d rather go unplugged, feel free to pay more attention to your effort level rather than your actual pace or heart rate. Think about keeping a conversational pace, Rosetti recommends; even if you’re not running with a friend, think about whether you’d be able to keep up half of a conversation.

“Pacing your long runs can certainly be about a vibe or how you feel that day,” says Buchwalter. “The purpose is to build up time on our feet and keep a lower heart rate, so as long as you’re moving at a comfortable pace, you should be fine.”

But Is It Possible to Run Too Slowly?
Not exactly, says Rosetti. “As long as you’re running with good mechanics, running slower than normal is fine,” he says.

You’ll get the same endurance benefits of the long runs going at 50 percent of your max heart rate versus 75 percent, “because the benefits of a long run come from time spent running, not speed.” The goal, after all, is to make it to the end of the run feeling like you could possibly go even longer. “You’re not running to failure,” says Buchwalter.

The caveat is that you still have to be actually running, with the correct form (think: good posture and quick leg turnover and cadence). “If you’re jogging so slowly that it becomes more of a fast walk, you’ll lose the mechanics and proper form of your run,” explains Buchwalter.

If your cadence slows too much, you may shift from a mid- or forefoot strike to a heel strike, he says. And with a lower cadence, you’ll be “spending more time in the air, which leads to greater landing shock and risk of repetitive stress injuries,” adds Rosetti.

Shifting from running form to walking form can also take away from the benefits of the run because it stops training your body to move explosively. Think of it like this, says Buchwalter: “If you’re training to climb a mountain, spending more hours on a stationary bicycle rather than the trails, while beneficial to your health, won’t be as effective toward the ultimate goal. Similarly, walking for an hour, while beneficial, won’t provide your body the proper distress needed to build a stronger running performance.”

This is not to say you can’t take walk breaks when you need them or if you’re following the run/walk method and plan to use that method on race day. Even then, though, the walk intervals will be short, so you’ll still gain the same benefits of a long run.

Tips to Execute a Slower Pace on Long Runs
Sometimes staying tapped into an easy pace is, well, tough. Here are three ways to make sure you don’t inadvertently start picking up speed in the middle of a long run.

Go for Time Rather Than Distance: Many runners train to stay on their feet for more time rather than hitting a certain mileage—say, aiming to run 90 minutes instead of covering exactly eight or 10 miles. “If you’re scheduled to run 60 minutes, make it easy for yourself and run 30 minutes out then 30 minutes back,” suggests Buchwalter. “I know it’s a tough pill to swallow, but turning off the GPS on your watch can be super helpful to have a mindful, easy long run.”

Partner Up: It’s easier to start running too quickly when you’re alone and listening to an energetic playlist than when you’re jogging with a group and chatting along the way. “Make it very clear with your peers that you’re looking to keep a slow and steady pace and keep the conversation flowing,” suggests Buchwalter. “If you can comfortably chat during your run, you’re likely in a lower heart rate zone and getting the most out of your long run.”

Go for Low-Key Listening: If you prefer to listen to music or something else midrun, Rosetti recommends sticking with slower songs or a podcast; it’s too tempting to pick up the pace when you have more upbeat songs cued up. Save those for a speedwork day instead.

The Bottom Line on Running Long Runs Too Slow
Going faster than you planned on a long run isn’t the end of the world, especially if you’re well conditioned and far into a training plan, Buchwalter says. That being said, keeping things easy—while not getting too lazy with your posture or cadence—is your best bet for building fitness for your race.

Consider the long run a good time to ignore your exact pace. The precise speed you hit can fluctuate depending on how you’re feeling and other factors like the weather, so focus more on your effort than the exact number on your watch.

And at the end of the day, keep in mind that whatever pace you hold during your long runs, your progress could still stall out if you’re not including speedier sessions throughout the week, too. “Running at an easy pace is just one piece of the pie,” says Rosetti. Mixing in various workouts—at the right intensities—is key for improving all aspects of your fitness, from endurance to economy to speed.

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA Website.

The post Are You Running Too Slow on Long Runs? appeared first on Runner's World.

I loved the rush of nerves I got standing at the start, the self-esteem boost I felt from the cheers of my parents watching, and how empowering it felt to cross the finish line, even if I wasn’t anywhere near the leaders.

…enjoy being in the presence of other runners who put fitness and self-improvement through exercise on the list of life’s priorities.

I have participated in countless races since then, from many 5Ks to a few marathons. And while I find purpose in competing against my past self, setting goals, and checking off a training plan to snag a PB a few times a year, I also just enjoy being in the presence of other runners who put fitness and self-improvement through exercise on the list of life’s priorities.

I truly fell for the camaraderie and energy of races when I signed up to complete the New York Road Runners programme, which gets you guaranteed entry into the New York City Marathon. It requires you to run nine races and volunteer at one. I knew I wanted to conquer a marathon one day, and getting more mileage under my feet via races around my favourite city provided the perfect route to the starting line of the iconic marathon.

I ran most races in Central Park that year, where I also did all of my training. I learned every curve of the main path and exactly where the pavement ebbed and flowed, while still getting lost on the offshoots. It’s where I finished my first half marathon, crossing the line after conquering two sets of gnarly hills and with a newfound confidence not only in my physical fitness but also in my mental strength. (I distinctly remember playing the role of Positive Polly for my friend who needed a pick-me-up during the latter stages of a half marathon.)

But the programme took me around the boroughs, too, including Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island. The vibes of every course felt completely different, but at each one, I could still revel in the nervous excitement and anticipation at the start, the uplifting and supportive atmosphere among both runners and spectators along the course, and the sense of accomplishment that surrounded the finish line. All of those races also gave me a chance to see new parts of my city, and from a view you could only earn on foot.

These days, living back in Pennsylvania, I sign up for races to see old neighbourhoods from a fresh perspective, but I also try to travel to a new destination at least once a year for a race so I can explore the location using the power of my own body.

Racing indisputably pushes my limits, as I turn up the intensity in training, pushing through intervals and tempo runs to increase my speed and chase faster finishes. But over the years, I’ve uncovered a few other reasons for pinning on a bib. For starters, when I have races booked on my calendar, it keeps me motivated to run more consistently. It also gives my training some structure.

…races can offer a ticket to fast times and new records, but they can also provide time to slow down, enjoy the scenery, and collect quality time with loved ones…

What’s been the most rewarding part of racing, though, has been signing up for and completing events with my friends and family. I’ve been able to trek through several obstacle-course races alongside my brother and a trail race with my brother-in-law, both of whom I rarely get one-on-one time with, thanks to our 16-person immediate family. I’ve run 5Ks with my dad, my running inspiration, and my cousin, one of my favourite humans to have around. I’ve trained for and raced many miles next to my sisters, which always gives us time for uninterrupted chats about our current struggles and successes.

I’ve witnessed three of my nephews and two of my nieces conquer their first 5Ks, and I’ve earned a medal right alongside my childhood best friend after her first 10K and then half marathon.

I’ve been able to cross the finish line hand-in-hand with some of the most important people in my life. And it’s the determination, joy, and pride I see shining on everyone’s faces – a unique light that seems to illuminate most when running races, and that brings more meaning to the miles.

As I see it, races can offer a ticket to fast times and new records, but they can also provide time to slow down, enjoy the scenery, and collect quality time with loved ones along the way. Plus, who can pass up post-run brunch and coffee to recap with race buddies?

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

The post The Running Goal That Is More Rewarding to Me Than Any PB appeared first on Runner's World.

Each week we will take you through some of our favourites…but for the full rundown of all the shoes, buy the September/October issue of Runner’s World in stores or online.

Hoka Speedgoat 7

Few trail shoes have achieved the iconic status of the Speedgoat, and the seventh edition reinforces its tradition as the benchmark for long-distance trail running. 

Weight: 275g • Stack: 37mm heel / 32mm forefoot • Drop: 5mm

Hoka has refined the fit with a more secure upper, while retaining the plush cushioning that makes the shoe so forgiving over ultra distances. The upgraded super-critical EVA midsole delivers a more responsive, yet protective ride, and the Vibram Megagrip outsole with aggressive Traction Lug technology continues to offer some of the best grip available on technical terrain. 

Despite its generous stack height, the Speedgoat feels remarkably stable, inspiring confidence on steep climbs and fast descents alike. Whether you’re tackling a mountain ultra or a long training day, it remains one of the most complete trail shoes on the market.

X-factor: The gold standard for long-distance trail running, with class-leading grip and comfort.

Price: R3 299

Visit the Hoka website for more details.

The post EDITOR’S CHOICE: The Hoka SpeedGoat 7 appeared first on Runner's World.

In form KwaZulu-Natalian Tyla Kavanagh produced the standout result at the World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen at the weekend, finishing just one second outside the medals and establishing a new national 5km road record.

In a race won by Ethiopian Likina Amebaw, the 25-year-old Kavanagh, who has had a stellar season on both the road and track, finished just 11 seconds back in a field stacked with the world’s best athletes.

Maxime Chaumeton and Tshepo Tshite were next best, both finishing 10th in their respective events. Chaumenton finished 10th in the 5km in  13:13 while Tshite finished tenth in the mile event in a personal best 3:55.66.

Here’s a full wrap of the results and the South African performances:

SA results:
22 Cwenge Nose 1:01.09 PB
87 Elroy Galant 1:04.41
DNF Ngconde Matwebu

Women’s Race
Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich stormed to a women-only world half marathon record of 1:05:15* to win her second global title of the year.

Dominating the race, the 25-year-old won by 50 seconds ahead of her teammate Veronica Loleo to add the world half marathon title to the world cross-country crown she claimed in Tallahassee in January.

Like in Tallahassee, Ngetich was a class apart. As she strode over the finish line, she took one second off the world record for a women-only race of 1:05:16 set by her compatriot Peres Jepchirchir when winning the world half marathon title in Gdynia in 2020.

Ngetich now holds three world records – adding this latest performance to her world 10km records of 28:46 set in a mixed race and 29:27 achieved in a women-only race.

SA Results
13 Glenrose Xaba 1:07.49
70 Cacisile Sosibo 1:14.00
71 Karabo Mailula 1:14.21 PB

Team: 10th

5KM
Men
Dawit Seare produced a superb late surge to deny Jakob Ingebrigtsen and claim the men’s 5km title.

The Eritrean – who won the African 5000m title earlier this year – overtook Ingebrigtsen in the closing stages of a fiercely contested race, crossing the line in a national record of 12:56. Ingebrigtsen, who briefly looked to have made the decisive move, followed three seconds later in a Norwegian record of 12:59, while Seare’s teenage teammate Saymon Amanuel completed the podium in a PB of 13:00.

For Seare, who finished fourth at the inaugural World Road Running Championships in Riga three years ago while still a teenager, victory completed his progression to the top of the global podium.

SA Results
10 Maxime Chaumeton 13:13
34 Thapelo Ramakhoase 13:43

Women
Likina Amebaw added another global title to her collection just six days on from claiming the Ultimate 5000m crown, securing a dominant 5km victory.

The Ethiopian 28-year-old took control of the race during the first kilometre and made her winning move as she reached the 4km mark, kicking away from Kenya’s Caroline Gitonga.

Her rivals had no response, leaving Amebaw enough time to celebrate on her approach to the finish line, which she crossed with her arms raised in 14:41. Gitonga secured silver in 14:48, while Australia’s Rose Davies finished strongly to clinch bronze in an Oceanian record of 14:50.

SA Results
4 Tayla Kavanagh 14:51
32 Zanthe Taaljard 16:11 PB

MILE
Men
Robert Farken timed his challenge to perfection to win the men’s road mile, charging past Yared Nuguse in the closing stages to triumph in a world-leading German record of 3:51.80.

The German produced his decisive move at almost exactly the same point on the V-shaped Copenhagen course as Agathe Guillemot had done in the women’s race 20 minutes earlier, overhauling long-time leader Nuguse before powering towards the finish near Parken Stadium.

Farken’s 3:51.80 moved him to second on the world all-time list for the road mile, behind only Elliot Giles’ world record of 3:51.3. Nuguse held on for silver in a season’s best of 3:52.33, while Luxembourg’s Ruben Querinjean produced one of the surprises of the championships to take bronze in a national record of 3:52.77.

Nuguse had spoken before the race of challenging Giles’ world record and made his intentions clear from the gun. The Olympic 1500m bronze medallist immediately went to the front and quickly opened a small gap, his long stride stretching the field behind him into a V formation as they raced along Østerbrogade towards Trianglen. Jake Heyward was the closest pursuer, a stride or so back, with Farken settled in third.

SA Results
10 Tshepo Tshite 3:55.66 PB
35 Dumisani Motloung 4:04.21

Women
Agathe Guillemot produced a perfectly timed finish to claim the women’s road mile title at the World Athletics Road Running Championships Copenhagen 26, clocking a world-leading European record of 4:22.74 on Saturday (19).

The French 27-year-old remained patient as a large lead group stayed together for much of the V-shaped course through Copenhagen, before moving to the front with little more than 20 seconds of racing remaining and kicking decisively for the first individual global title of her career.

Three years after taking silver at the inaugural World Road Running Championships in Riga, Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu again finished second, this time in a season’s best of 4:24.35. Kenya’s Mirriam Cherop earned bronze in 4:25.71, also a season’s best, while home favourite Annemarie Nissen delighted the Danish crowd by finishing fourth in a PB of 4:26.78.

Guillemot’s winning time took almost half a second off the previous European record of 4:23.25 set by Jemma Reekie in Dusseldorf earlier this month and moved the Frenchwoman to fourth on the world all-time list.

SA Results
15 Karabo More 4:33.27 PB
31 Carina Viljoen 4:43.28 SB

 

 

 

 

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Being part of this event feels like a homecoming…

“The Free State is where I grew up and also where I went to university. Being part of this event feels like a homecoming – a full-circle moment because I’ve never actually raced in the Free State or the Northern Cape,” admits Steyn. “I’m sure I will recognise every corner and every turn. Racing a 10km also exposes me to a different side of the running community because I get to meet different people and new faces that I don’t get to meet at the marathons and the ultra-marathons. It’s very, very special indeed.”

Steyn’s knowledge of South Africa’s premier 10km mass participation event stems from a long history with the Series, which also saw her take part in the very first Absa Run Your City Tshwane 10K in August 2023. Because of her lengthy association with the Series, which started in Cape Town in 2015 and attracted over 50 000 runners across the country last year, the darling of SA road running knows firsthand just why the series continues to be so popular amongst runners and has grown to now include its sixth city.

“I think from the start the series has had such a wonderful reputation for bringing mass participation and world-class elite-level performances to the heart of South Africa’s urban spaces. Every runner can attest to the fact that the experience, from entering the race to finishing the race, is always so pleasant, which is why we have seen its tremendous growth.”

Excited by the prospect of competing in her first race in South Africa’s heartland, the seven-time Totalsports Two Oceans Ultra Marathon champion and five-time Comrades Marathon winner believes that racing shorter distances is an important part of ultra-marathon success. The Smiling Assassin, who holds a 32:24 10km lifetime best set in 2020, is hopeful that her home crowd will carry her to a memorable Free State racing debut in the Series she loves so much.

“I always find that stepping down from the ultra-marathon and marathon distance to race a 10km is very beneficial,” continues Steyn. “After my wins this year, I’ve had time to recover, and I’m back on the road again, working on my speed. The training and the racing for 10km is quite different to the long distances. There’s no room for mistakes. You have to be ready to go from the gun, which forces me to stay sharp and keep focusing on the speed side of my training.

“When it comes to the 25th of October, I’m hoping to do well in Mangaung and am hoping to be encouraged by the crowds and also by the strong competition that will line up next to me. I aim to get the most out of myself on race day, which is all I can ask of myself.”

The post Steyn Excited to Make Her Free State Racing Debut appeared first on Runner's World.

If you begin experiencing the following symptoms, they could be signs pointing to a common running ailment called Low Energy Availability, or LEA.

• sleep difficulty
• gastrointestinal problems
• frequent illnesses
• recurring bone stress injuries
• irregular menstrual cycles.
• changes in your mood
• difficulty concentrating.

Overall, your runs,  and even day-to-day life begin to feel tiring due to a lower sense of wellbeing.

“I work with some athletes who know exactly what feels good and what feels bad, to the point where they can tell you everything that’s happening minute to minute,” says Jason Machowsky in the Runner’s World Guide to Nutrition and Fuelling. “Other people just don’t necessarily have that body awareness.”

In situations like that, Machowsky likes to have runners keep a subjective wellness log. You could ask questions like:

• How do you feel in the morning?
• How did you sleep?
• What’s your energy like during the day?
• What’s your energy like during your runs?

Then you can start looking for patterns. “Once you notice those patterns, compare them with your nutrition and your training log to start putting the pieces together,” he says. Identifying what’s really driving how you feel.

What is Low Energy Availability?
Because running is an endurance sport, athletes burn calories much faster than the average person. So runners require a higher caloric intake. If you consistently under-replenish, this caloric deficit combined with the exertion that comes with running can lead to LEA.

LEA can lead to long-term conditions, such as relative energy deficiency in sport, or RED-S.

“RED-S is a syndrome that encompasses harmful effects on systems throughout the body, including negative health outcomes such as reduced bone density, reproductive dysfunction, and gastrointestinal problems,” says Kristen Whitney, MD, a sports medicine specialist and medical director. “It also includes performance effects like decreased training response, endurance performance, and muscle strength.”

It is possible for LEA to develop unintentionally due to a lack of knowledge. Missing a meal after a run or forgetting to eat breakfast happens to everyone, but if it becomes a regular habit, it could certainly impact your health.

Spot and Prevent Symptoms Early
It is important as a runner to pay close attention to your body and recognise when something does not seem right. If you notice that your performance is declining for no obvious reason, or even if you’ve been experiencing random mood shifts, it could be LEA in the early stages of development. Catching the symptoms early allows for a quicker route to recovery and can prevent LEA-related injuries that significantly impact performance.

Additionally, using a nutrition plan that is catered toward you and your body’s needs is beneficial. Everyone responds differently to certain foods, so the more individualised your nutrition is, the better.

Try to remain consistent in fuelling. Studies have shown that exercise can suppress appetite signals, so it can be harder to tell when you are ready to eat, leading to a possible caloric deficit and overall poor performance. To avoid this, try to fuel as consistently as possible by consuming three meals as well as snacks throughout the day.

“If you are experiencing chronic fatigue, lack of focus, or persistent headaches, it might be a sign that you need to change your fuelling,” Ellen Davis, RD, a sports dietitian with The Performance Collective.

Fueling before and after training is also essential to avoiding LEA. Once again, it is helpful to use a personalised nutrition method and try to get a few prerun snacks as well as a solid postrun meal.

A good prerun meal contains a balance of macronutrients, including protein and healthy fats, along with complex carbs. A smaller prerun snack should focus mostly on carbs.

“Simple carbs will provide an increase in blood glucose without feeling like your food is jumbling around in your stomach. Protein, fibre, and fat can linger in digestion, therefore leading someone to feel like they ate too much before their workout,” Katelyn Greenleaf, RD, a dietitian in Florida, says.

New York-based dietitian Frances Largeman-Roth recommends aiming for a 3:1 or 4:1 carbohydrate-to-protein ratio. Protein will help repair and build muscles by stimulating protein synthesis.

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

The post How to Recognise Underfuelling and How to Fix It appeared first on Runner's World.

But marathon newbies should take note: The risk of injury during your first 42.2km training cycle is high.

A study published in Physician and Sports Medicine in 2021 found that just under half of study participants (all new to the marathon distance) who were training for the New York City Marathon experienced minor injuries, affecting training and performance, while just under 10 percent had major injuries, preventing them from hitting the starting or finish line. (However, previously running a half marathon and clocking less than four runs per week was associated with a lower risk of injury.)

Injuries are common in newer runners because of the demands running has on the body…

Injuries, minor and sideline-inducing, are common in newer runners because of the demands running has on the body and an increase in mileage and intensity, says Robert Maschi, DPT, a board-certified orthopaedic specialist and associate clinical professor at Drexel University. “The marathon is a completely different process,” he says, compared with shorter race distances and their training programmes.

This is compounded by the idea that the more we do, the better position we’ll be in, and the better our results will be, says Vikash Sharma, DPT, a physical therapist.

“People think if they take rest days or modify their workouts, they’ll fall behind,” he says. “People cram workouts in and push through niggles because the training plan says to do it.”

And that’s how first-time marathoners end up in a physical therapist’s office. PTs have seen it all when it comes to running injuries, and their goal is to keep their patients moving and headed toward their race day goals.

If you’re considering your first marathon or are already in the throes of training and want to stay pain-free, physical therapists explain the mistakes new marathoners often make in training that land them in the PT office, and how to avoid them for a more successful build.

Skipping a Gradual Build
At some point, the running community placed the marathon on a pedestal that determines who real runners are (even though anyone who runs is a runner). And when that happened, people seemed to skip over the gradual build of distance races and jumped straight into marathon training and then straight into an IT band injury.

