A Column By Len Johnson

Len Johnson wrote for The Melbourne Age as an athletics writer for over 20 years, covering five Olympics, 10 world championships and five Commonwealth Games.

He has been the long-time lead columnist on RT and is one of the world’s most respected athletic writers.

He is also a former national class distance runner (2.19.32 marathon) and trained with Chris Wardlaw and Robert de Castella among other running legends. He is the author of The Landy Era.

Phooey! Imagine being in Harry Summers’ shoes last Sunday. First, he won the City to Surf. If he saw it as he flashed under the gantry the clock would have told him he just missed Steve Moneghetti’s race record – 40:05 it would have read. Mona’s record is 40:03. Then, confusion. The...
It doesn’t take much to send me racing off down memory lane. This could be because the past is the only place where I’m still running PBs. The impetus this time came from a query as to whether I might have a copy of the 1978 City-to-Surf race results. I...
A column by Len Johnson - Runner's Tribe When Sally Pearson crossed the line to take a silver medal in the 100 metres hurdles at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, she let out a scream of equal parts elation and amazement. Moments later she gasped in a trackside interview: “Oh,...
The two women standing side by side at Lakeside Stadium had held the national record for 800 metres for a total of 28 years and 155 days. Catriona Bisset had contributed just 11 days to that aggregate total, Charlene Rendina the other 28 years 144. It was Bisset’s 11 days...
A week that begins with the smashing of an Australian record which has stood for 43 years is already a good one, but the entire month of July has been a bit of a bonanza for Australian middle-distance running. Stretching the scale out to include the long-distance events, and bending...
Catriona Bisset has broken the Australian record for 800 metres. On Sunday, 21 July, at the Muller Games Diamond League in London’s Olympic stadium (and West Ham United’s home ground), Bisset finished second to Lynsey Sharp in one minute 58.78 seconds, slicing 0.22 off Charlene Rendina’s long-standing national record. Had this...
When did Australia first compete in the world cross-country championships. If you answered: “Rabat, 1975,” you’d be right. Sort of. Largely. But you’d also be wrong. Sort of. Technically, but not over-technically. Five years before our intrepid men and women trekked to Morocco, two Australians had already competed in a ‘world’...
If someone said they’d had a ‘b’ of a week, you would normally think it hadn’t been too good. The Australian and Indian men’s cricket teams, for example. In assigning that descriptor to the past seven days (5-11 July), however, I’ve got other things in mind. OK, maybe Hagos Gebrhiwet,...
Having asked the question last time – “How good is the men’s 10,000” – let’s now turn to how Australian women are faring, and have fared, at the longest track distance. To recap, the examination of the standard of Australian men’s 10,000 was prompted by Steve Dinneen’s wondering whether the...
Actually, it should have taught me a whole heap of things, starting with: “Why am I still doing this,” but I’m going to dissociate from that question straight away. Disocciation is actually a significant mental condition (see footnote), and I wouldn’t want to make light of it. I’m talking about...
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