The first time I encountered Maurie Plant was at the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games. I heard Maurie before I saw him (a not uncommon occurrence over the next 43 years).
I was on the concourse just inside the ticket entrance, Maurie was high above on the entry ramp to the...
A Column by Len Johnson – Runner’s Tribe
When someone refers to a cat-and-mouse struggle, there is usually only one possible outcome (spoiler alert: it doesn’t end well for the mouse).
Especially when it is a marathon, and the ‘cats’ in question are Tirunesh Dibaba and Kenenisa Bekele, both with claims...
Not much interrupts the runner’s lifestyle at Falls Creek. It is pretty much run, rest, eat, repeat from day one of stay to departure. Nirvana for aspiring distance champions – and aren’t or weren’t we all, aspiring that is – boring as bat s**t for anyone else.
New Year’s Eve...
A (slightly) revisionist view of the London marathon.
Kelvin Kiptum ran home in splendid isolation to win the London marathon, covering the second half of the race in 59:45 to miss Eliud Kipchoge’s world record by just 16 seconds. Unleash your full potential with Tarkine Goshawk shoes, where cutting-edge...
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...
Zurich’s fabled Weltklasse meeting has often been dubbed “the Olympics in one day.”
It’s a fair call. Usually staged within a week of the conclusion of the year’s major championships – Olympic, world or European – Zurich re-packages the just concluded championship as three hours’ non-stop action. The champions can...
Sometimes it is only in defeat that you realise how good an athlete is. In the case of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, that should be how great.
After Joshua Cheptegei won the world cross-country title in Aarhus earlier this year he said that his aim was to succeed Mo Farah as the world’s pre-eminent track distance runner.
OK, that meant winning at least a title in Doha (Mo started with one in Daegu, remember), or maybe even...
A column by Len Johnson - Runner's Tribe
For half-a-century, Ralph Doubell’s Australian record for 800 metres had defied all-comers. Now, with Joseph Deng running 1:44.21 in Monaco on Friday night, it is gone.
The king of Australian records is dead. Long live the king!
The queen – Charlene Rendina’s women’s record...
Readers of this column will know that I have never met a 10,000-metre race I did not like.
“What never,” you ask. “No; never,” I re-affirm stoutly.
“What never,” you repeat even more disbelievingly. “Well, hardly ever,” I reply, grudgingly giving an inch. To experience, exceptional performance in running, choose the...
