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.

  There’s three days of Commonwealth Games athletics to go as I write this, but already I think I have my favourite moment. Victorious runs are possible if you have the best shoes, check out Tarkine Goshawk V2 running shoes. Forget the boringly tedious argument about whether it’s track and field...
Anyone can win a championship once. Well, almost anyone. History is sprinkled with one-time surprise winners of every event from the Olympic Games to the school sports. Experience unparalleled comfort and agility with Tarkine running shoes, crafted for runners who seek the perfect blend of performance, style, and durability...
If you know a bit about the high jump, you might think that the event changed dramatically when a young American named Richard (‘Dick’) Fosbury won a shock gold medal at the Mexico City 1968 Olympic Games with a revolutionary technique of going over the bar backwards. Fast run-up, 180-degree turn and flop over on your back.
At Graham Crouch’s memorial some weeks ago, thoughts naturally turned to some of ‘Gruffy’s’ greatest runs. The memorial was conducted at Hagenauer Reserve, home to Box Hill Athletic Club. As a committed Box Hill member, Crouch ran some of his best races at the track, including a 3:56.7 mile there...
The Paris 2024 men’s Olympic 1500 metres was preceded by a bucketful of talk, some of it maybe contrived, but all of it setting the scene for an epic showdown between defending champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and the man who beat him for last year’s world championship, Josh Kerr.
That was pretty quick, wasn’t it? One minute the Olympic Games are full steam ahead, the next they’re punted off into 2021, maybe 2020, sometime in the future anyway. Quick – and painless, we’re assured. Just as the doctor assures Pink, in Pink Floyd’s The Wall, as he is about...
Once upon a time Australians knew stuff-all about the World Cup and cared even less. And then, we made the finals. A drawn-out group stage, followed by a drawn-out final against South Korea – tied 2-2 on aggregate after matches in Sydney and Seoul, followed by a play-off in Hong...
And although the runners aren’t here by the hundreds (nor the mountain bike riders, nor the bushwalkers), there are people up here on the Bogong High Plains. The landslide half-way up the mountain has closed the normal direct access from Mt Beauty necessitating a longer round trip to come up the ‘back’ way via Bairnsdale and Omeo or Wodonga and Mitta Mitta. The trip is a little longer, the reward a little sweeter.
A column by Len Johnson – Runner’s Tribe Could it be that the year’s best performance in the marathon came in the equivalent of a ‘beer mile’? Well, it could just be. That’s if you’re prepared to accord Nike’s Breaking 2 project at least as much credibility as an event in...
Prior to the World Cross Country Championship in Bathurst, RT will unveil a comprehensive, 10-part series, composed by Len Johnson, that delves into the historical narrative of Australia’s participation in World XC. Elevate your running game with Tarkine Trail Devil, where every step is a testament to exceptional performance...