There is plenty of articles and interviews floating around about the Melbourne Track Club that may give you a little insight about the group. For me, it is my second family and spending so much time on the road with a handful of athletes makes our life very nomadic and unique. Various professional groups spend a lot of time together on training camps and traveling to races but as a group based in the southern hemisphere, it means we have to spend even more time away from home, constantly jumping around to new destinations to follow the competition schedule. Traveling around with MTC seems like a standard way of life for me, however I have realised that a lot of people are intrigued at how we go about each year and spend so much time training and traveling with each other. I am going to give a little more insight about the Melbourne Track Club and try to explain a few things you may not already know.
It’s been quite the year for records. World records, area records, national records going down like ninepins.
It’s possible that without much ‘normal’ athletics happening, record-breaking creates even bigger headlines. Setting up a night of records, as happened when Joshua Cheptegei and Letesenbet Gidey broke the men’s 10,000 and women’s...
By any measure, 2020 has been an ordinary year. So many of the sporting milestones which punctuate our calendar either went uncelebrated or, when they could proceed, were “celebrated” in eerie silence.
One Australian running tradition was maintained, however. The calendar year ended with a resounding performance at 10,000 metres, for which we must give grateful thanks to Patrick Tiernan.
For the first time in over 50 years, the annual Zatopek 10,000 metres races did not take place. Happily, they will instead be raced in January, 2021. But Tiernan found a December 10,000 race to run, at “The Track Meet”, in San Juan Capistrano, and was able to enjoy his own private celebration after setting an Australian record 27:22.55.
Tiernan finished second to Eric Jenkins of the US, who won in 27:22.06. His time was also an Oceania record. San Juan was formerly a Spanish mission in Capistrano, famous for the annual return of migratory swallows each northern hemisphere spring. Truly, all Tiernan’s swallows came home to roost on 5 December, 2020.
We have heard it and said it all year – we are living in crazy times. We have also accepted the term – ‘this is the new normal’. Well I can definitely say it is hard to imagine things going back to the way they once were. When will we shake hands with strangers again, not have to hand sanitize every time we touch something, panic at the sound of a cough, or feel uncomfortable in large crowds? The world is definitely a new place, however what I will share with you now is how some Aussie athletes managed to fly all over the world to athletic meets while staying safe to compete during a global pandemic.
Japan’s Fukuoka marathon used to be the best non-championship marathon of the year.You knew when it would be run: the first Sunday in December each year. You knew who would be running: the best six international runners organisers could get on a ‘start at the top and keep going until six men have said ‘yes’’ basis; the best six Japanese runners (few of whom ever said ‘no’ to Japan’s most prestigious race); anyone else around the world who had bettered the 2:27 qualifying time and was willing to pay their own way.The Olympics were the only global championships back then, so most years Fukuoka might bring together the European and Commonwealth champions, the winners of traditional races like Boston and the English AAA championship and others burning with ambition. Before there was a world championships, the Fukuoka marathon was the next-best thing.
Right now – 27 November, as this is written – it is exactly 64 years past the mid-point of the athletics’ program at the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games.
Sixty-four is not an anniversary we usually celebrate, I’ll grant you, but consider two points of mitigation in that regard. Firstly, the four-year Olympic cycle does not lend itself to the five-year rhythm of most anniversary celebrations: the two waves only coincide once every 20 years, which is way too long between drinks.
Hi Runner Tribe readers! My name is Kaela Edwards, I am a professional 800m and 1500m runner for adidas aiming to make the 2021 Olympic Team in Tokyo. My 800m personal best (PB) is 1:59.68 from the U.S. outdoor championship final. I am excited to share with you my perspective into what I think it takes to run 1:59 and beyond; confidence, knowing yourself and the competition, and balanced training.
A question I am asked about more often than not is about my diet as an athlete. I constantly receive messages from female athletes about what I eat to fuel my body and if I periodise my eating habits depending on my season. I must start this article by...
Whether to go to college or stay in Australia is a toss-up that many young runners in Australia face. There are pros and cons to both options, and there have been successful runners that have come from either path. These days, it seems that heading overseas is the norm...
My whole athletic career I have always been interested in how other athletes prepare themselves for a big session or race. This is definitely an aspect to training a lot of people don’t focus on much, however, growing up and moving through the different phases of my running career,...
