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I was training in Ireland for a few weeks in 2017 before the World Championships. I’d strained my soleus between races so I was getting some physical therapy at Star Goeghan’s Realta Clinic in Carlow. The local track club was so supportive and kind...

Seems like only yesterday we were marking one year to go to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Now, in an Olympic version of Groundhog Day, here we are celebrating it all over again. It is one year to go to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games....

Whether to go to college or stay in Australia is a toss-up that many young runners in Australia face. There are pros and cons to both options, and there have been successful runners that have come from either path. These days, it seems that...

There comes a time when you think you have seen everything, read everything and heard everything about the marathon. As is usually the case when you fall into such a line of thinking, it turns out that time is never. The thing I never thought...

I never had a record-breaking career, but early in my record-buying career I acquired a disc recorded by British comedian, Peter Sellers. One track tells the tale of a pre-teen pop music phenomenon whose 15 minutes of fame had clearly come and was going fast. Our popster, despairing he hasn’t had a chart-topper for all of three weeks, ends the track I’m So Ashamed with a sobbing plea: “Please Buy This Record.” It’s not a bad metaphor for sport in 2020. The devastating impact of Covid19 was felt early and has endured throughout. By the end of March the Tokyo Olympic Games had been postponed. We are assured that the Games will go ahead same time next year, yet we were assured they would go ahead this year until they didn’t.

A question I am asked about more often than not is about my diet as an athlete. I constantly receive messages from female athletes about what I eat to fuel my body and if I periodise my eating habits depending on my season. I...

Let’s keep this on the record, shall we. Having considered recently how much credibility should be given to some of the world records set this year (Please Buy This Record, RT 18 October), let’s look this time at the quantity of records set by Australian duo Jessica Hull and Stewart McSweyn. Hull took down Benita Willis’s national record for 5000 metres when she ran 14:43.80 in Monaco and then Linden Hall’s national mark for 1500 with a 4:00.42 in Berlin. Finally, she ran 8:36.03 for 3000 in Doha to slice a couple of seconds off Willis’s former 3000 record. Earlier in the year, Hull ran 4:04.14 in Boston to take the indoor 1500 record from Melissa Duncan.

There are many ways to train for distance running. Whether you’re an athlete coming from a shorter distance background, or an athlete that was born with a natural aerobic ability, there are many ways to train the body to reach its full potential. I...

Article by Benita Willis: 4 x Olympian, Aussie marathon record holder, World Champion & head coach at Lace Up Running.  It’s a strange year in many people’s lives and in some cases, has thrown our routine out the window for months! During this time, many...

Article by Benita Willis (4 x Olympian, World Champion, Multiple Aussie record holder, Director – Lace Up Running). I have a lot of fond memories of my teenage running years. Growing up in a country town (beachside suburb of Mackay, NQ), we used to do...