Like Kurt Fearnley before him, Jaryd Clifford is on his way to becoming a household name. At 21 years-of-age, the vision impaired middle-distance runner won two gold medals at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships (1500m and 5000m). We caught up with Jaryd as he continues his intense preparation for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
A column by Len Johnson For those not closely monitoring Tasmania’s Christmas Carnivals series of cycling and athletics competitions – i.e. most of the world – Stewart McSweyn’s 3:50.61 mile at Penguin on 29 December came as a bolt from the blue. Not that there’s any surprise about McSweyn running that...
The name Jye Edwards has been circling around the Australian middle distance scene for years now. A talented junior, destined perhaps for greatest, but held back by those all to common injuries. But now, under the close eye of one of Australia's most successful coaches in history, Dick Telford, Jye Edward's stock is on the rise. A no BS type of runner, modest, polite, loaded with both endurance and speed; it's hard not to want this guy to succeed. We caught up with Jye and had a pretty cool chat.... RT: Jye, good to have you on RT. Congrats with your Albie Thomas Mile victory (Ed. Jye clocked 3:57.30). You must be stoked with that? JE: Hey mate, it’s a pleasure to be here! Thanks a lot, I was very happy to be able to nab the win at the Albie Thomas Mile against such a quality field. It’s not often you get to toe the line with an NCAA champion and a 3-time Olympian in the same race, as well as several other top athletes. A great end to the year and hopefully a good springboard into more races in the New Year.
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.
A column by Len Johnson Neil Robbins knew Ron Clarke well enough to call him ‘Fat’, Clarke’s boyhood family nickname. He was a teammate of John Landy and Marjorie Jackson; a clubmate of Les Perry, Geoff Warren and Dave Stephens, ‘the Flying Milko’. He trained with Merv Lincoln and many...
RT caught up with Australia’s 4 x NCAA champion, Morgan McDonald for a little Q&A. RT: Where are you currently based and how is training going? Morgan McDonald: I am currently in Boulder, Colorado with Team Boss. After a bit of a bumpy year, I’ve had a great few months of...
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.
“There are lots of elements to running a successful marathon and I’ll bet insights into them are woven throughout all of the interviews in this book!” – Lisa Ondieki from Australian Marathon Stars © 2021 Runner’s Tribe, all rights reserved. Lisa Ondieki certainly rates as Australia’s top female marathoner, her...
Hailing from Sydney, Wake Forest athlete, Zach Facioni, is a bit of a gun. A few weeks ago in Sydney, he beat a deep field, clocking 7:51.61 to win the NSW 3000m Championship. And over the past few years he has been re-writing Wake Forests' record books. We caught up with Zach, to check-in on how he has fared during this global pandemic and what's going on...