“There are different requirements to run a marathon,” Maschi tells Runner’s World. Often, “people don’t understand the amount of time it takes to really build that sort of cardiovascular [or musculoskeletal] fitness to run 42.2km.”

When runners start to add mileage or intensity to their workouts too quickly, their bodies aren’t ready for that increased load, Maschi says.

“People don’t have the structural support and mechanics to withstand the [increased] load [of marathon training],” says Chloe Costigan, DPT, co-owner of Mobility Doc, a physical therapy office. She notes that runners who have completed a half marathon think the marathon is the next logical step, but doubling that race distance (and the required training) takes time.

“People might work out for an hour, and then they’re jumping to two- and three-hour training runs,” she tells Runner’s World. “That’s a lot of time to be exercising.”

And the adaptation from shorter distances to 42.2km can take months for your bones, muscles, tendons, and other tissues to get stronger. For first-timers, Costigan says, “You’ve never done this before. You’re just experiencing so much novelty, and the body is not used to it all.”

Avoid It: When developing a marathon training plan for your first marathon, it should increase weekly mileage by just 10 percent (or at most, 20 percent), also known as the 10 percent rule. Maschi says. This increase walks the line between improving performance and avoiding injury.

Costigan suggests something a little unorthodox, too: Train for a marathon but don’t run a marathon in your first cycle. “You’re adding more novelty on race day with expectations and logistics,” she says. “I really wish there were a distance between a half marathon and a marathon, like 32km, to help people get used to [the marathon].”

Ignoring Mechanics
Your running biomechanics are how you move when you’re running, and that movement affects how your body handles the force running has on your body. While you can improve your running form to help sidestep injury and become a more efficient runner, Maschi says running shoes have a significant effect on your biomechanics.

He recommends prospective marathoners visit a local speciality running store for a gait assessment. This will inform the type of shoe that is best for their stride.

Shoes aside, it’s important to address any biomechanical or gait issues, such as overstriding, crossover gait, or medial collapse (when your knees knock inward), because they can lead to injury, especially over the course of high-mileage weeks. “That repetitive movement, thousands of steps per mile, adds up and can lead to overuse injuries,” Maschi says.

Costigan agrees: “You’re more likely to see overuse injuries related to a breakdown in mechanics because you’re experiencing more cumulative fatigue. IT band syndrome is a perfect example; your glutes are getting tired, and if you don’t have a chance to fully recover, it’ll expose more of that [fatigue].”

Avoid It: “We can tweak [biomechanical issues] early on so the tissues don’t get overloaded,” Maschi says. Working with a physical therapist is the best way to address running mechanics, including modifying cadence and knee positioning.

Being Inflexible With Your Training Programme
Perhaps one of the biggest traps to catch first-time marathoners is rigidity. And, related, a strict finish time goal. In these cases, runners don’t give themselves room for life outside of running, like travel, illness, or family obligations.

“People think if they miss a workout then everything will fall apart,” says Sharma, who also owns the education program, Running for Life. That might mean if they miss a couple of long runs, they’ll jump to the next long run to coincide with that week’s plan. “But those previous weeks had a purpose and your body may not be adapted to hit that [long run],” Sharma says.

Costigan has seen patients who are so married to a time goal in their first marathon that they push themselves over the edge to try to reach it. When you’re so attached to a time goal, she says, “you’re sometimes projecting the best version of yourself without taking into account how the training or race are going to go – especially for your first.”

Avoid It: Because this is your first marathon, you’ll want ample base-building time to help your body adapt for what’s to come. There isn’t necessarily a list of boxes to check to be able to run a marathon, Sharma says, but you have to understand your current fitness first, before starting a build.

That said, Alysha Flynn, founder of What Runs You and an RRCA-certified run coach, told Runner’s World that being able to run 10 to 12 kilometres in one go is a reasonable baseline for recreational runners.

Maschi emphasises that missing a few easy runs here and there won’t totally derail your training if you’re sick, injured, or just can’t swing it one week. So don’t try to force the miles by making your long run even longer.

When it comes to goal-setting, be flexible. If you’re eyeing a sub-four marathon as an A goal, for example, think about B and C goals, in case that time gets out of reach. Then you’ll still have a successful training journey and race day.

Fuelling Inadequately
How you fuel during your training cycle is going to play a big role in how you perform and recover. Sharma routinely asks his patients, particularly the marathoners, what their nutrition looks like.

“As your activity ramps up, including mileage and strength training, is your nutrition also increasing? A lot of times the answer is no,” Sharma says. “Or runners are fuelling for their long run, but their overall nutrition hasn’t changed.”

Although physical therapists like Sharma likely won’t see a patient coming in to address fuelling needs, it might be evident in their performance, or if they have an injury and comment about increased fatigue that won’t go away.

“If your nutrition isn’t ramping up with your training, you’ll feel sluggish, fatigued, you’re not adapting or performing well, and you don’t feel recovered,” he says.

Ultimately, poor nutrition – not enough calories or not the right mix of nutrients like protein, fat, and carbohydrates – can lead to injury because your body doesn’t have what it needs to recover and then perform again.

Avoid It: In a perfect world, marathoners would work with registered dietitians to flesh out a meal plan for a marathon training cycle, including the week leading up to the race and on race day. There is a calculator to help determine how many calories you’ll need during marathon training, but good rules of thumb for fueling include:

Carbohydrates: Consume about 5.1 to 12.1 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of bodyweight per day. Aim for the lower end on days you have runs just an hour or less and the higher amount for days with longer runs.
Protein: Experts recommend athletes consume 1.1 to 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day. In 2019, the International Association of Athletics Federations proposed even more protein for athletes, up to 2.4 grams per kilogram of bodyweight.
Fat: The recommended daily intake for fat is about 60 grams per day or about 20 to 35 percent of your daily calories.

Skimping on Sleep
Similar to not fuelling enough, if you’re not getting adequate sleep, you might be at higher risk of injury, Sharma says. A 2025 paper published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports reported an association between poor sleep quality and injury in runners. And Sharma references a 2025 study published in Applied Sciences that found that runners who slept fewer than seven hours per night for two weeks doubled their risk of injury.

Those authors of the second paper wrote: “Recreational runners may require as much, if not more, sleep than professionals. Unlike professional athletes, recreational runners often balance training with work, school, home, social, and personal responsibilities, increasing their need for restorative sleep.”

First-time marathoners, Costigan says, may underappreciate how much their weekly routine will have to change. “And that’s not just because you’re training more,” she says. “You’re going to need more sleep…you’ll need more time to recover.”

Avoid It: Aim for seven to nine hours of sleep per night, particularly during high-mileage weeks. This might mean shaving a mile or two off of an easy run to sneak in extra sleep.

When possible, naps are an excellent way to add more sleep; the authors of the Applied Sciences paper recommend naps of 20 to 90 minutes. A brief nap, just 20 minutes, is effective rest and can prevent naptime grogginess, while a longer nap can protect against muscle damage.

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

The post Marathon Training Mistakes New Runners Make and How to Avoid Them appeared first on Runner's World.

…our shoe editor Geoffrey Crow has selected the standout trail shoes available in South Africa…

For this year’s guide, our shoe editor Geoffrey Crow has selected the standout trail shoes available in South Africa in every category, from versatile all-rounders to ultra-distance specialists and technical mountain performers. Whether you’re exploring local singletrack, training for your next ultra, or looking for your first trail shoe, these models deliver the best combination of performance, comfort, durability, and value.

Each week we will take you through some of our favourites…but for the full rundown of all the shoes, buy the September/October issue of Runner’s World in stores or online.

Product: ASICS BlazeBlast

Weight: 252g • Stack: 43mm heel / 35mm forefoot • Drop: 8mm

ASICS enters a new category with the BlazeBlast, a trail shoe designed to bring the energetic feel of its popular road Blast family to smoother off-road terrain. 

Rather than targeting extreme mountain conditions, the BlazeBlast focuses on making trail running feel fast, fun and accessible. The FF BLAST MAX midsole delivers a soft yet highly responsive ride, while the trampoline-inspired forefoot pod adds a noticeable sense of bounce and forward momentum. The lightweight construction and ASICSGRIP outsole make it a strong choice for gravel paths, forest trails and runnable singletrack. 

Runners tackling highly technical terrain may prefer a more traditional option; the BlazeBlast is best viewed as a bridge between road and trail, a shoe for runners who occasionally venture onto smooth trails. For that purpose, it’s one of the best out there.

X-factor: A bouncy, road-inspired ride to make trails fast and approachable.

Supplier: The Athlete’s Foot

The post EDITOR’S CHOICE: This Week We Profile ASICS BlazeBlast appeared first on Runner's World.

The decision, made during the 242nd World Athletics Council Meeting in Budapest on Monday and Tuesday (14-15), means that the World Athletics Championships will be held in Africa for the first time when the Kenyan capital stages the 2029 edition, before returning to Germany for a third time two years later, this time in Munich’s iconic Olympic Stadium.

“We were fortunate to have four outstanding bids for 2029 and 2031, and this was not an easy decision for the Council,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. “The quality, ambition and commitment demonstrated by all four candidates underlines the strength and global appeal of the World Athletics Championships.

Nairobi and Munich ultimately presented two compelling propositions. They offer very different but equally exciting opportunities for our sport…

“With this Council decision today, we continue to fulfil our mission of growing athletics worldwide with the hosting of our World Athletics Championships in Asia, Africa and Europe over its next three editions.

“Nairobi and Munich ultimately presented two compelling propositions. They offer very different but equally exciting opportunities for our sport, and I am delighted that we can now begin working with both cities to stage two world-class championships.”

World Athletics Championships Nairobi 29

Nairobi’s selection represents a landmark moment for athletics, bringing its biggest global event to Africa for the first time.

The championships will build on a growing record of successful World Athletics events staged across Africa. Kampala in Uganda hosted the World Cross Country Championships in 2017, Nairobi staged the World U18 Championships later that year and the World U20 Championships in 2021, while Gaborone in Botswana hosted the World Athletics Relays in 2026 – the first edition of that event to be held in Africa. Together, those events have helped build significant experience and expertise in staging global athletics competitions across the continent.

Within that wider progression, Nairobi has established particularly strong credentials as a host city. Having previously bid to host the 2025 championships, awarded to Tokyo, Nairobi returned with an even stronger proposition for 2029, drawing on almost a decade of experience in staging major international athletics events.

The 2017 World U18 Championships demonstrated the extraordinary appetite for athletics in Kenya, with huge crowds packing the Kasarani Stadium throughout the competition. Nairobi has since established the Kip Keino Classic as one of Africa’s leading one-day meetings, with the event forming part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold since the tour was launched in 2020.

That experience provided firm foundations for a 2029 bid that combined strong operational planning and financial guarantees with a renovated Kasarani Stadium, which is undergoing a complete structural overhaul of all facilities ahead of hosting the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2027 two years before the World Athletics Championships, and a compelling vision for the first World Athletics Championships in Africa.

The strength of Kenya’s connection with athletics is also reflected in World Athletics fan research. Some 68% of Kenyan people surveyed rated their interest in athletics as high, compared with a global average of 39%, making Kenya the most athletics-interested market surveyed. Kenya has the highest net promoter score of any market, and athletics is the country’s second-most-followed sport, behind only football. Kenya is the fourth-highest country in terms of followers of World Athletics social media channels.

That passion is matched by sustained success at the highest level. Kenya is the second-most-successful nation in World Athletics Championships history and finished second on the medal table at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25, winning seven gold medals and 11 medals in total.

“Nairobi presented a compelling and emotional bid, and taking the World Athletics Championships to Africa for the first time will be historic,” said Coe. “Kenya is one of the great athletics nations. The sport is woven into the fabric of the country, and athletes such as world gold medallists Faith Kipyegon, Vivian Cheruiyot, Eliud Kipchoge, Hellen Obiri and David Rudisha, as well as two-time Olympic champion Kip Keino, multiple world cross-country champion Paul Tergat and multiple world half marathon champion Tegla Loroupe, have shaped the history of our sport.

“It was important that the World Athletics Championships should come to Africa when we had the right host, the right bid and the right circumstances. Nairobi has demonstrated emphatically that this is their moment.”

World Athletics Championships Munich 31

Munich’s successful bid will bring the World Athletics Championships back to Germany for the first time since Berlin staged the event in 2009.

Germany has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to stage major athletics events to a high standard and attract large and enthusiastic crowds. Berlin hosted the European Championships in 2018, while Munich’s Olympic Stadium was the centrepiece of the 2022 multi-sport European Championships, with athletics attracting some 267,000 spectators.

Those championships also provided a memorable sporting experience for the host nation, with Germany topping the medal table.

German athletics has since enjoyed renewed international momentum. Germany won five medals, including one gold, at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 before finishing third on the medal table at the European Championships in Birmingham.

Germany also has one of the largest memberships of any federation and a strong vision and strategy to grow the sport.

“Germany has proved time and again that it is an outstanding and dependable host for major athletics events,” said Coe. “Berlin 2009 remains one of the memorable editions of the World Championships, and we have since seen tremendous support for the sport at the European Championships in Berlin and Munich.

“We wholeheartedly believe in the vision for Munich Olympiapark – one of the iconic venues in world sport – to merge the German people’s enthusiasm for athletics with the special flair of an art and culture festival to create a unique and powerful overall experience. The atmosphere in 2022 was exceptional and the attendance figures demonstrated the appetite that exists in the city and across Germany for major events.

“The Olympiapark is also a symbol of sustainability, and we are assured that this will be a core value in the planning and implementation of the World Championships, aligned with international best practices and the Athletics for a Better World Gold Event standard.

“We know Munich can deliver major championships, we know Germany has an audience for athletics, and we believe Munich 2031 has all the ingredients to be a spectacular World Athletics Championships.”

The World Athletics Championships will next take place in Beijing on 10-19 September 2027. Both Nairobi 2029 and Munich 2031 will also take place in September in line with the objective for the global athletics calendar to reach its climax at the end of the season with a major global championship.

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Every running club has a Brad, a Chad and a Britney. Running Late Club (Pty) Ltd is a social running club based in Cape Town, with chapters in Amsterdam and Dublin; my own Brad is a captain there, which either makes me deeply unqualified to write this or the most qualified person in Cape Town. You decide. Either way, Running Late has built itself a reputation as one of the biggest clubs in the city; and depending on who you ask, one of the biggest dating pools too.

The Vibe: RLC members will be the first to tell you they’re not really a running club. They are a movement, apparently, and a brand, and a place to belong, which explains why half of Cape Town seems to have run with them, dated someone from them, or both. I fall into the second category, and possibly the first, soon, if I want to earn brownie points. 

There is no hierarchy at the start line, no quiet sizing up; just a mass of people in good kit, pretending they’re only there for the fitness. Some are. Most are also very aware of who else has pitched up at Saunders Rock that evening. The banter is constant, the group photo is mandatory, and somewhere in the crowd a Brad is definitely locking eyes with a Britney over a pre-run stretch. I would know.

Philosophy:  The club was started in 2018 by Wayne le Roux, who had just turned 30 and was quietly struggling with his mental health, at a time when men were not exactly encouraged to talk about that sort of thing. He figured getting physically healthy might help him get mentally healthy, so he gathered a few friends, and… well, actually it started as a boxing club. But a gym contract is a bigger barrier to entry than a pair of running shoes, so they swapped gloves for laces.

Now Running Late Club exists on the belief that it is never too late to start something, whether that’s a running habit or a forgotten dream. Or, evidently, a relationship. As they say at RLC: ‘Rather Late Than Never’ – not just a motto, it’s basically the club’s entire personality.

Runs: In summer, meet at Saunders Rock, Sea Point and The Glen, Clifton; in winter, The Deck, Mouille Point. Location changes are communicated via Instagram, Facebook, Strava, WhatsApp and the RLC website.

Wednesdays are for short runs, with various options so beginners don’t have to keep up with Two Oceans entrants. Fridays are early morning, with two options. Saturdays are (sometimes) for Late Breakfast Club, an occasional long run depending on the season and the race calendar. 

There’s also a midweek football match, a Thursday-morning swim session, and a summer strength class; apparently, running alone was never going to be enough for this crowd.

In the clubhouse: RLC doesn’t have one clubhouse so much as a rotating cast of Atlantic Seaboard hotspots. The summer venues have sea views good enough to distract you from your heart rate. Winter shifts things to The Deck in Mouille Point, with track sessions at Green Point Track keeping everyone honest. 

Members: 2018’s small group of friends has grown into one of the city’s biggest social running communities. RLC has since expanded internationally, along the way picking up partnerships with some of the world’s leading sports and lifestyle brands. Rather Late Than Never also applies to global domination, it seems.

Big Dog’s Takeaway:  RLC will absolutely get you fit, but let’s not pretend that’s the only reason half of Cape Town shows up every Wednesday. This is a club that runs on community, banter and a fairly high probability of leaving with more than just a new PB. I can personally confirm the club works exactly as advertised. Rather late than never; clearly, I was right on time.

The post CT’s Biggest Crew: The Running Late Club appeared first on Runner's World.

…the routes demand balance, agility and focus while offering rewarding views…

Whether you’re racing or heading out for a weekend adventure, the routes demand balance, agility, and focus while offering rewarding views over vineyards, fynbos, and rugged sandstone peaks. With its famous natural hot springs, Montagu is the ideal host town for some R&R when the running is done.

Fun Facts:

• Highest Peak and Elevation: Arangieskop 1696m.
• The groundwater of Montagu Hot Springs is heated naturally by the Earth’s internal geothermal heat, dissolved with minerals from the surrounding rocks and forced back to the surface through fault lines. The water emerges at temperatures of around 40–45°C, making Montagu one of South Africa’s best-known natural hot spring destinations.
  

The Area:

Montagu lies within the Cape Fold Belt, a mountain range that formed when the ancient supercontinent Gondwana experienced immense tectonic compression. These forces folded thick layers of sandstone and quartzite into dramatic ridges, creating the Langeberg Mountains that dominate Montagu today. The rocks around Montagu are exceptionally hard because they consist largely of quartzite, sandstone and shale and, over millions of years of erosion, have produced dramatic sheer cliff faces, knife-edge ridges, deep ravines, rocky gullies and natural rock steps. 

The Race:

The Cogmans Trail Run began in 2023 when organisers realised that few people knew about the extraordinary trail network hidden within the Langeberg Mountains. At the same time, there was no major winter trail event on the calendar, and they saw an opportunity to share this remarkable place with the trail running community. The first race began with a PVC start-line banner printed at PostNet and just 58 runners. Four years later, it has grown into an intimate race village welcoming over 700 runners from across South Africa, while staying true to the spirit that inspired it from the beginning. The race is fast becoming one of the best events on the race calendar. Over the past four years, the race has become more than a race. It has become a celebration of community, adventure, and the mountains that make Montagu so special. 

Race Details:

16-18 July 2027
Distances: 100 km, 50 km, 34 km, 17 km, 10 km
Start and Finish:  NG Kerk, Montagu

Find out more here.

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…its first screen-free smart band that tracks advanced fitness and wellness metrics…

Garmin has this smart band for those interested in staying healthy and active. With its discreet design and trusted health and fitness tracking tools Garmin is known for, this smart band complements their lineup of popular smartwatches and wellness monitors, and allows users to transition smoothly between their Garmin devices throughout the day.

Comfortable and free from distraction

• The inconspicuous design helps minimise distractions while tracking important health and performance metrics.
• It automatically detects and records a variety of activities, even without a screen. The activities can be viewed and edited afterwards in Garmin Connect and, as users confirm or edit their activities, the smart band will adapt to more accurately classify them in the future.
• Fabric band provides maximum comfort for all-day wear and is available in both fun and neutral colours – citron grey, mauve, French grey, dark olive, captain blue, French blue and black.
• The band can be worn around the wrist or as an armband based on activity or sleeping preferences.

Health monitoring

When worn day and night, CIRQA Smart Band helps provide a more complete picture of overall health. Users can track metrics like wrist-based heart rate, Body Battery™ energy monitoring, Pulse Ox, stress, skin temperature and more and immediately see their data in Garmin Connect. Women can also track their menstrual cycle and pregnancy, get better period predictions and past ovulation estimates by tracking skin temperature while sleeping and sync their data with the Natural Cycles birth control app (Natural Cycles subscription required).

Comfortable without compromise, CIRQA Smart Band can help users log a better night’s sleep and understand how well they’ve recovered. This smart band provides comprehensive sleep data, including a detailed breakdown of sleep stages, a sleep score, guidance on optimal sleep duration, heart rate variability, respiration and nap detection, all features readily available within the Garmin Connect app.

