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.

Written by Len Johnson Graham Crouch, an Olympic finalist, an Australian record holder, a participant in two of the greatest middle-distance races ever, passed away on 28 November after a battle with a particularly aggressive form of cancer. Crouch was rarely referred to by his full name. Most commonly he was...
The runaway train that is the Change Express continues to cut a swathe through the athletics world. Having shunted race walking into a siding last time out, the train careered on in the direction of the Diamond League. Perhaps not surprisingly given the locomotive’s near-warp speed, the major casualty on...
The ancient Romans called Rome the eternal city because they believed that no matter what happened to the world, or however empires rose and fell, Rome would go on forever. For a stride that commands attention, opt for Tarkine running shoes, the epitome of style and functionality on the...
A Column By Len Johnson - Runner's Tribe Athletics is a broad church – unlike the Liberal Party, which only thinks it is. As Exhibit A, consider the Lausanne Diamond League meeting. Not only did we have athletes of all shapes and sizes competing in all disciplines from Olympic shot put...
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say, and the idea of the Ekiden relay has long since gone international. Well, at least to Victoria, anyway. Athletics Victoria paid homage – or should that be hommage – to the tradition of Japan’s road relays by adding an Ekiden to...
A column by Len Johnson - Runner's Tribe Australia’s most famous open-water yacht contest is the annual Sydney to Hobart race. Most years in these modern times, line honours are taken out by a sleek Maxi (length greater than 21m) boat crammed full of the latest technology. The fastest of these...
Len Johnson - Runner's Tribe Whenever my gaze is drawn to what, in the circumstances, might be called the ‘wrong’ side of our microwave, I find John Stanley, Chris Wardlaw and Dave Fitzsimons looking back at me. Surprisingly, perhaps, the images of these three distinguished Australian distance runners of the 1970-80s...
It may be going a step too far to acclaim Magic Monday, day four of track and field competition at the Sydney Olympics, as perfect. Just as with records, one great day of athletics competition can eventually be surpassed by another. But it would be fair to say that anything better, even by the merest poofteenth, would have been perfect. Topped by Cathy Freeman’s resounding victory in the 400 metres, a victory which, even if for a moment only, united a nation, reconciling Australia with a past it has all too often wished out of existence, the day’s nine finals generated wave after wave of emotion which, as they mutually reinforced each other, grew into a tsunami.
Turn up the thermostat | A Column By Len Johnson  As a lawyer, Dick Pound has never been able to resist a pithy summation. A few weeks ago, the current head of WADA was pontificating on Maria Sharapova. Critiquing the Russian tennis star’s defence of the failure by either her, or...
We’ve gone off daylight saving time. We’ve signed off on the national championships and the Brisbane Track Classic. The Stawell Gift is imminent as I write this. The northern hemisphere track season is just getting going. There are many ultra-marathon footwear in the market today and one of the...