Commentary: Our badge of honor

It’s been three days since the Boston Marathon and I’m so, so, tired.
It’s not just tired, it’s this sort of wrecked feeling. Like all I want to do is stay in bed motionless kind of wrecked.
I’m coughing and hacking, because I caught that post-race cold that I always catch. I don’t know where they come [...]

Commentary: Putting the 2008 London Marathon into context

The 2008 Flora London Marathon is now in the books. But before we put this speedy joy-ride behind us to move on to the Boston Marathon next weekend, I thought I would take just a moment to comment on what we saw out at the front of the race.
First of all, this race was nothing [...]

Commentary: April excites me!

Yes, it’s true. I do get excited about April. Actually there are two months that really excite me throughout the year as a marathon runner and writer: April and October.

October is really the six week period from the end of September to the beginning of November. It’s the time when the most marathons happen [...]

Commentary: Do you know Liu Xiang? Perhaps you should.

I think it is fascinating that many marathon runners - and maybe runners in general - have only a passing knowledge of the runners who are at the top of our sport.
I saw a good example of this at the Rock N Roll Marathon last year, where a sponsor was doing a trivia game about [...]

Commentary: It’s just not a holiday without a holiday race

What is it about us runners? We love to spend our holidays running.
My life as a runner is full of holiday races; they’re a part of the running culture.
Whether it’s a Turkey Trot, a Shamrock Run, a Fourth of July Dash or a Jingle Bell Jaunt, there seems to be a run for every [...]

Commentary: the athlete heroes are back!

Last month, I wrote a commentary in which I asked “where have all the athlete heroes gone?” It seemed to me, and many others, that our heroes of sport had been swallowed by the scandals of drugs, the allure of sponsorship dollars, and the cult of personality. One month later, I can declare: the athlete [...]

Commentary: Where have all the athlete heroes gone?

My friend Coach Dean Hebert knows more about running than just about anyone that I know. I mean not only technically, but he knows his people – the history and so forth. About two weeks ago he wrote a comment in response to a story about the Marion Jones steroid case that asked the question [...]

Commentary: what does a marathon world record really mean?

Update: Live and delayed coverage of the race will be available on the net, click here for more.
When Haile Gebreselassie laces up his shoes this coming Sunday in the Berlin Marathon, he will be doing so with the ambition of setting a new world record at the distance. As a runner who has set [...]