Fitness tracking

In addition to tracking daily steps, calories burned and more, CIRQA Smart Band includes popular fitness features to help users make the most of their workouts. These include the following:

• Manual activity tracking: Track more than 80 different activities, including running, walking, yoga and more, or select a favourite activity to track by simply tapping the single side button.
• Advanced training metrics: Dial in with performance features like training readiness to know whether it’s a good day to go hard or take it easy and track progress with HRV status, VO2 max and training status to get insights into training effectiveness.
• Workout benefit and recovery time: Better understand how each workout affects the body and how much time is needed to recover.
  Connected GPS: Connect to a compatible iPhone® or Android™ smartphone’s GPS to accurately track outdoor walks, rides and runs.
  LiveTrack location sharing: Let friends and family follow along in real-time when using a smartphone and the Garmin Connect app.

With no subscription required, this smart band helps you stay on top of your health and fitness goals, and makes a thoughtful gift for others who want to do the same.

Available now, the CIRQA Smart Band has a suggested retail price of R 4 499.00 including VAT.

BUY NOW

The post Garmin’s First Screen-free Health and Fitness Tracker appeared first on Runner's World.

Weight: 272g • Stack: 34mm heel / 26mm forefoot • Drop: 8mm

The Genesis 2 builds on Salomon’s reputation for producing mountain-ready footwear, combining excellent protection with an impressively smooth ride and making it one of our Editor’s Choices in the 2026 September/October edition of Runner’s World. 

The updated optiFOAM midsole is a balanced mix of cushioning and responsiveness, while the new Matryx upper provides outstanding foothold without compromising breathability. The shoe feels planted on technical terrain, and Salomon’s Contagrip outsole with re-engineered lugs delivers reliable traction on everything from loose gravel to wet rock. The active chassis is integrated into the upper and midsole, to guide your motion and provide stability. 

The Genesis 2 performs exceptionally well over long distances, making it a versatile option for runners who regularly tackle challenging trails. It strikes an excellent balance between precision, comfort and durability, making it one of the most complete all-round trail shoes currently available.

X-Factor: Mountain-shoe precision with enough comfort for ultra-distance adventures.

Price: R3299
(Price updated from print edition)

See more at www.salomonsports.co.za

Check out the full Trail Shoe Guide in the September/October edition of Runner’s World SA.
Available at your nearest stockist or online at Magzter or Zinio.

The post EDITOR’S CHOICE: Salomon’s Ultra Mountain Genesis 2 appeared first on Runner's World.

Some fatigue is simply the cost of asking your body to go a bit further than normal. But when every long run wipes out your weekend, that exhaustion may be telling you more than “good job.”

Running draws on your body’s energy stores, challenges your nervous system, and tests how well you’ve prepared your body to recover. The trick is knowing when you’re experiencing productive fatigue—and when you’re accumulating more stress than you can handle without more serious consequences.

Runners who improve the most aren’t necessarily the ones who finish every run the most depleted; they’re the ones who can recover, adapt, and show up ready for the next effort. Here’s how to read the difference between normal tiredness and detrimental exhaustion, plus how to make your long runs work for you instead of against you.

The Reasons Long Runs Wear You Out
It’s not abnormal to feel beat after a long run because this type of workout, regardless of pace, stresses multiple physiological systems.

For starters, you’ve got the repetitive impact that comes with every step. “The repeated pounding causes microscopic muscle damage, which results in soreness and stiffness,” says Matt Fleekop, CSCS, a running and performance coach at Future. “Your central nervous system also takes a hit, reducing the efficiency of muscle contractions and making your legs feel sluggish.”

To power through extended periods of running, “your body uses muscle glycogen for energy,” explains Laura Norris, a certified running coach, strength and conditioning specialist, and exercise scientist. “The human body only stores enough glycogen for approximately two hours of steady-state running.” Even if you’re supplementing with carbs on your run, those only address immediate energy needs; you’ll still need to replenish those glycogen stores so you don’t crash afterwards.

As you exert yourself, you’re also losing water and electrolytes through your sweat. “Even a small loss of fluids can lead to a drop in blood volume, making it harder for your heart to pump oxygen-rich blood to your muscles,” says Fleekop. “That reduced oxygen delivery can accelerate fatigue and make it feel like your effort is harder than it should be in the moment.” If you don’t rehydrate post-run, that sluggishness will likely linger.

Signs of “Normal” Fatigue After a Long Run vs Overtraining
The long run is, to a certain extent, designed to be fatiguing – the more time you spend running, the more stress that puts on your body. As your training progresses, you get better at handling that stress.

So a certain level of fatigue is not unusual. “Normal post-long run fatigue generally includes muscle soreness, stiffness, and mild tiredness,” says Fleekop. “You may feel a little sluggish during your next easy run, but it shouldn’t be debilitating.”

There’s nothing to worry about if you feel a little worn out for a few hours or even the rest of the day, but this type of fatigue should improve with rest, hydration, and nutrition. And after a good night’s sleep or a few hours of relaxing, you should feel more refreshed.

Generally, it should take 24 to 48 hours to recover from a long run. “More experienced runners who have built a strong aerobic base may recover faster,” says Fleekop, “but more intense or extended efforts can take three to five days to recover from.” How fast you bounce back depends on variables like training status, recovery habits, and sleep.

But your body shouldn’t feel totally wrecked to the point where it’s affecting the rest of your day – that’s a red flag. “If you need to nap on the sofa all afternoon, or you’re too tired to prepare food, care for kids or pets, or to participate in other weekend activities, you’re too fatigued,” says Norris.

If you feel completely wiped out for several days following a long run, that could be a sign that you overdid it. Maybe you pushed yourself too hard, or maybe you didn’t give your body enough time to adjust to your training load, but persistent fatigue is one way your body warns you of overtraining syndrome.

What to Do When You’re Really Tired
Your long run isn’t over until you start the recovery process. “Replenishing with carbs, protein, and fluids should be the priority when tired post-run,” says Norris.

Carbs help replenish those depleted glycogen stores, while protein supports muscle repair. After your run, aim for 1 to 2 grams of carbs per kilogram of bodyweight and at least 30 grams of protein. Also, make sure to drink at least 500ml to a litre of fluids.

If you feel like you need it (especially if you woke up early to start your run), “a short nap can be restorative,” says Fleekop. Getting between 30 and 60 minutes of shuteye midday can reduce perceived fatigue, according to a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2023. “Napping helps your body recover both physically and mentally – just try to avoid doing it too late in the day to prevent it from interfering with your nighttime sleep,” he adds.

While it might be tempting, don’t just veg on your couch the rest of the day. “Light movement like a walk or stretching can promote circulation and reduce muscle stiffness,” says Fleekop. “Foam rolling or using a massage gun can also aid recovery by increasing blood flow to tired muscles.”

How to Avoid Feeling Totally Exhausted After a Long Run
Dealing with post-run fatigue actually starts way before the long run.

1. Focus on Quality Sleep
One of the best things you can do is prioritise quality sleep. “Sleep is when most muscle repair and recovery happens, and skimping on it can lead to slower recovery and increased fatigue,” says Fleekop. In fact, sleep may be the single most important factor in exercise recovery, according to research published in 2019 in the International Journal of Sports Medicine.

2. Fuel for More Volume
You should also be scaling your fuel and hydration intake as your training volume increases. “Both acute and chronic underfuelling and underhydrating will cause post-run fatigue,” says Norris. “When glucose and glycogen are not readily available, your body takes proteins from your muscles, which increases the amount of muscle breakdown on your long runs, which results in more fatigue.”

Incorporating recovery-supporting nutrients like protein for muscle repair, omega-3 fatty acids to reduce inflammation, iron to support oxygen transport, and magnesium and potassium for muscle function will also help, says Fleekop.

3. Progress Gradually
“Have an appropriately balanced training load, including weekly rest days and not doing a hard workout run the day before a long run,” says Norris. Not only is doing too much too fast a recipe for fatigue, but it also increases your risk of injury, according to research, including at least one study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2023.

4. Pay Attention to Stress Levels
It’s also important to manage stress outside of training. “Mental and emotional stress also takes a physical toll,” says Fleekop. Your body can’t tell the difference between the physical stress of exercise and the mental stress of working on a deadline or dealing with family drama – it’s all called “allostatic load,” according to research published in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.

Once your cumulative burden of stress exceeds your ability to cope, it will lead to poorer health outcomes. “Incorporate relaxation techniques like breathing exercises, yoga, and mindfulness to help your body recover more effectively,” Fleekop says.

5. Take Notes
Keeping a simple training log can help you spot patterns in your fatigue, Fleekop adds. “Note how you feel after long runs, your sleep quality, nutrition intake, and any additional stressors,” he says. “Fatigue that lingers may indicate the need to pull back.”

6. Check With Your Doc
If fatigue persists despite proper recovery, consider getting bloodwork done. “Low ferritin, iron, vitamin B12, and other deficiencies can result in fatigue,” says Norris. “But you never want to supplement these without bloodwork.”

Long runs will take a toll on your body and mind, but if you pay attention to what you’re noticing and what’s normal (or not) for you, you can stay ahead of the kind of fatigue that might derail your training.

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

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Ballot entries open at 10h00 on Wednesday 9 September…

This entry window is for all prospective entrants who did not qualify for either of the early entry windows, or who missed out on any of the earlier entry windows, and will include novices, back-to-backs, and runners from all geographical bases, i.e. South African, Rest of Africa, and International.

The three-stage entry process that the event introduced over the past few weeks has been designed to recognise the heritage and loyalty that lie at the heart of the Comrades Marathon, while managing the extraordinary demand expected for the 100th edition fairly and responsibly. 

The protected entry windows recognise the longstanding commitment of our Green and Yellow Number holders and CMA Members, while the ballot provides a fairer opportunity to all applying runners, notably those who do not have immediate access to the entry platform when entries open.

“The CMA is also committed to protecting the Back-to-back journey. Runners who are unsuccessful in securing an entry through the 2027 General Ballot will have their Back-to-back status honoured in the next Comrades Marathon Down Run in which they can participate,” says CMA race director, Sue Forge.

All entries for the 2027 race will be taken online, via the Comrades Marathon website or on the Comrades Marathon app. The entry process is straightforward, and the CMA team is available to assist with any queries.

INTERNATIONAL & REST OF AFRICA ENTRY PACKAGES: International and Rest of Africa entrants who would like to secure a guaranteed entry – and thus avoid going through the ballot process – can work through Marathon Tours & Travel, the Exclusive Official International Tour Operator for the Comrades Marathon. Their entry package offer includes a guaranteed International or Rest of Africa race entry as well as accommodation, airport and private race transfers, meals, celebrations and race-week support, expert guidance from an experienced international and local team, and optional post-race extensions and tours.

QUALIFICATION: The qualification period for the 2027 Comrades Marathon is from 15 June 2026 (the day after the 2026 Comrades Marathon) to 3 May 2027. Runners may enter before qualifying, but must complete an approved qualifying event and update their entry profile by 3 May 2027.

The qualifying criteria for next year’s Comrades Marathon remain unchanged, requiring runners to complete an officially timed standard marathon (42.2km) in under five hours. (Longer distances and required times are available on the Comrades Marathon website.) The closing date for submission of qualifying information, including personal details, a medical questionnaire, as well as seeding upgrade requests, is 3 May 2027.

ENTRY FEES: Welcome news for the Comrades Marathon community is that the entry fees for the 2027 race remain unchanged. In fact, the race entry fees have not been increased since the 2022 race. The three entry category fees are:

• South African Entrants R1 200
• Rest of Africa Entrants R2 000
• International Entrants R4 500

Runners can choose the option to pay the entry fee in one immediate instalment, or in two instalments: 50% on entry and the remaining 50% by 31 January 2027. Runners should note that failure to settle the balance by the cut-off date will result in forfeiture of their entry as well as their initial (50%) payment, and their entry will be made available in the substitution process.

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I, too, tend to languish when I don’t have a running goal. But I don’t need a race to give me purpose, because I’ve got Strava segments.

Sure, I’ve done my share of segment hunting. (For those who aren’t addicted to Strava like me, this involves planning your workout around getting on the leaderboard of a segment, which means you have one of the top 10 fastest times.) But my preferred Strava achievement is less about speed and more about pure dedication: The Local Legend, or the “laurel crown” that goes to the runner who has run a segment the most times in the past 90 days.

There’s a sense of pride that comes with knowing that I own the segments on my home turf in my neighbourhood, and I keep close watch on them to make sure no one surpasses me. I also get a sick pleasure from snagging a Local Legend when I’m travelling and come across a neglected segment (and I’m very much not above repeating a segment a few extra times to make it happen). There’s also the thrill of receiving the email notification that you’ve become a Local Legend, and knowing that someone else has received notice that they’ve been dethroned.

But whereas it makes sense to me that segment leaderboards are organised by gender (in addition to an all-time leaderboard for all athletes), the way the app handles Local Legends has always puzzled me. There’s the outright Local Legend, who has run the segment more times than any other athlete. I’ve got some of those in my Strava trophy case, but for others, I’ve only achieved the status of women’s Local Legend, an accolade that does not have an equivalent for men.

If women get to have their own Local Legend status, why not men, too? And why do Local Legends need to be gendered at all?

I asked Strava for some insight on this, and they shared this comment: “The original goal for the Local Legends feature was to enable a new type of segment competition to support a growing population of users. We’re continuing to assess our segment leaderboards as user needs shift.”

While their response doesn’t illuminate much, it does suggest that there may have been good intentions around giving women our own Local Legend status. Perhaps it was seen as a way of better including women, or celebrating women’s achievements.

To me, it feels a bit condescending. It also feels wholly unnecessary, considering racking up Local Legends is more about how much you run than how fast you run, and some data in the running industry suggests that women are running even more than men. For instance, the majority of participants in road running events are women, as they have been for many years now. From a volume perspective, women are keeping up with men: Just look at the recent instances of women winning ultramarathons outright or data that suggests that the performance gap between men and women gets smaller as races get longer.

But maybe it’s not that simple – maybe there are ways that men could have an advantage. According to Running USA’s 2025 Global Runner Survey, more men (30.1 percent) identify as “competitive” than women (16.3 percent) when it comes to running, which could make them more likely to want to chase down something like a Local Legend. Men do more solo running (80.4 percent) than women (70.5 percent), which likely lends itself better to maintaining a Local Legend than running with a group or club, which women are more likely to do. While women are more than capable of running longer distances, they’re more likely to prefer 10Ks and half marathons, whereas more men (19.19 percent) report that the marathon is their favourite distance, as opposed to only 12.6 percent of women.

There’s also what’s known as the free-time gender gap, in which women have an average of 13 percent less leisure time than men for activities like running thanks to the unequal burden of household work, childcare, and caring for ageing parents. Plus, faster runners can rack up mileage more easily, which could give men an edge when it comes to Local Legends.

Maybe all that adds up to mean that, at least in Strava’s eyes, the women’s Local Legend still makes sense? While I find it condescending, I imagine other women value that feature, and I don’t want to advocate for taking away anyone’s achievements. (I also imagine that Strava wants to avoid the angry emails that could result from such a decision.)

Perhaps the easiest solution would be to give men their own Local Legend status, too. But I can’t help but think about how adding more gendered categories to Strava takes away a rare opportunity for athletes to compete on a playing field where your gender and your speed aren’t so relevant. (For nonbinary runners who often must race in a division that doesn’t actually align with how they identify, a competition that’s truly free of gender categories could be particularly meaningful.)

For now, even though half of the Local Legends in my trophy case feel like consolation prizes, I’ll still be admiring them, chasing down more, and feeling extra proud when I know that a man has been notified that I’ve taken his laurel crown.

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

The post Strava Rewards Consistency, Not Speed – So Why Divide Local Legends by Gender? appeared first on Runner's World.

At the core of the BLAZEBLAST™ shoe is the brand’s famed FF BLAST™ MAX cushioning, delivering a soft and responsive underfoot feel.

Developed for a new generation of trail runners, the BLAZEBLAST™ shoe delivers an approachable trail experience without compromising on performance. Blending trail-ready confidence with the energetic ride characteristics that have become synonymous with ASICS’ bounce category, it is designed to make every trail run feel more enjoyable, dynamic and accessible.

At the core of the BLAZEBLAST™ shoe is the brand’s famed FF BLAST™ MAX cushioning, delivering a soft and responsive underfoot feel. This works alongside a trampoline pod construction in the forefoot, designed to amplify the shoe’s bounce sensation and create a more energetic toe-off experience. Together, these technologies provide a comfortable and dynamic ride across a variety of runnable trail terrains.

Staying true to the ASICS design philosophy, the BLAZEBLAST™ shoe introduces a range of trail features that help make trail running feel more accessible. An engineered woven upper delivers comfort and breathability, while the ASICSGRIP™ outsole with 2.5mm lugs provides reliable traction across runnable terrain. Combined with a high-stack platform and lightweight construction, these features help runners move confidently from road-to-trail and beyond.

Feedback received from consumers kept indicating the same thing: they loved the bounce and fun of the ASICS road running shoes and wanted that same feeling on the trails. BLAZEBLAST™ was created to answer that need. Rather than developing another highly technical trail shoe, the brand focused on creating an energetic, confidence-inspiring experience that feels approachable from the very first run. It offers the brand an opportunity to welcome a new generation of runners into the trail category.

With its bold design and wearable trail cues, the BLAZEBLAST™ shoe is built to inspire confidence both on and off the trail, making it ideal for everything from everyday exploration to weekend adventures. The shoe reflects the brand’s commitment to expanding the trail category and welcoming more runners to experience movement in nature.

BUY NOW

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One or two off days where you’re moving noticeably more slowly than usual can be annoying but nothing to worry about, says Zach Tacy, running coach and certified personal trainer at Life Time Walnut Creek. So many factors can lead to a slower outing here or there, like if you’re dehydrated one morning or if it’s especially hot or humid outside.

Another common reason you’re running more slowly for a day or two is that you’re coming off a tough workout. A slower pace during a run after a speed session or long training run is expected and important. “Recovery runs should be deliberately slower than easy runs,” says Laura Norris, owner and coach at Laura Norris Running in Boulder, Colorado. “They allow a runner to get in more training volume, such as five to six days of running per week, without causing more fatigue after a hard workout.”

Your easy pace may slow down longer than a few days if you’re deep into intense training, such as for a marathon; that’s still nothing to worry about as long as your pace for speed workouts isn’t slipping, says Norris.

A slower easy pace doesn’t automatically mean you’re losing fitness…

If your easy pace has been slipping consistently for a few weeks and you’re not in a tough training cycle, though, or if your easy runs and speedwork are both slowing, there’s likely something going on that you need to address. “A slower easy pace doesn’t automatically mean you’re losing fitness; you could be overtraining and hitting a fatigue wall, and the body is just stacking fatigue instead of building fitness,” says Tacy.

Here are five factors that could be leaving you overtrained or otherwise unprepared for your easy days, making your regular pace feel way harder than usual – plus tips about how to zero in on which one(s) could be slowing you down.

Inadequate Recovery
It could be the culprit if: Your legs feel heavy, you’re experiencing a higher rate of perceived exertion (RPE) over multiple runs, or you recently finished a hard training block.

What’s going on: “A poorly managed training load can contribute to inadequate recovery,” says Norris. If you stack multiple hard workouts too close together, for instance, your muscles never get enough time to repair, and you wind up feeling zapped during even easy efforts. “Inadequate recovery will impact all systems – muscular, neural, hormonal, etc. and lower the body’s ability to produce contractions to slower paces,” she explains.

The best fix: Make sure you’re spacing tougher sessions (both long runs and any speed workouts) far enough apart throughout the week, says Norris. Adding an extra rest day is better than pushing through and risking overtraining.

Improper Nutrition
It could be the culprit if: You’re feeling flat, fading during runs, experiencing higher RPE, or struggling to recover.

What’s going on: “Easy runs use both fats and carbs to produce energy,” says Norris. “If not enough carbs are available, your body will force you to slow down to a pace that can rely more on fat oxidation.”

The best fix: This doesn’t mean you necessarily need to eat carbs right before you head out on every run. One meta-analysis of 46 studies found that a pre-exercise meal improved performance for longer aerobic workouts but not shorter ones. But it’s worth looking at what you’re eating before your runs and overall to make sure you’re getting what you need to stay fueled up.

Depending on how much you’re running and your goals, runners need between about 3 and 6 grams of carbs for every kilogram of bodyweight per day. Keep in mind that if an easy run lasts longer than an hour, you also should be refuelling with easily digestible carbs mid-run, too.

Poor Sleep
It could be the culprit if: You experience a higher RPE, sluggishness, and/or a slower pace at the same heart rate.

What’s going on: Sleep affects how well your endocrine system functions, so not resting well can impair your endurance and power output. “Poor sleep will leave you under-recovered from the previous day’s training, resulting in a slower easy pace,” says Norris. “Even if you slept poorly coming off of a rest day, you would still experience a higher rate of perceived exertion (RPE) on easy runs.”

