Asked on the BBC by Jeanette Kwakye how many times he had watched back his gold medal-winning 1500m race at the World Championships, Jake Wightman’s answer, for all its modesty, was a reminder of the gulf between his participation in athletics and mine. He had seen it first while in anti-doping after the race, not […]
Category: running/sport
All we have ever wanted is to live our best lives — Jake Daniels’ courage means many more might do just that
The term ‘breaking news’ has become a byline for shocking news of late. So, when Evan Davies uttered those words towards the end of this afternoon’s PM, I braced myself. Was this to be news of yet further atrocities in Ukraine? I was, as it happens, driving home from a weekly session with my personal […]
How I caught up with running – and why I won’t stop yet
It was a slightly indifferent way to end the season. My legs felt heavy after nine races in five months. And after a cautious start — at north of 10k, the course demanded it — I didn’t quite work my way through the field the way I’d hoped. By the final lap of three, energy […]
There’s only one Andy Murray
If he were a football player it’s a chant you’d have heard from the terraces a thousand times over. Tennis isn’t football. Its audiences are every bit as passionate but their enthusiasm is tempered by a different culture. Yet it’s a mantra that has a certain ring to it and in one sense it’s undoubtedly […]
The Pyllon Endeavour — an unmissable story of strength and vulnerability
Eight men. Twenty four hours. One hundred and ninety-two miles. If you’d been walking through an underpass, on the edge of a shopping precinct in Milngavie, just after 4.00pm on Saturday, you might have caught a glimpse of those eight men. Heads bowed, in a group hug, surrounded by a small crowd of well-wishers. A […]
How running caught up with me – and why I can’t stop yet
‘Honestly, Chris, the main issue is that you have osteoarthritis in your knee and the meniscus has a short shelf life.’ One of the best running physios around cutting to the chase. The bone even. That’s all there is when cartilage has crumbled to nothing. Peel back the medical jargon and it’s what the MRI […]
Colin Jackson: homophobia’s remaining hurdles
What does the news that Colin Jackson is gay and our response to it say about attitudes to sexuality in 2017 Britain? It tells us quite a lot has changed but that we can do better too.
A way to go: Jog Scotland’s new partnership
‘From the Colorado mountains, To the California sun, I won’t stop until I get there, I will run, run, run.’ I’ve been running for a long time. And the lyrics to Michelle Lewis’ song Run, Run, Run, get right under my skin.
An unlikely hero for athletics’ darkest hour
This is apparently athletics’ darkest hour. Lord Coe has responded by acknowledging that the sport faces a long road to redemption. If he’s looking for inspiration to tackle the crisis that has engulfed him within weeks of landing the sport’s top job, he could do worse than take some from Saturday’s Scottish Short Course Cross […]
Rainbow Laces comes to Scottish athletics
One of the big sports stories of the last week has been the decision of rugby league star Keegan Hirst to come out. People have rightly praised his bravery. But others will be probably be thinking surely it doesn’t matter, it’s nobody’s business but his own. However, the very fact that it’s such an uncommon […]