Japan’s Fukuoka marathon used to be the best non-championship marathon of the year.You knew when it would be run: the first Sunday in December each year. You knew who would be running: the best six international runners organisers could get on a ‘start at the top and keep going until six men have said ‘yes’’ basis; the best six Japanese runners (few of whom ever said ‘no’ to Japan’s most prestigious race); anyone else around the world who had bettered the 2:27 qualifying time and was willing to pay their own way.The Olympics were the only global championships back then, so most years Fukuoka might bring together the European and Commonwealth champions, the winners of traditional races like Boston and the English AAA championship and others burning with ambition. Before there was a world championships, the Fukuoka marathon was the next-best thing.
A column by Len Johnson - Runner's Tribe
What is it about the Letzigrund stadium and the Weltklasse meeting. For the second year in a row, Zurich’s beloved boutique venue produced a memorable distance race in which the winner triumphed almost purely on their will to win.
A year ago, it...
Australian decathlete Cedric Dubler’s encouragement of his teammate Ashley Moloney during the closing stages of the Tokyo Olympic decathlon has been acknowledged as an iconic moment in Olympic sport.
It was the dust what done it.
In Eugene for a few days at the world championships. Arriving in time to just miss Eleanor Patterson’s amazing win in the high jump. 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
What if Australia hosts a Commonwealth Games and we don’t win. Not across all the sports. Not in athletics, either.
Well, it can’t be ‘the blackest day in Australian sport’. That moniker has already been gifted – if that’s the right word –...
On hearing of the death of Lady Macbeth and faced with his own impending overthrow, Shakespeare’s Macbeth tries to make sense of it all. Life, he concludes, is “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Could have been talking about the World Relays.
In the...
Ah, Oslo! Remember those Scandinavia nights. Warm but rarely hot. Calm conditions. Great tradition of middle and long-distance track running.
One should always pay attention to Track & Field News’ guide to a world championship, but it was the image of the “Welcome to Eugene” sign heading its preview of Eugene 2022 which caught the eye and prompted further thought. There are many ultra-marathon footwear in the market today...
By Len Johnson - Runner's Tribe
A few days into the world championships in London a friend commented: “Four days, full stadium every session, great competition. So how come all I’m hearing about athletics is negative.”
He was right to wonder. Those few days had brought some wonderful competition, all of...
Ours is a sport of precision.
Following wind 2.00 metres per second – everything hunky-dory: 2.01 m/s – a different story. Run a 1:59:59 marathon on a course measuring 42.195km and you’re a barrier-breaking hero. If the course comes in at 42.194km, it just didn’t happen.
Mostly precision is a good...