You don’t have to be tossing and turning night after night to feel the effects; a single night of sleep deprivation is enough to mess with recreational runners’ biomechanics and running economy, according to one new, small study in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Similarly, runners who got insufficient sleep ran more slowly and with less efficiency the following day in a recent Frontiers in Physiology study.

The best fix: It’s important to prioritise getting quality Z’s every night. If you had one night of bad sleep but got at least five to 6.5 hours, it’s okay to go for the run you had scheduled, but Norris recommends listening to your body and scaling back your effort or distance if necessary. If you got less than 5 hours, it’s better to sleep in and skip the run.

Better sleep hygiene – like skipping screens, going to bed earlier, and keeping your room cool – can all help with better Z’s but sometimes it’s more serious, like high stress or a health issue causing sleep trouble, and that’s worth getting to the bottom of before a big training block, Norris says.

Aging
It could be the culprit if: You’re 50+

What’s going on: As your age creeps up, your pace probably will too, but not until you hit about 50. This is the age when both men and women runners began to gradually slow down, according to research in PLoS One that looked at data from 16 years of the New York City, Boston, and Chicago marathons. “The shift tends to be gradual, only a small amount each year, and it can be partially mitigated by training,” notes Norris.

The best fix: Norris recommends resistance training and running strides to help preserve muscle function and cut back on some of the pace decline you might be noticing. Tacy agrees, adding, “Recovery may gradually take longer, but many athletes maintain or improve their pace well into their 40s, 50s, and beyond.”

Lack of Speedwork
It could be the culprit if: You’re doing only easy runs and have hit a fitness plateau.

What’s going on: “Easy runs feel good and are good for building endurance, but over time, without speedwork – like thresholds, tempos, progressions, and sprints – most runners will hit a plateau or may even see a regression in pace and fitness,” says Tacy.

The best fix: You don’t have to do faster workouts if your slower easy runs don’t bother you, but if you want to see your pace improve, adding some speedier sessions into your week could be the key. You can start with something simple like adding strides at the end of an easy run, then progress to short intervals and then tempo runs.

The Bottom Line
While a slow run here or there may be discouraging, try not to make too big a deal out of it. “The biggest thing is, don’t diagnose yourself from one slow run,” says Tacy. Instead, looking for patterns in your routine and your pacing should help you pinpoint what’s holding you back, and then you can get back up to speed.

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

The post 5 Reasons Your Pace Is Getting Slower and What to Do About It appeared first on Runner's World.

5 Table Mountain Challenge, Cape Town
Features a tough 40km circumnavigation of Table Mountain, a 27km Lite, and a 15km beginner route starting from The Lawns at the Roundhouse.

6 Khayelitsha 10km & 5km fun run, Mandela Park Stadium, Khayelitsha
The 2026 Khayelitsha 10km Road Run and 5km Fun Run start and finish at the Mandela Park Stadium on Tambo Road, Khayelitsha. The 10km gets underway at 07h00, followed by the 5km Fun Run at 07h30. Come and experience the warmth and vibe of Khayelitsha.

11-13 Namaqua Quest 3-Day Trail Run, Springbok, Northern Cape
A colourful 3-day solo stage race through the spring flowers of Namakwa, based at the Okiep Country Hotel.

12-13 Outsurance Gun Run 21km, 17km Trail, 5km Fun Run, 5km Pet Walk, Green Point, Cape Town
The Gun Run is a true Cape Town institution, and its capacity field means entries are best secured early. With the exception of the Kloof Street climb, the half marathon course is largely flat and fast when conditions are favourable. Add a festive atmosphere and the shorter races joining the action later in the morning, and it’s a firm favourite. Entries are sold out, with no late entries available.

12 Mont-Aux-Sources Ultra Trail, Royal Natal National Park, KwaZulu-Natal
Offers epic 50km and 21km routes beneath the majestic Drakensberg Amphitheatre while supporting local eco-tourism and vulture conservation.

12 Waterfall City Half Marathon, 10km & 5km Fun Run, Waterfall City Park, Mall of Africa, Gauteng
Organised by Waterfall City Athletics, this popular event offers a 21km half marathon and 10km road race, both starting at 06h00, while fun runners and walkers can tackle the 5km, which starts at 06h15. Entries are sold out, and no late entries will be accepted.

19 Voet van Afrika 42km, 21km, 10km, 27km trail, 13.5km trail, 4km fun run, Bredasdorp, W Cape
What makes this event truly unique is that it’s about more than just competition — it’s about connection. Runners experience the beauty of nature, the spirit of community, and the warmth of true South African hospitality as they tackle challenging terrain and unforgettable landscapes.

20 Chapman’s Peak Challenge, Hout Bay, Cape Town, W Cape
Starting at 6:30am, this 21km road race runs from Hout Bay Beach (near Velocity Gym) along Chapman’s Peak Drive to Noordhoek and back, finishing at Kronendal Primary School with 349 m of elevation gain. General entries are officially sold out, though substitution windows and waiting lists are managed via the Chapman’s Peak Half Marathon Official Site.

23-26 Otter Challenge and Race, Nature’s Valley, E Cape
As a single-day challenge, the 42km Otter Grail of Trail ranks among the premium events for trail runners. Technical and challenging, the course is designed to measure all your skills, with four river crossings and 2 600m of climbing. As you make your way along rocky coastal paths, through rivers and along pristine forest singletrack, you’ll be reminded why so many make this their yearly race focus.

26 Mossel Bay Marathon, 21km, 10km and 5km, Santos Beach Parking Area, Mossel Bay
This event offers something for every runner. Enter in-store at Top Gear Sport (George) and the ASWD Office (George). Late entries will be taken during registration with a R20 late fee. No entries on race day!

The post Spring Into September: Your Guide to the Month’s Running Events appeared first on Runner's World.

Rooted in Merrell’s belief in the simple power of being outside…

Rooted in Merrell’s belief in the simple power of being outside, the collection honours the brand’s heritage while continuing to move its product story forward across trail running and hiking. The 45th Anniversary Collection brings together iconic and modern styles from across Merrell’s lineup. The trail running collection includes:

• MTL SpeedARC Peak
• Agility Peak 6
• MTL Long Sky 2 Matryx 
• MTL Adapt Matryx

Together, these styles celebrate the brand’s continued momentum in the modern outdoors – blending performance, comfort and style in a collection that reflects where Merrell has been and where it is headed next.

The 45th Anniversary Collection is now available at merrell.co.za.

The post Merrell Celebrates 45 Years on Trail with its Anniversary Collection appeared first on Runner's World.

After failing to finish the race in 2023 and 2024, Dhiman was on his game last year, finishing runner-up to British runner Tom Evans. Following the same aggressive style of running that he and Evans engaged in last year, Dhiman built a lead through the middle of the night in Italy and never let it go, outrunning a deep field of international runners while covering over 10 000 metres of vertical gain and loss in 18 hours, 16 minutes, and 29 seconds to claim the biggest title in trail running.

While it’s technically not an official course record, as a section of the traditional course in Italy was removed the past two years because of weather concerns, he still surpassed Evans’s winning time from a year ago (19:18:58) by an hour while covering the course more than 90 minutes faster than he did last year (19:51:37).

“I didn’t give the race course any respect today. I just pushed as hard as I could and yeah, sometimes that works,” said Dhiman, who grew up in Cincinnati but has lived with his wife and three sons in France for the past several years.

Dhiman is the second American to win the men’s race in the 23-year history of the event, following Jim Walmsley’s 2023 victory. Overall, he is the seventh US runner to win the race, as Krissy Moehl (2003, 2009), Nikki Kimball (2007), Rory Bosio (2013, 2014), Courtney Dauwalter (2019, 2021, 2023) and Katie Schide (2022, 2024) have also won UTMB titles.

How It Started
Nothing about the race started easy. Rainstorms forced a two-hour delay of the planned start from 5:45pm to 7:45pm on Friday in Chamonix, and that meant nearly 2 400 runners went straight into darkness.

Dhiman didn’t force anything early. He moved through the field methodically as the race moved through the French ski towns of St. Gervais and Les Contaminies, finally passing Frenchman Baptiste Chassagne to take the lead before the start of the long climb toward Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme on the way into Italy.

“I was the fastest out of the aid station, and there was nobody around me, so I just decided to do my own pacing, and then it turned out really good,” Dhiman said.

Dhiman kept extending his lead to 20 minutes at the 80km mark in the Italian ski village of Courmayeur. As first light began to brighten the skies early Saturday morning, Dhiman made quick work of the hardest climb of the race, going over the 2 500 metre summit of the Grand Col Ferret into Switzerland at the 100km mark with a smile on his face.

“There was a full moon – big, visible, super bright – over the mountains as I was going up Grand Col Ferret,” Dhiman said. “It was magic.”

Behind him, several of the top men in the race dropped out of the race – including Vincent Bouillard, the 2024 UTMB winner who just won the Western States 100 in June, as well as other pre-race favourites Josh Wade (United Kingdom), Rod Farvard (USA), Canyon Woodward (USA), and Chris Myers (USA). Three of the preeminent favourites and past winners, Tom Evans (UK), Jim Walmsley (USA), and Kilian Jornet (Spain), withdrew in the days before the race.

But none of those runners on their best day could likely have kept up with Dhiman on Friday and Saturday.

While others were slowing from fatigue, Dhiman kept extending his lead through Switzerland, reaching the 130km aid station at Champex Lac 28 minutes ahead of Chassagne’s arrival. Dhiman was the first runner in the history of the race to cover the 25km section from the top of Grand Col Ferret to Champex Lac in under two hours and, at that point, was well ahead of the pace that Evans had set last year.

From there, three difficult climbs remained on the way back into France, and the late-morning temperatures began to rise. The heat was a factor, but it didn’t lessen Dhiman’s grip on the lead. Although Chassagne kept charging in pursuit of Dhiman, the gap never got closer than about 22 minutes.

“Baptiste was pushing me a bit, in the last part of the race course,” Dhiman said, “because I was used to the lead expanding and it wasn’t expanding, so I was a bit nervous, but no worries.”

How It Ended

Although Dhiman took a fall on the final section of trail high above Chamonix, he didn’t falter. He got back on his feet, made the 8km descent into the city and was greeted by a hero’s welcome and a rapturous roar from a crowd estimated at 30 000 spectators when he returned to Chamonix.

He made his way through the city’s pedestrian village and sprinted his way to the finish line adjacent to Chamonix’s iconic Place du Triangle de l’Amitié.

Chassagne kept chugging and finished second in 18:47:38, and while his effort to close the gap on Dhiman proved futile, he was able to do enough to stay ahead of hard-charging American Caleb Olson of Utah, who moved up throughout the second half of the race to finish third less than a minute later in 18:48:24.

French runner Virgile Moriset was fourth in 19:00:23, while Ecuador’s Joaquin Lopez was fifth in 19:06:48.

“I knew I had to keep it up, and hold on to it, and so I fought with what I had on the day,” Chassagne said. “And today I finished second to Ben Dhiman, who is truly and genuinely my favourite athlete. To me it’s still an honour to finish second. There was no touching him today, so I still feel like I was the best of the rest of the field.”

Blandine L’Hirondel Stuns the Field to Win UTMB
The French athlete ran the fastest time in race history to earn her first UTMB title over Americans Rachel Entrekin and Emily Schmitz. Despite stumbling on tired legs several times in the final 8km, the 35-year-old L’Hirondel, a practising obstetrician-gynaecologist and professional trail runner, won the women’s UTMB race in stunning fashion on Saturday evening, completing the course in 21 hours, 54 minutes, and 49 seconds, faster than any woman in race history.

Although it’s technically not an official course record – that still belongs to American Katie Schide (22:09:31 in 2022) because a section of the traditional course in Italy was removed the past two years because of weather concerns. However, L’Hirondel easily surpassed Ruth Croft’s winning time from a year ago (22:56:23).

“I can’t believe it,” said L’Hirondel, who became the fourth French woman to win in the 23-year history of the race. “Maybe I will believe it in a few days that I am the champion. But if I am the champion, the people here are, too, because they encouraged me the whole way through. You helped make this happen for me.”

Women’s Top 10: 2026 UTMB

1. Blandine L’Hirondel (FRA) — 21:54:49
2. Rachel Entrekin (USA) — 22:15:54
3. Emily Schmitz (USA) — 22:17:28
4. Careth Arnold (USA) — 23:05:20
5. Jazmine Lowther (CAN) — 23:21:55
6. Katarzyna Dombrowska (POL) — 23:27:34
7. Lucy Bartholomew (AUS) — 23:44:29
8. Antonina Iushina (AIN) — 23:49:58
9. Anne Cécile Thévenot (FRA) — 24:02:00
10. Anne-Sofie Pollestad (NOR) — 24:04:56

Men’s Top 10: 2026 UTMB

1. Ben Dhiman (USA) — 18:16:29
2. Baptiste Chassagne (FRA) — 18:47:38
3. Caleb Olson (USA) — 18:48:24
4. Virgile Moriset (FRA) — 19:00:23
5. Joaquín López (ECU) — 19:06:48
6. Hannes Namberger (GER) — 19:13:51
7. Gautier Bonnecarrere (FRA) — 19:23:16
8. Antoine Charvolin (FRA) — 19:40:33
9. Yannick Noël (FRA) — 19:51:42
10. Jean-Philippe Tschumi (SUI) — 19:58:24

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA Website.

The post Ben Dhiman Becomes First Runner to Break 19 Hours at UTMB appeared first on Runner's World.

St Helena sits roughly 1 950km off the southwestern coast of Africa and 2 900km east of South America. Once the preserve of a five-day sea voyage, St Helena is now a direct Airlink flight from Johannesburg and, in summer, an extra weekly flight from Cape Town, bringing this bucket-list destination closer than ever before.

A road race like no other
This is road rather than trail, but do not expect flat or forgettable. The 42.2km course is a challenging, exhilarating run through lush forest and along volcanic ridgelines, passing famous historical sites and tracing the island’s extraordinary natural beauty.

Starting in the gardens of Plantation House, the Governor’s residence, it passes landmarks tied to Napoleon’s final exile, the old East India Company and centuries of settlement. Expect endless views over the South Atlantic and a scattering of significant sites, from Longwood House and the Boer Cemetery to Halley’s and Maskelyne’s Observatories, before finishing on the Georgian streets of Jamestown. St Helena boasts rich biodiversity, with species found nowhere else on earth, so keep an eye out for the legendary wirebird. And let’s not forget Jonathan the tortoise, the world’s oldest living land animal.

Not chasing the full distance? The 21.1km route captures some of the island’s most dramatic terrain, while the 10km and 5km options offer something for the whole family. Bring them along for the adventure of a lifetime. Each route comes with a GPX file, and each finisher takes home a medal.

A runcation to remember
The marathon is the grand finale of St Helena’s Adventure Week, which means you can experience the island in all its glory. Climb Jacob’s Ladder, the 699 steps rising 182 metres above Jamestown; take a dip in natural seawater pools; paddle out to the SS Papanui (shipwreck) for a snorkel; visit a beautiful coffee plantation (home to the rare, green-tipped Bourbon Arabica bean); and enjoy a round of golf at Longwood Golf Course.

“St Helena is gearing up for an incredible event,” says Jonathan Passaportis, Head of Tourism at St Helena Tourism. “Not only is it one of the world’s most remote marathons, but it offers scenery, history and a sense of achievement that a city marathon simply cannot match.”

Secure your place
Flights, accommodation and entries will fill up quickly. It’s worth booking flights and securing your entry well in advance.

Entries are open now via Racepass. Plan your adventure at sthelenatourism.com/marathon.

Entry costs include race participation, a finisher medal and access to all the Adventure Week activities.

• R1 450 for the full marathon
• R850 for the half marathon
• R450 for the 10 km
• R250 for the 5km fun run for friends and family

ENTER NOW

The post Your Next Marathon Adventure Starts on St Helena appeared first on Runner's World.

Your mental well-being may also take a hit. Difficulty focusing, feeling emotionally drained, and changes in mood, motivation, or appetite may all signal mental exhaustion.

A slump looks different for every runner, but it doesn’t have to last forever. By recognising the signs and giving yourself time to reset, you can gradually rediscover your rhythm and your love of running.

How to Recognise Burnout
Recognising a slump is the first step toward moving through it. Burnout can take many forms. Typically, it follows a long stretch of training or a big race, but it can also feel like it came out of nowhere.

Common signs of burnout include:

• Recurring injuries: Persistent stress fractures, muscle strains, or other running-related injuries.
• Mood changes: Frequent feelings of sadness, irritability, apathy, overwhelm, or low confidence.
• Unusual fatigue: Feeling more tired than usual despite maintaining your normal sleep, nutrition, and recovery habits.
• Anxiety around running: Experiencing excessive pressure or stress about completing a run, maintaining a certain pace, or reaching a mileage goal.
• Loss of enjoyment: Dreading runs that you once looked forward to or feeling disconnected from the sport.
• As irritating as burnout can be, it’s likely your body and mind’s way of asking for a break. Rest is essential for every runner, even though it can be difficult to know when to pause and reset.

Coming Back From a Break
Rest is an important part of every runner’s training, not a failure or setback. Even when you think you’re ready to return, lacing up your shoes may still feel surprisingly difficult.

Avoid putting pressure on yourself or expecting to resume exactly where you left off. There is no universal timeline for a running break. Listen to your body, begin with short and easy efforts, and increase your activity gradually.

A great way to return to running is by finding a training plan and following it. A training plan is an excellent tool for building both fitness and consistency. You can also alternate running with walk intervals as you rebuild your routine by utilising a nine-step return to running plan or a guide geared specifically toward consistency. That way, there is no pressure to train for a race, and the training plan is simply a method for getting back into running again.

Surviving the Seasons
Seasonal changes can affect both performance and motivation, especially if you live somewhere with extra hot summers or really frigid winters. Just stepping outside in extreme weather can feel difficult, let alone running in it for an extended period of time.

Make sure to adjust your pace and expectations to match the conditions. Run during the mildest part of the day, dress appropriately, and stay hydrated. When outdoor conditions are unsafe or unappealing, the treadmill can be a great alternative.

Making Running Fun Again
Running can begin to feel repetitive after a while, especially when every workout follows the same route, pace, or mileage. Bringing novelty back into your routine can help you reconnect with the sport.

Explore a new route, run with a friend, leave your watch at home, or listen to a new podcast or artist. If you’re used to exclusively running on the road, maybe try trail running. Not every workout needs to serve a training goal – sometimes, just enjoying your run is enough.

Finding Your Motivation
Rekindling your motivation or “finding your why” is an optimal way out of a running slump. Everyone’s reason for running is different. It might be to clear your mind, connect with others, lose weight, or a way to feel stronger, healthier, or more confident. Your reason doesn’t have to be dramatic, and it may change over time. Sometimes, all it takes is remembering why you started running in the first place.

A few ways to make running feel rewarding again include:

• Join a running group: Build accountability and meet some new running buddies who can offer encouragement.
• Start a run streak: Challenge yourself to stay consistent with running by starting a streak. Just remember to start small and remain flexible in your goal.
• Create a new playlist: A few new songs can make a familiar route more exciting.
• Sign up for a fun race: Choose a low-pressure event that gives you something fun to look forward to.
• Practice mindfulness: Pay attention to your breathing, surroundings, and how your body feels rather than focusing only on pace or distance.

A running slump doesn’t mean you should stop running forever. Permit yourself to rest, adjust your expectations, and return gradually. Motivation may not reappear all at once, but with time and patience, running can start to feel rewarding again.

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

The post The Runner’s World Guide to Getting Out of a Training Slump appeared first on Runner's World.

Then, I saw a video on Instagram about running five minutes a day, every day, for about a month. At first, I reacted to this idea as many runners will: writing five-minute runs off as too short to qualify as a “real” run or too meaningless to be worthy of my calendar space.

Small steps build habits, so I took a leap of faith and ran for at least five minutes a day.

But after pausing for a few moments, I remembered something my therapist explained to me: You have to take small, manageable steps to create a habit, even if it’s ridiculously small. Eventually, that offers you a chance to get better.

So I took a small leap of faith by trying something I would normally resist, and I ran at least five minutes a day. A month later, I signed up for a race, and my outlook on running is entirely different from what it was before. Here’s exactly what I learned.

The Biggest Benefits I Noticed From Running 5 Minutes a Day

1. I Ran Longer Than 5 Minutes (Almost) Every Time
On day one, I told myself, “just five minutes,” but I had planned to run longer if I was feeling up for it. After the first five-minute mark, I was happy to stop, as the hills I ran on and the midday heat took more of a toll on me than I realised. But then I took a 30-second walk break and wound up running for 15 more minutes after that.

This became the pattern for most of my runs. After the five-minute mark, I’d have the option of making a quick loop back home, but as long as I had the time (which I usually did), I would stay out on the roads for 10 minutes, then 15, then 20.

