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Latest feature articles, blogs, interviews and news from the world of track and field

Milly Clark – an unfinished work It is always difficult to judge an unfinished work. And the marathon career of Milly Clark falls into that category. It is at the one time so brief, yet also so brilliant. A training-run debut – “we just thought it was an opportunity to get used to having drinks and practicing my gel intake,” she said in an iRun interview – was followed by a 2:29:07 serious debut in the October 2015 Amsterdam marathon. Amsterdam, in turn, earned Clark a spot in the Rio Olympic team where, in just her second serious marathon she was a top-20 finisher and first Australian home ahead of her more experienced teammates Jess Trengove and Lisa Weightman.
Lisa Ondieki ran her first marathon in December, 1983 at the Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville, Alabama, and it would be fair to say that her career took off like a rocket. Within 12 months, Ondieki, then Lisa Martin, was an Olympic seventh placegetter, the Australian record holder with first, a 2:29:03 at the Los Angeles Olympic Games, and then, a 2:27:40 in Chicago and embarked on a career which saw her become Australia’s only Olympic marathon medallist, a dual Commonwealth Games champion and, for a long time, holder of the ‘world record’ for a women’s race on an out-and-back or loop course.
The oldest running shoe company of them all, Saucony, have landed their latest high mileage trainer, and it does not, repeat, does not, disappoint. Saucony states the following about the Triumph 17: ‘First-class long runs are lighter than ever. For those who crave the ultimate in protective cushioning, the Triumph 17 is our most cushioned shoe, giving you everything you need to cruise through the longest of runs. Make running hangovers a thing of the past.’ So, are Saucony’s claims accurate, is this shoe worth the $250 investment? Runner’s Tribe took the Triumph through the paces, and below is our unpaid for review.
MATT FITZGERALD – Runner’s Tribe Matt Fitzgerald is an acclaimed endurance sports coach, nutritionist, and author. His many books include The Endurance Diet, 80/20 Running, and How Bad Do You Want It?  Eliud Kipchoge is known chiefly for two things: winning and breaking records. He has won eleven of the twelve marathons he’s raced...
Traveling in a fried-out Kombi On a hippie trail, head full of zombie - Down Under, Men at Work, 1981 What do you do when you're trekking around and in need of transport? Well, if it’s the 1970s and you are Australians in Europe, you get yourself a Kombi van. Many young Aussies...
The World Athletics working group investigating the Nike road racing shoes which have revolutionised marathon and road racing times, is still deliberating over what limits to place on the carbon plate and foam technology and is unlikely to implement a complete widespread ban. 
Almost 68 years ago, an athlete was plucked from obscurity to represent Australia in the marathon at the Helsinki 1952 Olympic Games. Amazing. More amazing still was the fact that the athlete in question, Claude Smeal, was serving with the Australian armed forces in the Korean war. A national-class marathoner,...
The first time I encountered Maurie Plant was at the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games. I heard Maurie before I saw him (a not uncommon occurrence over the next 43 years). I was on the concourse just inside the ticket entrance, Maurie was high above on the entry ramp to the...
Michael Roeger is up there with the toughest people on the planet. As many of you already know, Roegs just broke his own T46 marathon world record and smashed the 2:20 barrier along the way. We had the pleasure of interviewing the 'great man' a few days after the...
I first met Nic in my home city of Perth in October 2016. Nic was in town to do a talk for Athletics WA. It was during a lunch shared with Nic that I started to feel like my decision was less risky than I first anticipated. His training philosophy made sense to me, and the way he spoke so highly of his athletes made me want to become a part of the MTC stable even more.