There were a couple of days I really didn’t feel like running at all, and I had to force myself onto the treadmill at night and cap it at five minutes. One night, I finished about six minutes on the treadmill but then felt motivated enough to grab a pair of dumbbells nearby and do a couple of lunges, biceps curls, rows, and squats, just to fit in a strength set.

Another day, I forced myself outside. I made it back home after five minutes, but told myself I could just circle the block once more to add two more minutes. By then, I was at about 0.8 miles, so I couldn’t help but keep going to round up to the entire mile, and then finished the final minute or so to hit the 10-minute mark. It was a snowball effect in the best way.

2. I Stopped Thinking Every Run Had to “Count”
As someone who struggles with perfectionism, I often put off my workouts or training plans because I’m trying to find “the right time” to do them, or I want to follow the plan perfectly.

Normally, my brain would follow an “all-or-nothing” mindset, and if I wasn’t going for a run that would contribute to a training goal or make me better, why even go?

But when I was running five minutes a day, the process showed me that even the shortest of runs count, and what mattered most was that I was running at all. I got to experience moments of running around quiet city streets and smiling to myself at 9 p.m., listening to my favourite songs, and those moments made me forget about metrics.

Even though I wasn’t racking up a ton of mileage, I felt strong, free, and happy running again.

3. My Definition of Success Changed
Runners love to see dramatic finish line crossings, shiny new finisher’s medals, and a new PB to show off – and I totally relate. I love seeing results and reflections of how hard I worked. But when I’m nowhere near executing my best performances, running has to be about more than that.

I’ve always turned to running to deal with emotional trauma and stress, and to clear my head, but besides my pace or race accomplishments, I wasn’t sure how else to define success within the sport.

Now, success in running isn’t necessarily measured by whether or not I can break four hours in the marathon. It’s more about whether or not I feel connected and immersed in running, and if it helps me feel more like myself. Running often helps make my days feel more full and meaningful. I haven’t felt so strong about that in a long time, and I certainly never expected a five-minute running challenge to help me realise that again.

Those little “meaningless” bouts of running showed me how I actually respond to the movement itself, and why I fell in love with the sport in the first place.

4. I Started Getting Fitter
Five minutes of running doesn’t sound like nearly enough to boost your endurance or build much of an aerobic base. But as someone who’s getting back to a routine with minimal fitness compared to what I used to be capable of, building the habit actually helped me get fitter and faster at running.

After the first few weeks, I noticed my easy pace was about 20 seconds faster than it was when I first dusted off the cobwebs, and I didn’t feel so winded or tired after the first two miles compared with before I started.

Common Roadblocks and How I Dealt With Them

The Issue: 5 Minutes Sometimes Felt Too Short to Justify Changing Clothes
After the first week or so, when the novelty of the five-minute-a-day challenge started to wear off, I realised how tedious it was to pick out running clothes for a run that would only last five minutes. I mean, sometimes just the act of getting changed for a run takes me five minutes.

My Solution: Care Less
To get past this, I started to just throw on whatever was at the top of my dresser drawer and not think too much about it. Thankfully, running in the summer made this a lot easier, because all I had to think about was a sports bra and a pair of shorts.

After the first few days, I stopped caring about what I was wearing or about picking out “the right running outfit,” because I knew I wouldn’t be outside for very long.

The Issue: 5 Minutes a Day Isn’t Quite Enough Mileage for Base Training
I opted for this challenge during a time when I had told myself to start base training to hopefully run a fall half marathon. If I stuck to the base training, I could sign up and train for a local half in October. However, a small part of me knew this plan, too, would fizzle out again, and I’d delay any real comeback.

Because of this, I’m glad I opted for the five-minute runs instead of base training because it allowed me to focus on the one thing I struggled with the most: consistency. However, I knew I still needed to up my mileage before kicking off a race training plan.

My Solution: Adjust the Plan
Because these five-minute runs were a little shorter, I lowered the weekly mileage slightly in the first few weeks of my half marathon plan to ease myself into it. I also know if I need to jump down to a more beginner-level half marathon plan, I can do that, too.

How I Stuck With Running 5 Minutes a Day

What’s nice about the five-minute window is that it’s pretty accessible to every level of runner. You don’t have to go out at a specific pace or meet a certain mileage. You don’t have to sacrifice too much time on your schedule. You simply go out for five minutes during a commercial break or while you’re waiting for laundry to finish up in the dryer.

But if a daily run seems tough to commit to, here’s how I made it happen, and you can too:

1. Just Start
The old adage rings true: The hardest part of running is just starting to run. I felt like the five-minute runs were ridiculously short and easy, so I didn’t feel like I was signing up for anything too scary or difficult to commit to. Who doesn’t have five minutes at some point in the day?

2. Throw Pace Out the Window
Many running warmups last about five minutes, so there’s no need to feel extensive pressure about whether or not you’re going too fast, too slow, or speeding up. If you’re really letting the run take you where it needs to, those five minutes will fly by.

Some of my five-minute runs happened right before bed, and I’d run along lit sidewalks on my local streets, logging a loop to the centre of town and back. During these runs, I either sped up for a minute at a time, listening to music that brought my runs to life, or cued up two songs (roughly three minutes each) to get me through the duration. (I’m a night owl, though, and I love running at night, so for me, these five-minute runs often turned into 15, 20, or 30.)

3. Make a Subtle Change to Each Run
I absolutely understand the value of running the same loop for the same amount of time during the same time of day. It’s predictable, reliable, and habit-forming. Realistically, though, I know I get bored after the first few days and naturally change a little something about my running routine once I’m sticking to it.

For example, my five-minute runs ranged from running at night with music, logging a quick five-minute treadmill warm-up before a lift at my local gym, or even squeezing exactly five minutes of running right before I was supposed to drive for a few hours to visit a friend. I normally wouldn’t have run before that drive, but I knew five minutes of movement to stretch my legs would do me some good (and help keep me on track with my routine).

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

The post 5 Minutes a Day Changed How I Run appeared first on Runner's World.

…sleep is one of the most powerful performance and recovery tools out there…

Many runners have full-time jobs, families, and social lives that leave little time for shuteye. However, sleep is one of the most powerful performance and recovery tools out there, and getting an insufficient amount every night can derail your progress in training.

With this reality in mind, we set out to find the absolute minimum amount of sleep a runner needs to train effectively and race well, in an effort to support those with busy lives who still crave peak performance.

The answer, unfortunately, isn’t quite so simple, according to neurologist and sleep medicine physician Jeffrey Durmer, MD, PhD, who has spent more than 20 years studying and applying sleep science with professional athletes.

Sleep is the body and brain’s system for dynamic recovery, “so every individual has their own bespoke sleep requirements,” says Durmer.

While there’s no set-in-stone minimum that works for everyone, experts recommend a range that gives most people the best chance of recovering well and avoiding the performance consequences of insufficient sleep. Hit the target, make sleep part of your training routine, and you’ll increase your ability to handle hard workouts, train consistently, and translate your fitness into faster racing.

Experts identify the ideal sleep goal for runners, explain what happens when you miss it, and show how to use sleep as a practical recovery and performance-boosting tool. Find out more below.

David Garley, member of the Royal College of Physicians and managing director of The Better Sleep Clinic in the United Kingdom, who regularly treats sleep disorders, draws a practical danger line at six hours. “I would say for most athletes, if you are habitually sleeping below six hours, then this is very likely to lead to sleep deprivation,” he says.

Six hours, therefore, should represent a floor to avoid rather than a baseline to hit. If you’re hovering around six hours and still feel tired during the day, struggle to recover, or notice your workouts suffering, consider those symptoms as evidence you need more sleep.

In Durmer’s experience, regularly dropping below roughly six and a half hours is where risks for injury in athletes and overall poor health begin to rise. On the other hand, consistently sleeping more than nine hours may signal poor sleep quality or efficiency rather than a need for more sleep.

Training load can push a runner’s needs toward the higher end of the spectrum, Durmer continues. Exercise breaks down a molecule called adenosine triphosphate (or ATP), a process cells use to supply energy. Your body’s use of its ATP stores throughout the day contributes to your biological pressure to sleep every night – that feeling of tiredness that starts to sink in late in the day. Then, when you do fall asleep, your body uses that time of rest to replenish ATP and prepare for another day.

“There are metabolic demands on athletes that are much higher [than the average person],” Durmer says.

Runners regularly completing hard workouts such as threshold sessions, speed intervals, or even long runs common in most training plans may need a baseline closer to eight or nine hours of sleep “just for the recovery period to adequately replenish your energy,” says Durmer.

Additionally, sleep helps deliver the adaptations runners want from the aforementioned workouts. Much of the body’s growth-hormone activity occurs during deep, non-REM sleep after training, explains Durmer, which supports your recovery. Cutting sleep short may therefore limit the benefits you receive from the work you already completed.

One of the first changes runners may notice after a poor night’s sleep is that running feels harder.

“Put simply, the perception of work goes up,” Durmer says. With a lack of sleep, fatigue arrives more easily, and the psychological task of managing a hard effort becomes more difficult. This shift can undermine confidence during a workout even if your physical capacity hasn’t actually changed significantly, Durmer explains.

A 2025 meta-analysis of 45 studies done on athletes and their sleep habits supports Durmer’s conclusion. Of those 45 studies, researchers examined 16 specifically on aerobic endurance, measured by performance tests like self-paced 30-minute runs, and 12 on rate of perceived exertion (RPE). Their analysis found sleep deprivation significantly increased RPE while impairing aerobic endurance in athletes.

Insufficient sleep can also affect attention, judgment, and even running form, as sleep-deprived athletes are more likely to overlook details or make poor decisions, Durmer says. “Your form may suffer more so than your power, and that can actually cause injury,” he adds. Meaning a runner might still have enough energy to force a hard session while lacking the proper focus and control to execute it safely.

The meta-analysis found broader physical effects of sleep deprivation, too. It reduced explosive power, maximum force, speed, and skill control. A small change to any one of these elements matters when you’re training to knock a few seconds off a 5K PB or a couple of minutes from your personal-best marathon. Over time, repeated poor nights of sleep can also compromise the overall consistency of your training that’s necessary to build fitness.

It’s important to remember one restless night will not crush your training; we’re human, after all. But your planned workout for the day may still need to change. If you wake up exhausted, Durmer recommends reducing the intensity of your workout to something easy. For example, if you only got five hours of sleep and you wake up exhausted on a speed workout day, swapping the high-intensity effort with an easy run allows you to prioritise your recovery and return to the demanding workout once your body is more well-rested.

The number of hours you log tells only part of the story. Durmer encourages anyone he works with to evaluate sleep through three dimensions: duration, timing, and quality (or DTQ).

Duration, of course, is the amount of sleep you get each night. Seven to eight hours is the target, with more potentially required during demanding training. Remember: Eight hours in bed doesn’t necessarily equal eight hours asleep.

Timing refers to exactly when you sleep within a 24-hour cycle. Durmer considers the time you wake up the most important element to prioritise. Keeping your wake time within the same 30-minute range every day helps stabilise your circadian rhythm and produce more predictable sleepiness at night, he says. Light reinforces your sleep schedule, too. Seeking natural or bright light in the morning supports wakefulness, and reducing bright light and screen time a half-hour or more before bedtime helps you fall asleep at night.

Quality describes what happens after you fall asleep and whether or not your time asleep actually leaves you restored. If your sleep duration and timing appear solid but you still feel exhausted, simply adding another hour may not solve the issue. Snoring, breathing pauses, insomnia, or restless legs can interfere with sleep quality and may warrant evaluation by a sleep specialist.

One athlete may spend more time in restorative deep sleep, while another may sleep more lightly, Garley explains. Two runners can log the same duration and wake up feeling very different.

Durmer cautions against depending on sleep scores to diagnose these feelings. A device might say you slept well when you actually feel terrible, or report a poor night’s sleep when you feel your absolute best. “Don’t use a number,” Durmer says. “Use how you feel.”

A simple written log including your sleep and wake times, perceived recovery level (from absolutely wiped out to this is the most rested you’ve ever been), and, perhaps most importantly, your workout quality, can help you identify patterns in your sleep without becoming fixated on a proprietary score.

“Schedule your sleep, just like you do your workouts,” Durmer says. “Most people think of sleep as what you do at the end of the day. It’s actually the beginning of tomorrow.”

Treating sleep as part of training cannot guarantee a PB. But it can help you absorb more of the work you are already doing and arrive at the starting line prepared to use the fitness you have built.

Use these strategies to better prioritise your sleep.

1. Actually Put Sleep on Your Schedule
Schedule your sleep the same way you do your mileage, strength work, and nutrition instead of leaving it to whatever time remains in your day. Expand it when training volume or intensity increases; an extra hour can do wonders for recovery, and protect it especially following singular hard workouts.

Durmer also suggests scheduling more than your normal duration of sleep for up to three days following your race to ensure your body has the recovery time it needs after your hardest effort.

2. Create a Consistent Wind-Down Routine
Building a repeatable 15- to 30-minute routine before bed is one of the simplest strategies that can help ensure you maintain each of the “DTQ” elements of sleep, Durmer says. In addition to reducing light and eliminating screens, reading for pleasure and practising calming breathing exercises can help your body settle into sleep more easily.

Durmer recommends a warm (not hot!) shower, followed by a brief cooling-off period before you climb under the covers. Limit late-night caffeine and alcohol consumption, especially in-season, which can also interfere with sleep.

3. Avoid Exercise Right Before Bed
A study published in 2025 and involving more than 14 000 participants over the course of a year (more than four million nights of sleep) showed an association between evening exercise – particularly highly strenuous activity – completed less than four hours before bedtime and delayed sleep onset, shorter sleep duration, lower sleep quality, higher resting heart rate, and lower heart rate variability, all of which negatively affect recovery.

While Durmer recommends morning or midday exercise for every athlete, he also understands this schedule is simply not possible for everyone. So, if evening is your only opportunity to run, try to finish your workout two hours before you plan on going to bed—at least. Your nervous system needs time to calm down after exercise, and the process often takes two hours or more, Durmer explains. If you don’t, you elevate your risk of the negative effects outlined in the study.

After evening workouts, stretch, foam roll, and do calm breath work to help the wind-down process, Durmer says.

4. Create a Sleep Buffer Before Races
Durmer recommends adding 15 to 60 minutes to your nightly sleep allotment in the weeks and days leading up to a big race. It won’t create extra fitness gains, but it can help provide a buffer against anxiety, travel, and schedule changes from disrupting prerace sleep.

5. Use Naps as a Supplement
Let’s be real: Most of us who work full-time jobs and have families or social obligations may not be able to take advantage of midday naps like pro runners do. However, for the lucky few with a free Sunday afternoon every once in a while, Durmer says napping can serve as a great supplement for nighttime sleep.

A 2021 review of 14 sleep studies outlined that for athletes, longer naps (90 minutes, ideally) resulted in better improvement in physical and cognitive performance and lower induced fatigue in those who are chronically sleep-deprived. Meanwhile, another meta-analysis published in 2024 examining the health outcomes of habitual nappers found the best duration is 30 minutes or less, which may fit better into your schedule.

Durmer does recommend 60- to 90-minute naps if you’re looking to increase your daily sleep duration, as it can help you feel more refreshed. However, he also says regularly needing naps to function normally despite adequate time in bed may indicate poor sleep quality and may require a specialist’s care.

This article was first published on the Runner’s World USA website.

The post What Is the Minimum Amount of Sleep Runners Need? appeared first on Runner's World.

ASA’s statement comes on the back of a decision by the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) not to re-affiliate with KwaZulu-Natal Athletics (KZNA) after a Special General Meeting held on August 1 in Pietermaritzburg. That meeting followed an ongoing feud between the provincial federation, KZNA, and the CMA over unpaid licence fees from the 2026 race and the planned date for the 2027 event. The CMA had previously sought to affiliate only with the national body, Athletics South Africa (ASA).

“ASA wishes to advise its Member Federations, affiliated clubs, athletes, technical officials, partners and the public that the 100th Comrades Marathon is not sanctioned by Athletics South Africa,” a statement read. “This position follows the failure of the event organisers to recognise and comply with the governance and regulatory framework governing athletics.

“Despite extensive engagements undertaken in good faith by Athletics South Africa and its member federation, KwaZulu-Natal Athletics (KZNA), the organisers have not satisfied the requirements necessary for sanctioning under the constitution, rules and regulations of KwaZulu-Natal Athletics, Athletics South Africa and World Athletics.”

Despite the ongoing feud, Comrades on Wednesday launched the 100th running event with the 2027 race campaign, The Greatest Story Ever Run, and a special 100th edition race logo. The winning campaign slogan was chosen from just over 200 submissions from the greater Comrades Marathon community, and ties in with the storied history of the Ultimate Human Race.

The Comrades Marathon was first run in 1921 and has taken place nearly every year since, except for five years during the Second World War (1941-45) and two years during the COVID pandemic (2020 and 2021). The 2027 edition of the race will not only be the 100th edition overall, but also the 50th edition of the traditional Down Run route, starting in Pietermaritzburg and finishing in Durban.

Speaking about the race slogan, CMA General Manager Alain Dalais says, “The Comrades Marathon has such a rich history, from the pioneers of the 1920s who ran to pay tribute to their comrades in arms from the Great War, to the hundreds of thousands of runners who have shaped the legacy of this phenomenal event by adding their own stories to Comrades Marathon lore over the past century.”

“Now in 2027, we get to add a glorious 100th chapter to this story as we celebrate the centenary of one of the world’s greatest running events, and we invite our 2027 entrants to honour those who came before them while contributing to this next chapter of the race. The Greatest Story Ever Run is timeless, memorable and distinctive, making it ideally suited as the official centenary slogan to honour history, run the legacy, and be part of the Comrades Marathon story.”

Record Field Expected
The increased entry cap of 28 000 will make the 2027 race the largest ever edition of the Comrades Marathon. The 2025 race currently holds the record for the Down Run, with 24,172 entries, while the Up Run in 2019 had 24,636 entries. The cap has been increased for next year to enable more participants to be part of the centenary edition, says CMA Race Director Sue Forge.

The increased entry cap of 28 000 will make the 2027 race the largest ever edition of the Comrades Marathon.

“The decision to increase the entry cap to 28 000 has been carefully considered and is supported by extensive operational planning. While we want as many runners as responsibly possible to experience this historic centenary race, the safety of our participants, volunteers, spectators and communities remains our foremost priority,” says Forge.

“We are working closely with the host municipalities, emergency services, traffic authorities and our operational partners to strengthen traffic management, transport, crowd control and venue operations, ensuring that the increased field is accommodated safely, and that the high standard of the Comrades Marathon experience is maintained.”

With the finish moving to the Kings Park precinct, the 2027 route is expected to measure approximately 91km. The official distance will be confirmed once the course has been formally measured after the completion of ongoing roadworks, which are expected to shorten several sections of the route. The 2025 Down Run, which finished outside People’s Park near Kings Park, measured 89.98km, while the longest route in Comrades Marathon history was the 92km course run in 1971.

“The sports fields within the Kings Park precinct offer significantly more space for the finish area and race village, allowing us to create a safer, more efficient and more memorable experience for runners and spectators. The expanded precinct provides greater flexibility for runner flow, medical and recovery services, hospitality, transport and post-race operations, while giving us the opportunity to develop a truly fitting finish for the historic 100th Comrades Marathon,” says Forge.

The CMA also announced that entry fees for the 2027 race will remain unchanged. “Entry fees have not increased since 2022, reflecting the CMA’s continued commitment to keeping the Comrades Marathon as accessible as possible, particularly as we prepare to welcome runners from around the world to the historic 100th edition,” says Forge.

The entry process for the 2027 Comrades Marathon will open on Tuesday 25 August 2026, and will take place in three phases. The first window of the process will be reserved for Green Number Club athletes, as a token of appreciation for their years of commitment to the Comrades Marathon, as well as Yellow Numbers (those on the verge of earning their Green Numbers). The second window will offer an exclusive opportunity for CMA Members to enter, followed by a third window for general entries. More detailed information on the entry process will be shared by the CMA later.

Centenary Celebrations
The 2027 event will include special centenary celebrations in both the build-up to the race over the next nine months and on race-day itself, and CMA Chairperson Mark Leathers says the Comrades Marathon organising team is already gearing up for one of the biggest years in the event’s history.

“Our 2027 race will be the largest edition of the Comrades Marathon yet, and we know that this launch is just the beginning of an incredibly exciting build-up to the next Down Run, and the start of an exciting next century of the race. The CMA is committed to ensuring an unforgettable experience for all our runners, supporters and partners next year, and the coming months are going to include many centenary activities that will culminate in a spectacular celebration of the Ultimate Human Race,” said Leathers.

QUICK FACTS

Race Date: Sunday 13 June 2027
Direction: Down Run – Pietermaritzburg to Durban
Start: Pietermaritzburg City Hall
Start Time: 05:00
Finish: Kings Park Rugby Precinct, Durban
Distance: Approximately 91km – the official distance will be announced once official course measurement has been concluded
Time Limit: 12 hours – on-route intermediate cut-offs will be announced in due course
Entry Cap: 28,000
Race Slogan: The Greatest Story Ever Run

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…I realised a few key changes made to training and race day helped me finally beat my goal and clock in a new PB…

“I think most people forget that your body doesn’t know the difference between intentional training stress and all the other life stress you have. Stress is stress,” says Matt Meyer, a certified run and strength coach based in Colorado, and host of the Runner’s World USA ‘How to Run Faster programme.’ “And much like mileage, it can really add up and run you down pretty hard.”

A high level of stress certainly played a role in me falling apart early in the race, but another setback was a lack of confidence in my ability to hit and maintain the pace to meet my goal.

I felt nervous all morning waiting in Staten Island, questioning whether I could make it happen. And those nerves made me nauseous, forcing me to stop fuelling around the 16km mark, and leading me to finish the race seven minutes slower than the first time I conquered the five boroughs. I ended up with a finish time of 4:33:24.

In fall 2024, I got the chance to run NYC again. You could consider it redemption (and I was certainly intrigued by that possibility), but I was also enjoying running so much when training for a destination half marathon that I floated right from my half plan into the Runner’s World Break 4 Hours marathon plan.

When comparing the two training cycles from 2021 to 2024, I realised a few key changes I made to training and race day that helped me finally beat my goal and clock in a new PB of 3:49:07.

1. I Quit Checking My Pace During Long Runs
In my last marathon build, I really started to dread long runs. I remember slogging through a 30km run feeling completely over it around 8 kays. I viewed my weekend mornings spent clocking miles more as a time suck than a privilege. I didn’t want that to happen this block, and after working on a series of stories about the benefits of zone 2 running and the long slow distance run, I figured I should just ignore my watch and focus on enjoying each kilometre at a leisurely pace.

To do that, I cued up audiobooks I looked forward to listening to (I’m a big fan of celeb memoirs on the run), found looped routes where I didn’t have to retrace my steps (a real mind game for me), and even called a few family members midway through some kays (an easy way to keep the pace conversational). By doing that, I kept my pace steady and truly easy. Because the effort felt good and relaxed, I no longer dreaded going out. And fun fact: It took me a minute longer to run my 22-miler in training than it did the actual marathon.

Kai Ng, certified run coach, says the most common mistake runners make when they have a time goal is getting obsessed with goal pace and doing every run at that speed. This can not only mess with you mentally if you miss the pace, but also exhaust you, he says.

He also points out two major ways easy pace can pay off during training. The first: It helps to lower the risk of injury. “The faster we run, the more impact we create on our joints and the higher the risk of injury,” Ng says. And if you’re injured, you can’t run and therefore can’t get faster. “Easy runs keep you healthy because you’re only working at about 60 percent of your all-out effort.”

The second advantage of slower running: It allows you to go harder during speed workouts. “You can run fast all the time, but guess what? You will never hit a new top speed because you are so tired by the time you show up in the speed workout,” Ng explains. “But if you do most of your runs at an easy effort, you will show up to your speed workout and have enough energy to hit a brand-new top speed.”

In addition to my easy runs, I did even easier aerobic efforts on my bike nearly every Friday (and sometimes Monday). While I ran four days per week, many of the time-based RW training plans call for five or six. Instead of hitting every mile on the plan, I switched up my form of exercise. I think that not only kept me healthy but also kept up my motivation for running.

2. I Consistently Did Tempo Miles
Okay, for a few long runs, I did check my watch, but just for a couple of kilometres in the middle when I was vying for a tempo effort. I also clocked speed workouts every Wednesday, ranging from 400s to 1500m repeats.

I know these harder paces helped me physiologically – like by improving my lactate threshold and my VO₂ max, for example – but this is where I saw some of the biggest improvements in my mental game.

I don’t think I got comfortable with holding onto a harder pace for longer distances until this training cycle. By pushing my speed endurance in the longer workouts, I finally realised what it felt like to mentally accept discomfort… and still keep going.

Ng says tempo and threshold efforts will do this for runners. Because the effort lies just below too hard, it teaches you to “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” These runs show you that you can keep trekking while carrying that discomfort, allowing you to go farther and farther at a harder effort.

In addition to my long, slow runs, these workouts really gave me the confidence I needed for race day. I knew if I was still breathing well, running strong, and maintaining my posture, I could hold onto a more difficult pace.

This payoff definitely showed up in the later kilometres of the marathon. Even as I reached the 32km mark, my fastest split of the day, I knew I could keep running hard because I had practised it in training. I tuned into maintaining a stronger stride through those last 10km, and it allowed me to maintain a consistent speed that was faster than my previous marathon finishes.

3. I Added More Weekly Kilometres to My Schedule
I never reached a 65-kilometre training week until a couple of weeks before my 2024 marathon. In my last buildup, I only ran three days a week. It’s what worked for me at the time, as I preferred to run every other day. But in this block, I got to a point where I comfortably ran Tuesday through Thursday, and then did a long run on the weekend. Adding those extra kilometres seemed to pay off.

“Runners, especially everyday people who work a 9-to-5 job, believe that endurance is only built on the long run,” Ng says. So they skip midweek workouts. But in reality, he emphasises, a lot of your endurance is based on your weekly mileage.

Meyer agrees, saying easy runs (including conversationally paced long runs) make up a bulk of your training block. “That’s where we build our aerobic endurance, increase mitochondrial density, and just get used to long time on feet,” he explains. “It also allows us to build our fitness while not stressing the body too much, giving us time to adapt to training load and recover from our harder sessions.”

Looking at training as a whole, not just the long runs or the speed workouts, also shows that it’s not just one workout that makes a difference in your performance, Meyer says.

“Yes, we want to have those confidence boosters throughout the cycle, but it’s truly the sum of our weeks of training that moves the needle,” he says. “One big killer run is never more important than the whole week, the whole month, etc. So, when we’re able to step back and take the macro view of our training, we can see how that week-to-week consistency is where the magic lives.”

Consistency is king when it comes to results, and I kept that up throughout training.

4. I Actually Practised My Fuelling Strategy
Never have I ever snacked on more salty crackers than I did the day before the marathon. In fact, I think I ate an entire box of Salticrax.

I also ordered extra rice at dinner (with a mix of chicken and veggies – my typical dinner, which I made sure to get at a restaurant I researched ahead of time), so I could snack on it before bed. You could say it was the most committed to carb loading I had ever been for a marathon (this was my fourth).

Like me, in addition to carb loading, you’ve probably also heard that you should practice your nutrition strategy throughout training, particularly during long runs. Of course, there’s a difference between hearing the advice and actually putting it into practice. But during this training cycle, I did.

You can’t outrun a bad fuelling plan. It will catch you and you will bonk your whole face off.

On every long run that lasted about 20km or more, I began fuelling five kilometres in and every fifth kilometre after that (so about every 30 minutes), taking half a gel. This way, I got in the recommended 30 to 60 grams of carbs per hour, without wrecking my stomach. (Some dietitians recommend even going up to 90 grams per hour!)

I tried the same gels throughout training as I used on race day, and followed that same strategy from start to finish. I counted out how many gels I would need to make it through the full marathon, brought two extras just in case, and made sure to eat them soon before a water station so I could wash them down with some hydration.

I never hit the wall, unlike my last attempt in NYC, in which I slowed down by kilometre 16, and way down by kilometre 32. Meyer puts it simply: “You can’t outrun a bad fuelling plan. It will catch you, and you will bonk your whole face off.”

5. I Started the Race at a Truly Easy Effort
Ng points out that while fuelling definitely plays a role in helping people hit their goal time, even if you took “a whole garbage bag full of gels” and started the race at a pace above your fitness level, you still won’t break the time barrier. In other words, the real secret to PB success is pacing strategically.

That holds true regardless of how well you trained (or fuelled): If you start too fast, you just won’t be able to hold on. “Athletes mistake feeling good for running a proper pace,” Ng explains. “If you’re somebody who doesn’t know how to maintain your composure during the race, you still won’t hit your goal.”

To avoid this, you need a pacing plan going into race day. “You can’t wing it, unless you are so in touch with your fitness, your feelings, and your body, and things like that, which is not easy,” Ng adds.

Meyer agrees, pointing out the most important skill when running a marathon: patience. “It’s a long and fickle distance that you will start out feeling great; you’re tapered and ready to rock. But patience is the key, and what might have felt great at kilometre three, might not feel the same at 32,” he says.

My game plan going into the race was to actually start a little below a 5:30/km pace. That’s mostly because I felt so good in training and my Garmin Race Predictor said I could clock a 3:40, so I used that as an indicator that I could go even faster than the sub-four pace. But I kept checking in with my breathing, my posture, and my effort level throughout the entire race, and especially in the first half. (My earbuds dying before the three-kilometre mark helped me look inward a little more!)

6. I Wrote Down My Goal, and Believed in It
I wanted to trust I could break four hours. My training was solid. I hit the paces (and then some) for my workouts, and I felt prepared to put in the effort on race day, despite how hard it might get. I wrote down in several journals: “I will break four hours in the marathon this year” to really put it out into the universe and remind myself of my capabilities.

The night before the marathon, I lay with my legs up the wall in my hotel room, focusing on deep breathing and visualising the race. I pictured myself conquering tough stretches of the course, like the quieter streets of Brooklyn, the incline and sounds of heavy breathing on the Queensborough Bridge, and maintaining speed through the nearly 1.5km hill that kicks in around kilometre 37. That personal reassurance and positive self-talk tipped my confidence in the right direction…a much different feeling from when I stood on the starting line in 2021, talking myself out of my ability to break four.

I carried that confidence through every kilometre on the route, while having fun high-fiving spectators and hugging friends. I finished even faster than I thought possible for me – a boost to my athletic ego – and still enjoyed the adventure of racing through the five boroughs of New York City. I couldn’t have had a much better day. So maybe now I can retire from the distance.

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

The post I Broke 4 Hours in the Marathon Thanks to these Training Tweaks appeared first on Runner's World.

…runners can look forward to many enhancements designed to deliver an even better race-day experience.

The 2026 edition marks an exciting new chapter. While the event builds on its reputation as one of Gauteng’s premier road races, runners can look forward to many enhancements designed to deliver an even better race-day experience.

A brand-new start and finish venue at Rietondale High School will provide a spacious race village, easier access, improved spectator viewing areas and a vibrant atmosphere where runners, supporters and exhibitors can come together to celebrate the sport.

The route itself has also been refined. Fast, predominantly flat and scenic, it winds through Pretoria’s beautiful eastern suburbs beneath the city’s famous Jacaranda trees in full bloom. Whether you’re chasing an early Comrades Marathon or Two Oceans Marathon qualifier, aiming for a personal best, or simply enjoying a memorable morning on the road, this route offers something special for every runner.

The organisers have also focused on improving the flow of the event from the moment participants arrive at the start line. Improved start procedures will ensure a smooth and enjoyable race-day experience, and will include a seeded corral start system. 

Although the new venue provides a wide starting area, the staggered start will improve runner flow, reduce congestion, and enhance service at refreshment stations along the route. Official seeding and wave starts will be introduced for the 10 km, 21.1 km, and 42.2 km races, with runners allocated to seeded corrals based on their qualifying performances.

aQuellé, the Official Hydration Sponsor, will welcome runners at the finish with refreshing hydration, supported by enthusiastic volunteers who will cheer participants on as they cross the finish line.

Whether you’re an experienced marathoner or taking on your very first race, there’s a distance to match your goal:

• 42.2 km Marathon – 06:00
• 21.1 km Half Marathon – 06:00
• 10 km Run – 06:10
• 5 km Fun Run/Walk – 06:20

The event will again host the AGN Marathon Championships, adding further prestige to an already impressive race calendar.

Beyond the competition, the event is about bringing the running community together. Athletics clubs from across South Africa, families lining the route, passionate volunteers and thousands of runners combine to create an atmosphere that is welcoming, energetic and uniquely Pretoria.

Participants entering online can also purchase the official 2026 event T-shirt, while every finisher will receive a brand-new commemorative medal to celebrate their achievement.

As the Sportsvendo team explains: “We’re not chasing the title of South Africa’s largest marathon again. Our focus is on creating the greatest marathon experience for every runner and walker in 2026.”

Whether you’re chasing a qualification, a personal best or simply looking for an unforgettable spring race, the aQuellé Jacaranda City Marathon Challenge 2026 offers the perfect opportunity to experience Pretoria at its purple best.

This October, gather your running club, training partners, family and friends and discover why thousands of runners are choosing to run through the Jacaranda City. Entries close on 20 October 2026, unless the race reaches its capacity before the closing date.

Information Websites: www.sportsvendo.co.za www.farananiac.co.za www.entryninja.com

ENTER NOW!

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Not only does it offer a chance to smell salt air and listen to waves crash as the miles tick by, but running on the sand also provides strength and endurance benefits that you don’t get from your usual daily training.

…running on the sand also provides strength and endurance benefits that you don’t get from your usual daily training.

When you run on firm ground, you absorb less elastic energy – which is stored in your tendons – compared with when you run on a soft surface like sand. This means you don’t have to work as hard, says Martyn Binnie, PhD, a performance scientist and sports physiologist at the Western Australian Institute of Sport.

But because sand absorbs more of that energy, you have to generate more force with your muscles to keep moving forward. How much more force? A study published in The Journal of Experimental Biology found that running on sand requires at least 1.6 times as much energy expenditure as running on a firmer surface.

Soft, loose sand is where you’ll score the most benefits, says Binnie, but even firm, packed-down sand can boost your performance. “Firm sand near the water is still about 5 to 10 percent softer than grass,” he explains. “But if you want the big benefits, you need to aim for the soft stuff.”

Tougher workouts aren’t the only benefit of hitting the sand. Experts offer insight on the strength and stability gains you can reap from miles on the shoreline, as well as the risks, so you can make the most of your runs on the beach this summer.

Benefits of Running on the Beach
When you run on sand, your hip- and knee-stabilising muscles work nearly twice as hard, according to a study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology. That increased effort raises both your heart rate and blood lactate threshold, says Binnie. This means your cardiovascular system gets a greater stimulus, without the added stress of having to run faster or farther.

Additionally, we change our mechanics when we run on sand. According to Binnie, we naturally adopt a different technique and vary our range of motion to avoid slipping sideways and backwards. And interestingly enough, when we do this, the joint angles around the hip, knee, and ankle are similar to those normally seen during faster running speeds on firm ground.

What does all this mean? Binnie says, theoretically, that if you want to improve your speed, running on the beach can help augment those helpful training adaptations.

Does Running on Sand Reduce Injuries?
Sand is markedly softer and more compliant than the roads and sidewalks, and it beats even grass, a gentler surface many runners turn to,by a large margin. “With every foot strike, there is almost four times less impact force on soft sand versus firmer ground like grass,” says Binnie. And those greater impact forces may be linked to muscle damage.

In a small study coauthored by Binnie, researchers found that blood levels of myoglobin, a marker of muscle damage, were significantly greater after running on grass than after running on sand. Keep in mind that lower impact forces do not directly translate to lower injury risk. This is because running injuries depend on a multitude of factors, such as training load, individual biomechanics, and recovery (just to name a few).

That said, recent research does show that softer surfaces reduce the amount of shock that travels through the shin upon foot strike. As a result, researchers believe this could help reduce the risk of tibial bone stress injuries for some runners.

But there’s a flip side, too. While the risk of tibial bone stress injuries may be lower, the chances of other injuries—like a sprained ankle or tendinopathy – rise, says Armin Tehrany, MD, an orthopaedic surgeon and founder of Manhattan Orthopaedic Care. An uneven surface and constantly shifting ground underfoot are to blame, he explains. But as long as you exercise caution, those are two factors that can also enhance your workout.

“You’ll have to work harder [to stay balanced], and as a result, you will get a better workout if you spend the same amount of time on sand,” he says.

In a small study published in the Journal of Sport Sciences, researchers implemented a preseason conditioning program in which athletes trained on sand and grass surfaces. At the end of eight weeks, the athletes who trained on sand had significantly greater increases in VO₂ max compared with the grass athletes. And despite the greater effort required for sand training, those athletes reported roughly 10 percent less muscle soreness than those training on grass.

Risks of Beach Running
You should, of course, be smart about clocking miles on sand. Ease into any new training technique slowly to minimise soreness and reduce injury risk. Always warm up before your beach runs, giving special attention to your calves, hamstrings, and glutes, as you activate these muscle groups even more on the sand than you do on the pavement. And most importantly, go slower than you think you have to.

Because sand is harder to run on, Binnie suggests giving your body two weeks to adjust before increasing time and intensity. Tehrany suggests also aiming for time, not distance. That way, you’ll get a more challenging workout in the same number of minutes than you would on the road.

Finally, when it comes to running barefoot, Tehrany says to think twice before ditching your shoes. Keeping them on makes an ankle or foot injury less likely because your shoes act as an ankle stabiliser and provide the elevated heel and arch support that your feet are used to, he explains. Additionally, they provide protection against shells, rocks, and any stray glass or sharp objects buried in the sand.

If you don’t want to lace up your daily trainers, it can be a good idea to opt for a minimalist shoe. Having at least a thin rubber sole between your foot and the sand gives you some protection, while also allowing for more flexibility underfoot. (But know you need to ease into this type of shoe, too, if you haven’t run much in them before!)

What Workouts Should I Do on the Beach?
How often you hit the beach, and in which way, depends on your personal fitness and goals. So, if you’re just starting out on sand, don’t jump into an intense speed workout right away. Binnie suggests doing long, slow runs on the beach when you’re not gearing up for a road race.

“The greatest difference in energy cost between sand and firm surfaces occurs at slower running speeds, as you spend more time in contact with the surface during foot strike,” he explains.

You don’t even have to commit to a full run on the beach to reap some benefits. A great way to start can be as simple as doing your usual run on the roads and finishing the effort with a series of strides on the sand.

Tips for Running on the Beach
Check the Tides
A low tide creates the most level, hard-packed surface for running. As the water ebbs, it leaves hardening sand behind that’s still forgiving, similar to a soft trail underfoot. Ideally, you want to run at the lowest tide of the day, or an hour or two around the lowest point, and stay close to the water’s edge without getting your feet wet. In beach communities, local newspapers print high and low tide times each day, and there are several mobile apps and online resources for tide charts.

Be Mindful of Your Knees
Some beaches have more slanted surfaces than others, but even the most level beaches, at the lowest tides, have some slant to them. And generally speaking, the higher the tide, the more angled the sand, which can wreak havoc on your knees and hips. Make sure you run both directions on the beach to allow both legs to manage the unevenness. If you feel any knee or hip pain, stick to the roads or level trails.

Gear Up
Sunscreen is essential to protect yourself from the reflective rays coming off the water as well as the rays from directly overhead. Sunglasses and a hat or visor are also helpful in keeping you comfortable and focused on your run. Because sand can get in your shoes, wear socks that ward off blisters. If your sock and shoe combo still isn’t abating the rub, try a lubricant, especially when you’re headed out for a longer run or if you expect your feet to get wet.

Take Advantage of Where You Are
Nothing caps off a run on the beach better than a jump in the ocean (and thank goodness for quick-dry gear).

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

The post Running on the Beach Can Boost Your Fitness appeared first on Runner's World.

In other words, your entire training plan should prepare you for the last 10km (or so) where your legs get heavy, and you’re fighting to get to the line.

“The last few kilometres are definitely a different breed, and people react either one of two ways,” says Christine Rockey, RRCA-certified run coach, certification instructor, and principal lecturer at a US University. Runners are either extra motivated to push to the finish line and get it done, or they trek through the final miles in agony, wondering how they’ll possibly make it to the end, she explains.

You don’t have to let fear around the final kilometres get in the way of having a successful race finish. From specific workouts to minor lifestyle tweaks, these training tactics help you hold your pace in the late stage of the marathon and confidently pass competitors as you cross the finish line.

1. Simulate Late-Race Fatigue
Incorporating specific workouts that target fatigue resistance is a straightforward way to prepare your body and mind for the final miles of the marathon.

Rosetti generally recommends incorporating one of these workouts every three to four weeks throughout your buildup. You can choose which workouts are best for you, but remember that a marathon-pace long run can act as a good way to test your fitness when you’re about a month out from race day, to see if you’re really prepared to hold your goal race pace.

Marathon Pace Workout
Why it works: Every runner should include marathon pace miles somewhere in their training, Rockey agrees, particularly in the later parts of long runs. She explains a marathon pace long run builds the confidence you need to hold your speed when you fatigue.

Marathon pace should feel just a notch above easy pace or about a 5 or 6 on a scale of 1 to 10 for rate of perceived exertion (RPE), with 10 being maximum effort. Easy pace hits around a 3. “If you’re finding your marathon pace is hard in a long run, especially if you’re only doing eight kilometres at that marathon pace, then you might need to reconsider your goal marathon pace,” to something more manageable, says Rockey.

How to do it:

1. 5km at easy pace to warm up (RPE 3)
2. 8km at goal marathon pace (RPE 5)
3. 5km at easy pace to cool down (RPE 3)

Progression Run
Why it works: Rockey also finds long progression runs help make you a more successful, consistent runner. “We encourage our athletes to run negative splits because that means you’re not pushing it too hard in the beginning,” Rockey says, which sometimes leads people to fall off their paces by the end of their efforts.

This workout teaches you how to aim for negative splits and avoid starting too fast before you get to the end of your effort, Rockey explains. Because you’re only going as fast as your marathon pace, you should be able to hold that effort without burning out.

How to do it:

1. 8km at an easy pace to warm up (RPE 3)
2. Decrease your pace by about 15 seconds every 3km for about 6 to 12km, depending on where you’re at in your plan for your weekly long run (RPE 5-6)
3. 8km at an easy pace to cool down (RPE 3)

Threshold Work
Why it works: Threshold pace generally improves your speed endurance and helps you hold onto faster paces through fatigue, Rosetti says.

A threshold kilometre in the middle of a long run – though a pace you’ll never touch in the marathon – leads to fatigue but doesn’t fully burn you out, he adds. The downshift back to goal marathon pace at the end gives you the confidence you can handle running marathon pace when you’re really tired. This makes you a more well-rounded runner by adding variation of paces to your training, improving endurance and fatigue resistance at once.

As an example, a four-hour marathoner running at least 50km per week might consider the following:

1. 1.5km at easy pace (RPE 3)
2. 6.5km at goal marathon pace (RPE 5)
3. 1.5km at threshold pace (can stick to 30-35 seconds faster than goal marathon pace, or roughly an RPE 7)
4. 6.5km at goal marathon pace (RPE 5)
5. 1.5km at easy pace (RPE 3)

Bunched Long Runs
Another method to simulate fatigue would be opting for a bunched long run, Rosetti suggests, where you run 16km at easy pace, then 12 to 15 hours later, run 16 to 20km at your goal marathon pace. Within that timeframe, you’re bunching them close enough together to give yourself a break and reduce the risk of injury, while still physiologically running on fatigue in the second session.

2. Spend More Time on Feet Outside of Running
While logging a 20- to 22-mile peak week long run is a classic way to prepare for the marathon, Rockey says another aspect to consider is what you’re doing outside of those long runs. Instead of immediately spending the rest of your weekend horizontal on the couch or remaining sedentary, Rockey suggests doing something else mildly active for the rest of the day after your long runs to mimic continued fatigue in your legs. This goes for easy runs and harder workouts, too.

Spending more time on your feet can look like regular weekend activities, including taking your kids to soccer practice or grocery shopping, standing or taking walk breaks more often at a desk job, or even going for a daily walk. This can also help promote blood flow in your leg muscles to help with recovery and avoid getting too stiff or sore.

3. Lock in Your Running Mechanics
Long runs and spending time on your feet help condition you to handle running through late-race fatigue, but homing in on your running mechanics is also a crucial piece to preventing form breakdown late in a race, Rosetti says. One way to do that is through short, fast repetitions, like a 200 metre workout.

“For a marathon, you want to be as economical as possible, so you’re not wasting energy,” Rosetti says. “If you’re very inefficient and waste a lot of energy, then you’re going to suffer more at the end of these long races.”

200 metre workout:

1. Warm up with 1.5 to 3km of easy running
2. 8 x 200 metre repeats near your mile pace, with 200 metre jogging recovery between
3. Cool down with 1.5 to 3km of easy running

Rosetti explains that incorporating short speedwork that makes up about five percent of your weekly mileage from the beginning of your training plan helps establish a solid running economy before getting into mileage increases and longer runs.

“No matter what race you’re training for, all these different workouts work as sort of a family to improve your fitness for the endurance event,” says Rosetti. “That’s the best way to improve your economy, so you need to be doing that in conjunction with your other types of workouts and long runs.”

4. Fuel From the Start of Training
The earlier in your training that you can start fuelling, the better off you’ll be in the final miles, our experts agree. Aim to grab fuel on your first long run, especially those longer than 90 minutes and even those that include marathon or threshold miles (especially those!). The typical recommendation is 30 to 60 grams of carbs per hour, but that can go up to 90 grams for race day. The key is starting small and working your way up to taking in more fuel.

Rockey adds that we typically can store about 2,000 calories in our systems at a time, which will get many runners to around mile 20, or when most runners tend to hit the wall. But you want to practice taking in fuel well before your stores are empty.

Rosetti urges runners to consider training your gut from day one of training so your body gets a chance to become more efficient at storing and processing fuel on your runs. Many runners don’t practice fueling enough and then wind up running underfueled and falsely attribute their race-day issues to undertraining. “You could do all these long runs, do the rep work, do all the right training, but if you’re not getting enough carbs per hour, forget it,” he says.

5. Create a Mental Plan
Every runner needs a mental plan or mantra to dig deep during hard miles. There’s a reason for the saying, “When your legs get tired, run with your heart.” Rockey’s go-to tip for pushing through is doing mental math, specifically figuring out how long it takes her to complete a kilometre. For runners who aren’t super fond of mental math, you may also recite your favourite poem or song lyrics, Rockey adds.

Trying out a few different mental tricks throughout training, like during your marathon pace training runs, will help you land on a mantra or method to push through exhaustion in the final miles.

6. Consider Your Hard Work
Remember: The final kilometres of the marathon only last a matter of minutes compared to the months of training it took to get there. Most marathon training plans require at least 12 weeks of training, but often 16 weeks or more – that’s four to five months of regular running, which allowed you to get stronger and faster.

Your performance in the final kilometres is built from months of training where you’re tired, busy, recovering, and putting in the work – not from one epic long run, Rosetti explains. So trust in how much time you’ve given yourself to train and the adaptations that happened along the way. Think back on all the runs you pushed through to get to the finish and celebrate those months of hard work!

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

The post Worried About the Final Marathon Miles? Train to Finish Strong appeared first on Runner's World.

After returning to South Africa in 2023 with a sub-four-minute mile and a 13:28.95 personal best over 5000m, earned during a highly competitive US NCAA college career, Kusche set about building his credentials on the road.

A 28:56 at the Absa Run Your City Gqeberha 10K in 2024 was followed by a 2:20:12 42.2km debut at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon six months later, and fourth position at last year’s Soweto Marathon signalled that his transition from track to road athlete was complete. On 14 June, Kusche celebrated a record-breaking run at the 99th edition of The Ultimate Human Race (Comrades Marathon), when he clocked 5:15:56 to smash the previous Up Run record by more than eight minutes.

The 28-year-old reveals that 10km running remains the basis of his ultra-marathon success, which is why Kusche is eager to test himself against the speed merchants at the Tshwane event.

“It’s very important for me to run a fast 10km because I train as a marathon athlete year-round and then I just switch to Comrades-specific training in March. And if you want to be a good marathoner, you must be able to run a good 10km. So I’m hoping to be able to run a good race in Tshwane. I’d love to see if I can run sub-30 minutes, which should be a good time at altitude. I’m curious to see how well I can do. I’m in decent shape, and I’m really looking forward to this.”

If Kusche can break 30 minutes, then he could find himself in the lead bunch running alongside the likes of Kenya’s Salem Kibet. Last year only ten men were able to break the 30-minute barrier at the notoriously hilly course, where Kibet will line up as one of the pre-race favourites.

After taking second place behind the iconic Joshua Cheptegei at last month’s Absa Run Your City in Durban, in a lifetime best of 27:29, Kibet is hopeful of securing victory this time around.

“My target is to improve on my performance from Durban and compete for the win,” says Kibet. “Finishing second in Durban was not easy, especially running alongside a great athlete like Joshua Cheptegei. That experience taught me a lot. I thank God for the opportunity, and I am looking forward to giving my best in Tshwane.”

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Building on the trusted DNA of the original Genesis, this new edition refines the platform with increased responsiveness, improved grip and an updated chassis construction to create a more fluid, confident ride on challenging terrain.

…delivering cushioned landing and energetic rebound while maintaining the stability needed on technical terrain.

Genesis 2 has an updated optiFOAM midsole, delivering cushioned landing and energetic rebound while maintaining the stability needed on technical terrain. Combined with an improved rocker geometry, the platform promotes smoother transitions and a more dynamic stride, helping runners maintain rhythm and efficiency across varied surfaces and changing elevations.

To reinforce confidence on uneven terrain, Salomon redesigned the activeCHASSIS™ system. Integrated into the midsole construction, it provides guided support and stability while preserving freedom of movement, allowing runners to move naturally and confidently through technical sections, rocky descents and unstable ground.

Underfoot, the updated All Terrain contaGRIP® outsole has been developed to deliver reliable traction in all conditions. Featuring a revised lug geometry with 4mm lugs, the outsole improves grip on all terrains.

The upper features a lightweight, breathable Matryx® construction, woven from durable technical fibres to resist abrasion while maintaining airflow and flexibility. Built for demanding environments, it balances long-lasting durability with breathable comfort, making the Genesis 2 especially suited for warm weather, humid conditions and extended days on trails.

This shoe is ideal for:

Runners who want a single shoe capable of tackling varied terrain with confidence: the Genesis 2 makes a compelling case as an all-round trail companion.

What’s been updated:

• Improved rocker geometry and cushioning thanks to an optiFOAM midsole.
• New fully integrated activeCHASSIS and wider midsole platform for stability.
• A new outsole design delivers enhanced grip even in wet, muddy conditions.
• New and Light Matryx upper for a more breathable and durable shoe – ideal for hot and humid conditions.

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The short answer is yes, it is possible to run too much, and the correct dose varies from runner to runner and depends on a variety of factors. But as long as you’re listening to your body and not overdoing it, you’ll gain some serious health advantages from clocking miles on the regular.

“If running or exercise were a pill, it would be the most widely prescribed drug in the world for all of the benefits for your health that it has…”

“If running or exercise were a pill, it would be the most widely prescribed drug in the world for all of the benefits for your health that it has,” Todd Buckingham, PhD, a professor of exercise science at an American University, tells Runner’s World. “Exercise really is medicine, and running is medicine,” he says.

If you’re wondering about the effects of your daily dose, here’s a list of all the benefits that you can gain when you make running every day a regular habit. Let this list give you the drive to keep putting in those miles.

1. Better Heart Health
As a new runner, those first couple of runs can be brutal. Your breathing is laboured, and your heart feels like it’s pounding against your chest. Meanwhile, your legs are barely moving. But a couple of weeks into your training, breathing becomes easier, and that heart-pounding sensation lessens as your feet pick up the pace.

If you wear a fitness tracker, you may even notice a dip in your heart rate while you hit the same paces. “The heart is a muscle, just like every other muscle in the body. The more that you train it, the stronger it’s going to get,” Buckingham says.

He explains that running every day strengthens cardiac muscle tissue and causes the heart’s left ventricle, the chamber that forces oxygenated blood into the aorta (the artery that carries blood from the heart to the body), to increase in size. “There’s more space in that left ventricle to fill up with blood,” he says. “So not only is there more blood to be pumped out, but the heart is also stronger, so it can pump more blood out with each beat.”

As a result, your heart doesn’t have to work as hard to deliver oxygenated blood to your muscles. This is a boon for both your daily runs and your overall heart health, and you benefit the most when you run consistently.

2. Stronger Muscles
When you pound the pavement, treadmill, or trail day after day, your muscles, specifically the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, soleus, and gastrocnemius (those last two are your calf muscles), respond to the stimulus being imposed upon them.

“The muscle is damaged, and that means that the body has to repair the damaged muscles so that the same run doesn’t have the same effect that it did last time,” Buckingham says. Essentially, the muscles are rebuilt bigger and stronger.

But unless your workouts consist of sprint intervals paired with resistance training, don’t expect to bulk up. Running long distances (even just a mile or more) at a sustainable pace primarily engages type I muscle fibres, which are good at resisting fatigue but are smaller in size. (Type II fibres, which are quick to fatigue but generate more force and power, are generally responsible for visible muscle growth.)

“You might see a little bit of increase in [muscle] size with distance running, but it’s not going to be as pronounced. Type I muscle fibres can get bigger, but not to the same extent as those type II fibres,” Buckingham explains.

Just keep in mind that building type II fibres, via those hill runs and sprints, along with strength workouts, can not only help build and maintain healthy muscle but can also improve your running performance.

3. More Resilient Tendons and Ligaments
Your body’s connective tissues, namely the tendons and ligaments, will also adapt to withstand the daily stress of running—probably even more than our muscles, just not as quickly. “The reason for this is that tendons and ligaments don’t have the same amount of blood flow that the muscles do, so it takes them longer to adapt,” Buckingham says.

While your muscles may begin to change a couple of weeks into a daily running streak, it could take three to four months for your tendons and ligaments to catch up, he says.

To prevent overuse injuries, it’s best to begin a streak with a conservative goal (1.5 to 2km a day is a good place to start, says Buckingham) and gradually build upon that foundation. The general rule of thumb is to increase your mileage by no more than 10 percent each week, but Buckingham notes that this can vary depending on the athlete, their experience, and their mileage. If you’re new to running, you might want to make it even more conservative than that.

Avoiding long breaks is helpful for your connective tissues, says RRCA-certified run coach and physical therapist assistant Alison Staples. “Tendons need to be loaded consistently to learn how to accept the impact of running,” she says. “Running sporadically often leads to injury because we haven’t practised loading our tendons enough before tacking on mileage.”

4. More Efficient Nervous System
Buckingham compares the nervous system to a maze. “The first time you do it, you’re going to take a lot of wrong turns and end up doing extra work,” he says. But over time, you learn the most direct path from point A to point B.

Similarly, the first few times you go out for a run, your neuromuscular connections will fire inefficiently, as one nerve fibre connects to multiple muscle fibres. Muscle fibres that don’t need to contract will be stimulated, resulting in wasted energy. However, with consistent running, your nervous system eventually adapts and learns the optimal route so everything works more efficiently, and you sidestep aches and pains.

Research backs this up, too, suggesting that consistent running trains your central nervous system to adapt to the demands of running and become more efficient over time.

“The more you run, the more efficient you’re going to become [at running] because you’re teaching the body which muscle fibres should be firing and which shouldn’t,” Buckingham says.

5. Sharper Mind
Running boosts circulation, increasing blood flow to the brain and delivering the nutrients you need to think and function. But exercise has also been shown to promote the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein important to brain function and memory.

“BDNF actually increases the brain’s ability to form new synapses, or connections, in the brain,” Buckingham says. “This helps with learning and memory. It makes it easier to absorb information and form long-term memories. The more BDNF that somebody has, the more the memory improves in function and capacity.”

According to Buckingham, the effects of increased BDNF are cumulative, but you may feel mentally sharper and more alert after just a few days of running. You might even experience the effects during a run, when you reach a meditative state or problem-solve an issue that’s been bothering you.

6. Improved Mental Health
BDNF can also help mitigate stress. “It doesn’t decrease stress hormones, but it does decrease the number of stress receptors,” Buckingham says. “And this could minimise the effect of those stress hormones in the brain.”

Add that to an exercise-induced endorphin release, and you have a recipe for an improved mood. In fact, research shows just 10 minutes of running can enhance your happiness.

When Staples does a run streak, she says she can notice the difference in her headspace: “Running a mile every day has been a huge boost in my mood and motivation,” she explains. “My one mile a day is my own form of non-negotiable self-care.”

7. Better Body Awareness
Spending more time on your feet can raise your body awareness, particularly to how your body is responding to running every day as opposed to every other day, five days a week, or only on weekends.

Regardless of your experience level, it is possible to take on too much too soon. Low energy, a high resting heart rate, and slower run paces are all indications you could be clocking too many miles per day. Keep in mind that when you change your running routine, some soreness is to be expected as your body begins to adapt to running every day (see above on the advantages to your nervous system). However, you should be able to press along the muscles in your back and legs with virtually no discomfort.

Also, overtraining symptoms can vary, but fatigue, sleep disruption, decreased motivation, poor mood, and overuse injuries are common symptoms. Bad runs happen, but taking time to reflect and figure out what went wrong, and most importantly, taking a few days off when you need it, can help you stick with your running routine in the long term. Don’t push through pain to maintain a daily habit.

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

The post 7 Ways Your Body and Mind Change When You Run Every Day appeared first on Runner's World.

After running 3:42.66 at the London Diamond League on Saturday and taking down Hicham El Guerrouj’s 27-year-old mile mark, Kerr wrote in a first-person Telegraph column that he celebrated with one beer, slept very little, and then got up for a 5am run. By then, another record was already in his head.

…he celebrated with one beer, slept very little, and then got up for a 5am run.

“I was soon thinking about a certain 1500-metre world record that has stood since 1998, one year longer than the mile,” Kerr wrote. El Guerrouj’s 3:26.00 remains the mark to catch, and Kerr isn’t exactly coming from nowhere. Kerr split 3:27.70 through 1500 meters en route to his mile world record on Saturday, which is the seventh-fastest time in history, according to World Athletics.

His wife, Larimar, was apparently not ready to move on quite as quickly. Kerr wrote that when he told her, “It’s on,” she replied, “Can you just give us 12 hours before you set another goal?”

Kerr didn’t need 12 hours. “I could, but the iron’s hot,” he wrote.

The 1500-metre world record would be a brutal follow-up act. World Athletics scoring tables list El Guerrouj’s 3:26.00 at 1302 points. Kerr’s new mile world record is listed at 1298 points, while El Guerrouj’s old mile record was worth 1292. By that measure, the 1500-metre mark is still the slightly bigger target.

Kerr isn’t pretending the attempt is already locked in. In the Telegraph, he wrote that no decision has been made and that “things would have to be put in place with the right 1500m race.” Still, he added, “I do think that it is in the legs.”

His coach, Danny Mackey, doesn’t appear to be shutting down the ambition. Kerr wrote that Mackey sees another record chase as realistic, though the coach also permitted him to choose something far less painful, understanding if Kerr wanted to take a proper vacation instead.

That doesn’t sound like Kerr’s preferred ending, though, as he wrote 3:25 for 1500 meters “could be on the cards this season, most likely in one of the remaining Diamond League races.” Kerr’s own words make it clear where his head is. One El Guerrouj record is finally gone, and he’s already talking about the next one.

This article was first published on the Runner’s World USA website.

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At 27, George Kusche has pulled off one of the fastest rises in Comrades Marathon history. The Pretoria-based data scientist finished 12th in his Comrades debut in 2025, then returned a year later and smashed the 18-year-old ‘Up’ record, crossing the line in Pietermaritzburg in 5:16:06. Amazingly, he coached himself using his own data analysis and a training platform he built on the side.

Rachael Beaton: Let’s start with the basics. You’re a full-time data scientist, you have a wife and a son (George Junior), and you… just won Comrades. What does a normal day look like?
George Kusche: I’m in the office three days a week, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and work from home on Wednesday and Friday. On office days, I wake up between 3:30 and 4am, start running in Joburg from around 4:30, then shower at the Planet Fitness in Sandton before starting work at 8. I finish around 4pm, drive home, and have dinner with my family.

I don’t really double up on those days. Even if I wasn’t running, I’d have to leave early to beat the traffic anyway, so I’m not losing family time to training. On work-from-home days, I still run in the morning, but I’m more relaxed about it. I can eat breakfast, start work a bit later, and if I need a second session, that’s the day I’ll do it.

RB: Being a data scientist clearly shapes how you train. What’s the most common mistake you see Comrades runners making in their training?
GK: Being too fixated on fancy workouts, trying to tick every box. A threshold session, a VO2 max workout, hill repeats, a tempo run – all in the same week. I don’t think you need all of that, and I don’t even do it myself. Take a simpler approach, whether you’re a social runner or an elite, but know why you’re doing what you’re doing, rather than just following a formula.

Most people should run easier and slower than they think. I do a lot of my running at 5 minutes a kilometre – sometimes slower, if I’m tired. I’m not worried about how it looks on Strava, because I’m playing the long game.

RB: You were chasing a pro track career in the US before this, and then took a full year completely off running. What was the logic there?
GK: The logic was that I was done with running! I was chasing a pro career, underperformed, and got mono [Mononucleosis – which we know as glandular fever – is a contagious viral illness characterised by extreme fatigue, severe sore throat, and swollen lymph nodes. – Ed]. The bad thing about mono is you don’t necessarily feel sick; you’re just extremely fatigued.

I kept training through it, and my performances fell off a cliff. I went from running six 400m reps at 52 seconds to not being able to run one in 60. That took the enjoyment out of it completely. I recovered and had a decent final NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association] year, but nowhere near what I knew I was capable of.

Then… life happened. I had to get a job and grow up, and I thought, why keep chasing something that clearly wasn’t working out? So I stopped – completely – and told myself I was done forever. I lifted weights instead – bench, deadlift, squats – got strong, got bored, and put on a lot of weight. I was 86kg in October 2023!

RB: And now?
GK: 62kg.

RB: Wow…
GK: But I missed running, and I figured, I’ve already stopped completely, so why not just try again? It’s better than never running again.
I didn’t think I’d ever run Comrades! I thought maybe I’d do a few local 10km and 21km races, and enjoy it as a serious amateur. I ran a 31-minute 10km to start, then a 21km, and I could feel myself improving every time I trained harder. Which felt good – like I had control over my own performance again.

I ran the Cape Town Marathon in October 2024, exactly a year after I picked running back up, in 2:20. It wasn’t incredible shape by any stretch, but it was the best I could do that day. Someone told me afterwards that time would have qualified me for the Comrades elite field, which I didn’t even know. That planted the idea.

I’m part of Nedbank Running Club, so I asked to be entered for the 2025 edition. Then, in January 2025, I tore an ankle ligament at a half marathon, and lost five weeks of training…

RB: And you still finished 12th on debut.
GK: I started training again at the end of February, weighing around 70 to 71kg, and did everything I could with the cards I’d been dealt. Twelfth was the best I could do on the day; I don’t think I could have pushed harder.

But afterwards, I thought, that’s a good start – so why not go all in? I’ve come a long way since October 2023. I sat by myself after that race, and decided to give it everything for the following year.

RB: When did it actually get hard for you, at Comrades?
GK: Around 52 to 56km. I saw a board saying 32km left, so I was about 53km in, and my legs started sending signals that they were tired. With about 25km to go, my left calf started cramping; every time I landed on that foot, it was like a stabbing pain. That’s when it got properly tough…

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RB: Obviously the average runner isn’t doing your kind of volume, but they’re juggling the same job, family and running triangle. What’s the one thing from your routine that scales down to a normal runner’s life?
GK: I put in more hours than the average runner, but the principle’s the same. Get it done early. It’s not convenient, and you’ll get slightly less sleep, but it’s better to sleep a bit less and get the training in than sleep in and skip it. As a social runner, you don’t need to double. Just get the run done in the morning and go about your day. Eat the frog first thing.

RB: In a previous interview, you said that in the closing kilometres of Comrades, you weren’t thinking about winning; you were afraid. And that fear actually produces better performances than confidence. Why does fear work better as a driver?
GK: It’s process-based thinking versus outcome-based thinking. Comrades is 85 to 90km. There’s no way you’ve repeatedly run that distance and feel comfortable with it. With a 5k, 10k or 21k, you can prepare by actually racing those distances, so by race day you’re confident you’re physically adapted and roughly know your pace.

Comrades is too complex for that. It’s too far, and there’s too much that can go wrong: cramps, a twisted ankle, fatigue, stomach issues. So I take the approach of being curious. I’ve done the training, and I want to see how well I can perform. Saying I’m going to win signals a level of confidence that a race this complex doesn’t really allow for.

RB: So you say that your long runs were mostly around 5 mins/km, but your Comrades pace was 3:38 mins/km. What’s the thinking there?
GK: Because I want to maximise my aerobic conditioning, and running at 3:40 puts me almost into an anaerobic state. I don’t think I need that stimulus, especially not for Comrades. If you run at race pace too often, you can’t sustain high volume over six months, and race pace is open-ended anyway. I genuinely didn’t think about running 3:38 before the race. I just focused on being in the best shape possible and executing on the day, and it came out at 3:38 per km.

I see a lot of runners get anxious in training, trying to prove to themselves they can hold race pace before race day, and I think that takes gains away from race day itself. I’d rather chase my threshold pace. I know if I can run a 64-minute half marathon comfortably, I can sustain a fast Comrades pace, without ever having specifically rehearsed that number.

RB: So if most of the week is easy, how many actual workouts, long run progressions, intervals, should be in there?
GK: For Comrades specifically, I did at most two hard sessions a week, but usually just one, on a Friday. Track intervals or around 20km of threshold work. Everything else was easy, including my long runs. I’ve never actually done a long run progression. There’s a lot of reading and trying to optimise a programme, but honestly it comes down to consistent volume.

RB: For the average runner without your background or your dashboards, how do they tell the difference between overtraining and just being uncomfortable?
GK: Track your resting heart rate. If it’s elevated for weeks at a stretch, that’s a sign you’re either sick or overtrained. If it’s low or normal, you’re probably fine. Then look at the quality of repeated workouts. I did the same session every Friday for four months before Comrades, and my heart rate stayed the same while my pace kept improving. If you’re overtrained, why would that be happening? Same with half marathon times. If they keep coming down without you working any harder, you’re not overtrained.

RB: Your background is middle distance running. Your winning move this year came from those surges on Inchanga. How much of that do you put down to your track background?
GK: The training structure I follow – Friday workouts, Sunday long runs, lifting on Mondays and Wednesdays – comes from my time as a shorter distance athlete in the US, and that helped a lot. But I had to reinvent myself as an athlete for Comrades. I didn’t touch the kind of speed work I would have back then. The surges on Inchanga were pure improvisation. I was running next to a strong athlete and could hear he was breathing harder than I was. So I figured if he was struggling, the rest of the field probably was too.

I didn’t want it to be a comfortable race, so I gradually picked up the pace, hoping the group would follow. If they didn’t, I’d just be burning my own matches. Luckily they came along. I did that four or five times, backing off in between, and on the fifth surge I just didn’t stop. That’s where I broke away. I caught Mbuti Mollo with around 8km left and ran as hard as I could to the finish.

RB: What does your diet look like on a normal training week?
GK: Coffee and rusks every morning, training or not. On long run days I’ll add a bagel before I head out. Then toast and eggs for breakfast, chicken and rice for lunch, and steak and vegetables for dinner.

RB: You’ve had stomach issues at Comrades two years running now. What do you think is causing it?
GK: I thought last year was a one-off, so I didn’t specifically try to prevent it this time. I think it’s the distance combined with carb intake. I topped out at about 90g of carbs an hour in training, but on race day it was closer to 120g. I’d rather flip that around and practise the higher number in training so I know it’s not the nutrition. It might just be the distance. I never really run that far in training, so to some degree it’s still an unknown for me. I’ll be more aggressive with nutrition training before the race, especially in long runs.

RB: You’ve also just launched a coaching platform, Go Run More. Tell me about that.
GK: It’s a software platform that a friend and I built. He’s an actuary with a strong interest in software engineering, and data science obviously overlaps a lot with that. It’s similar to TrainingPeaks, but it’s our own, and it incorporates things I used to track myself in the build-up to Comrades. Every run’s heart rate, distance and pace plotted on a 3D graph, so I could see where different types of workouts should sit. We formalised that into Go Run More.

The long-term goal is for coaches and athletes to be able to find each other on the platform. A high school coach, for example, could sign up and only take on high school athletes, or a parent could log in and see exactly what their kid was assigned and what they actually did. Since it’s our own platform, if someone wants a new feature, we can just build it. For now, I’m the only coach. I’ve taken on a few athletes as testers, and we’re planning to officially launch to the public in September.

RB: What’s different about your coaching compared to the hundreds of other Comrades coaches out there?
GK: Well, it obviously works. I coached myself, and it worked. I’d say the other big thing is making intuitive adaptations rather than sticking to a rigid plan. Plenty of coaches have the knowledge, but adapting on the fly is where it actually gets hard, because there’s no universal right answer. Compound those decisions over five years, and that’s where coaching genuinely adds value. It’s like investing. One decision won’t move your portfolio much, but all of them over 10 years matter a lot.

RB: If you were coaching someone to their first Comrades, or to a PB, what would be the top things you’d have them focus on?
GK: Consistency, without a doubt, is the most powerful thing. I’d want to help keep them accountable, because knowing someone’s invested in what you’re doing helps you stay consistent. Then easy volume, with a few specific workouts mixed in, and being very careful not to overdo the intensity. Telling someone to do hills today, threshold tomorrow, tempo the day after – that’s lazy coaching. I’d rather someone be slightly undertrained than overtrained, to borrow from Bruce Fordyce.

RB: In a previous interview you said you’re hoping to follow in Gerda Steyn’s footsteps. She’s just won her fifth Comrades title. Realistically, what does the next decade of Comrades look like for you?
GK: I think I’ll be running Comrades until I’m 40, with the exception of Olympic years. I’d like to try to qualify for the marathon at the Olympics. 2028 would be the right time. I’m running the Amsterdam Marathon in October this year. Not looking to qualify yet, but if I can take a step in that direction, I’ll be happy.

RB: And coming back to defend next year, are you chasing the record again, chasing the win, or just chasing your best?
GK: Process, again. I’m going back to the drawing board to see how well I can prepare. You can never recreate exactly what you did before. I need to become a new, better athlete capable of winning again, without trying to copy last year’s training, because that’s when mistakes creep in. New year, new race, new me, in a sense. I won’t be focused on winning or on a time; both of those are outcome-based. I’m focused on preparing well and executing on the day. If I do that, I trust the results will follow.

RB: Last few. I put a call out on my socials for questions. First one’s my favourite. Are you okay?
GK: Yeah, I’m okay. Why, what indication am I giving that I’m not?

RB: You run Comrades, George. I think they’re checking on you mentally.
GK: Fair, probably not, then.

RB: Top tip to stay injury-free?
GK: Reduce intensity. A lot of injuries come from hard workouts done without knowing why you’re doing them. Replace your shoes at least every 700km. And eat enough… don’t underfuel. That’s a big one too.

RB: What’s more boring, George: Running on a treadmill, or actuarial science?
GK: Running on a treadmill, easily. Not even close. I haven’t touched one in years… It’s the worst.

RB: Should amateur runners be obsessing over Zone 2?
GK: Not really. I don’t even know exactly what Zone 2 means for me. Focus on running easy and increasing your volume over time in a sustainable way, which does mean running easy for about 90% of what you do. Just don’t try to run as much as possible next week; build it up.

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The sartorius is unique. Not only is it the longest muscle in the body, but it also crosses two joints (the hip and knee), Christopher Hicks, MD, a sports medicine physician with Northwestern Medicine Group, tells Runner’s World. That makes it highly active during most phases of your run stride, and therefore at risk of pain and cramping.

We break down what you need to know to run ache-free, including the best at-home treatment options.

If the pain is chronic, a physical therapist or run coach can check your form, because simple tweaks can take some strain off your sartorius and resolve pain. “Are you internally rotating your hips when you run? Are you overstriding? They can assess your form and help you fix your biomechanics,” Simon says.

However, you might be able to make some fixes on your own. The goal: Stretch the muscles on the front of the body and strengthen those on the back of the body. Here are the moves to try.

Stretch the Sartorius and Other Hip Flexors
As mentioned earlier, the sartorius works closely with other muscles to flex the hips. Stretching all the hip flexors, including the sartorius, can relieve tightness, helping every muscle do its part.

“The sartorius is actually challenging to truly target and stretch because it crosses two joints, so you have to think about the positioning of both the hip and knee,” Palmer says. Luckily, most hip flexor stretches will hit the sartorius to some extent.

90/90 Stretch

Why it works: William Kelley, DPT, CSCS, recommends doing the 90/90 hip stretch, which hits internal and external hip rotation. Because it’s a static stretch, do this after every run when you’re warmed up.

How to do it:

1. Start seated. Place left shin on ground in front of torso and right shin to the side, with knee in line with hip, both knees bent 90 degrees.
2. Lean forward over left shin until there is a deep stretch in right hip and glutes.
3. Press left leg into the ground to activate the hips and glutes. Hold for 20 seconds.
4. Repeat on the opposite leg. Do 3 sets.

High Lunge

Why it works: For a more straightforward hip stretch, you can also try a high lunge, which stretches the hip flexors of the back leg.

How to do it:

1. Stand with feet together, abdominals engaged, shoulders away from ears, hands by sides or in prayer pose in front of chest.
2. Take a big step back with left foot, landing on the ball of the foot and keeping leg straight.
3. While doing this, bend right knee so upper thigh is parallel to floor, shin perpendicular.
4. Point the front of both hips forward and squeeze legs toward each other before reaching arms overhead.
5. Hold for at least 30 seconds.
6. Repeat on the other side.

Strengthen Opposing and Supporting Muscle Groups
Tight hip flexors often signal weak hip extensors (muscles that straighten the hips). “One of the strategies that I often use with people with hip flexor overuse injuries is strengthening the glutes and hamstrings,” Palmer says. Incorporate exercises that target the glutes and hamstrings, such as glute bridges and deadlifts, into a full-body strength routine three times per week.

Glute Bridge

Why it works: This beginner-friendly move works those muscles of the posterior chain (the glutes and hamstrings).

How to do it:

1. Lie face up, knees bent, and feet planted on the floor.
2. Drive through heels, contracting the glutes to lift hips up toward the ceiling. The body should form a straight line from shoulders to knees.
3. Lower hips down slowly.
4. Repeat. Do 12 reps.

Deadlift

Why it works: This move is one of the best for strengthening the glutes and hamstrings.

How to do it:

1. Stand with feet hip-width apart, slight bend in knees. Hold a dumbbell in each hand down in front of thighs. Pull shoulders down and back.
2. Hinge at hips by sending glutes straight back. Keep back flat and core engaged.
3. Drive through feet to stand back up, extending hips.
4. Repeat. Do 12 reps.

Fire Hydrant

Why it works: Just because your sartorius is tight doesn’t mean it’s strong. To strengthen the sartorius itself, Palmer recommends the fire hydrant exercise.

How to do it:

1. Get on all fours with wrists under shoulders and knees under hips.
2. Keep left knee on the floor and lift right leg out to the side, knee bent 90 degrees. Lift as high as possible without dropping the opposite hip. Keep hips square to the floor.
3. Lower right knee back down.
4. Repeat for reps.
5. Then switch sides. Do 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps.

How Long It Takes to See Results
The length of your recovery depends on the issue with your sartorius and how quickly you address it. Generally, the sooner you tackle your sartorius muscle pain, the less time it takes to recover.

If the pain and soreness stem from tightness, you may feel a change within one to four weeks, depending on how consistent you are with your rehab routine, Hicks says. Muscle strains typically take longer to heal—about four to six weeks to notice improvement. The key is being consistent with your exercises and stretches.

Severe pain, swelling, loss of function, and popping or ripping sensations are indicators to stop running and visit a sports physician for help. But in general—though you may need to cut down on volume—you should be able to train through your rehab, as long as the pain isn’t too severe, Vasudevan says.

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

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…if you programme your leg days correctly, they can boost your training, rather than hinder it.

But if you programme your leg days correctly, they can boost your training, rather than hinder it. The goal of strength workouts during a marathon buildup isn’t to build massive legs or set a PB in your deadlift. It’s to develop (or maintain) enough strength to make running feel easier and to stay injury-free through months of training. Then, when you arrive at the starting line, your muscles will be primed to handle all 42.2 kilometres without crashing.

Here’s how strength and running coaches recommend fitting leg day into marathon training without sacrificing your long run or your speed.

Why Runners Need Leg Day
Logging miles prepares your heart, lungs, and aerobic system for race day. Strength training makes your body better equipped to handle those miles. “If running builds the engine, then strength training is the chassis,” says Kristina Centenari, a certified strength and running coach. The biggest benefits fall into two categories, she says: running economy and durability.

Running economy is how much energy it takes to maintain a given pace. The more economical you are, the less effort each stride requires, and the longer you’ll be able to hold your goal pace before you get tired. Research shows resistance training boosts running economy, and it can improve the amount of force your muscles produce with every step, making each stride more efficient. Combined with speedwork, those gains can lead to faster race times.

Strength training also makes runners more durable. Every stride sends forces up to 2.5 to 3 times your bodyweight through your muscles, tendons, bones, and connective tissue. Multiply that by tens of thousands of steps over the course of a marathon, and it’s easy to see why so many runners struggle with overuse injuries.

Lifting helps your tissues better tolerate that repetitive stress. “Especially when you get to that 32km mark and things just want to break down, that’s where you’re going to see the biggest gains from your strength training,” says Centenari.

Researchers who study durability also call out strength training (particularly heavy lifting and plyometrics) as a method for improving this metric.

How to Lift Without Interfering With Your Running
Ideally, runners would incorporate strength training well before their marathon training officially begins—like in the winter or spring before a fall race (at least). That way, once you start ramping up the mileage, you’ll have a solid base, says Heather Milton, CSCS, clinical exercise physiologist and certified strength and conditioning coach who specialises in working with runners.

By gradually increasing the amount of weight you lift beforehand (a concept known as progressive overload), you’ll be better equipped to maintain strength while running. You’ll also be less likely to deal with the muscle soreness that often comes with starting a lifting programme.

But if you’re already halfway through your training plan, don’t worry. You can still add strength work. Just start conservatively, using fewer exercises, manageable weight, and lower overall volume until your body adapts.

No matter where you’re at in your strength plan, follow these tips to make sure leg day complements your marathon miles.

Scheduling Your Leg Days
Two or three strength training days is often the sweet spot for runners, with only one devoted leg day a week during marathon training. You can split between upper and lower body days, or opt for all full-body sessions. For example, a three-day programme may look like one upper, one lower, and one full-body day. For two days, you’d have an upper and lower day (or two full-body days).

You don’t need to hit the gym for hours, either – 45 minutes is often all you need to fit in exercises for every major muscle group (and even 20 to 30 minutes is great).

Many people lift on one day and run the next day, but if you’re trying to balance both, that doesn’t leave enough time to fully recover. Instead, Centenari suggests completing both your hard runs and strength training (specifically lower-body sessions) on the same day. For example, do your threshold run in the morning, and then a lifting workout that evening. Always run first, as that is your priority during race training, says Centenari. This may seem counterintuitive, but it allows your easy days to actually stay easy, giving your body more complete recovery between hard efforts.

If you’re doing your long runs on the weekends, do all your lifting before Thursday to give yourself a full 48 hours before a long run.

Throughout the training block, your strength programme will evolve. “As your running volume climbs, you want your strength volume to drop but the intensity to stay high,” says Centenari. Then, when you’re at peak mileage for running – four weeks out from race day – she recommends keeping one heavy strength session with only a few exercises and low reps (five to six) to maintain your adaptations. At this point, you’re not trying to create any new strength gains, and you should only do familiar movements without trying to push the weight.

Some coaches recommend cutting strength workouts entirely during your taper weeks. However, Centenari says that’s not necessary as long as you don’t go too hard. “That could literally just be a 15-minute gym session once a week,” she says.

In the week leading up to race day, avoid any eccentric exercises, where you’re moving slowly while the muscle is lengthening (like Nordic hamstring curls). “That actually creates more soreness,” says Centenari. “So I would just stay away from that stuff.”

Choosing Your Exercises
The main focus and foundation of any strength training programme should be a heavy compound lift, like a deadlift or squat. But you should also add in single-leg work, like split squats, step-ups, or single-leg deadlifts. Running is essentially a series of single-leg landings, so unilateral exercises better prepare you for the demands of the sport while helping address side-to-side imbalances.

Don’t neglect your posterior chain, either. “Runners are often super quad dominant, so glute bridges, hamstring curls, and anything that targets the back of the body are really important,” says Centenari.

Finally, spend a few minutes strengthening your calves and feet. Those smaller muscles absorb enormous loads with every step, but they’re often overlooked. “Especially with a lot of beginner runners, that’s where a lot of the injuries start to seep in,” Centenari adds.

Once you’ve built a strength base, Milton recommends adding plyometrics during the second half of your training cycle. Box jumps, pogo hops, and bounds improve your ability to produce force quickly while increasing tendon stiffness.  A 2025 study in Frontiers in Physiology found that combining heavy strength work with explosive movements was more effective at improving running economy than heavy lifting alone.

Aim for about 50 to 100 foot contacts in a session, counting how many times you’re jumping and landing. Anything above that is not necessary, says Milton. “You’re not trying to fatigue yourself with the plyometrics,” says Centenari. “You’re just trying to get springier and more powerful.”

Picking the Right Reps, Sets, and Weight
The most common mistake that runners make is treating leg days as if they’re chasing aesthetic gym goals, using high-rep ranges (10+) and feeling totally gassed by the time they leave the gym. Milton says high-repetition strength training fatigues your muscles in a very similar way to running, so it’s best to avoid it while training for a race. “It’s really that 10 to 12 rep range that people start getting injured because that’s just so much volume on top of your running already,” adds Centenari.

Instead, use low-rep ranges (five to eight) and heavy loads, around 80 percent of your one-rep max. As you perform the exercise, choose a weight where, by the time you hit the rep target, you still have two “reps in reserve,” meaning you could push out about two reps without breaking form, says Milton.

Overall, keep your expectations in check and avoid pushing your limits. “It’s very hard to make gains in strength, especially in lean mass or hypertrophy, while you’re also trying to build endurance,” says Milton. Your goal with strength training should be more about maintaining what you built before and supporting your running with gradual progressions.

This article first appeared on the Runner’s World USA website.

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