Inspiration
Make Your Wishes Come True: How to Set and Achieve Your Goals
Whether you would like to improve your fitness, run a mile in a specific time, or participate in a marathon, setting realistic goals is the key to staying motivated and getting the most out of yourself. In this article, I share some mental and physical tools I hope can inspire and help you.
When I Started Running: Lasting Lessons, Chasing Dreams, and Fond Memories
Remember, even champions once were beginners. Here I describe my early days in an awesome sport that has the advantage of keeping you fit without requiring much more than a pair of running shoes, some time, somewhere to run… and a little love for it.
Intensity Meets Playfulness™: Uta’s Philosophy for Life—Enjoy the Journey to Better Fitness and Health
Staying on a path to better fitness and health might feel difficult and intense at first, but a joyful journey will most likely guarantee that you can achieve your desired goals—one single step at a time.
A Run Along Memory Lane with Boston Marathon Legend Ron Hill
Our writer finally catches up with 1970 Boston Marathon champion Ron Hill for a nostalgic reunion—nearly 47 years after they shared an emotional moment neither will ever forget as Ron left his expectant homeland to strive for “double gold” in the Tokyo Olympics.
If You Believe in Yourself, You Can Do Anything: Peter Gottwald and His Paralympic Dream
Visually impaired runner Peter Gottwald shares the inspiring story about his journey to the silver medal at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing. He teaches at West Chester University and is currently working for his Master’s Degree in Education.
The Indomitable Spirit of a Remarkable Athlete Inspires Hope for Life’s Toughest Challenge
At age 16, Jothy Rosenberg lost a leg to cancer, and at 19, a lung. But with amazing courage and true grit he has become an accomplished athlete, and along the way has raised more than $100,000 for cancer research.
Getting Out the Door
It can be the most important move of the day—simply starting your workout! It’s comforting to know that even the best athletes in the world sometimes have trouble getting out the door. Some tips from Uta to help you take the magic step on days you don’t feel like working out.
A Unique Charity That Uses Running to Get the Homeless Back on Track
The Philadelphia-based charity, Back on My Feet, uses running to get the homeless off the streets and back on the road to a new life. And their unusual approach works. Take The Magic Step® visited this remarkable charity.
The Fit Life: The Travel Splurge
You can miss so much if you don’t pack your running shoes for that out-of-town journey. Runner and author Scott Douglas shows how the most famous landscapes can take on a whole new meaning viewed from a runner’s-eye perspective.
The Fit Life: Fast Friends
One of the great things about aerobic exercise is how sharing a workout with a relative stranger can create an instant friendship. It might even happen that you agree to run together the next day again.
“We Confuse Success with Victory”: A Conversation with Jack Fultz
Celebrated 1976 Boston Marathon champion Jack Fultz, who teaches sport psychology at Tufts University, shares his thoughts on how to measure your successes—and be truly happy with your accomplishments.
The Fit Life: Sweet Light
A workout at any time of the day is great. But those at the bookends of the day are special not only visually, but also in how they give meaning to the hours that lie before and after them.
The Ecofriendly Exerciser
How satisfying to get in a workout while helping to reduce greenhouse gases! Tips to help you help the environment—from making your own no-wrapper energy bars to saving shower water.
The Fit Life: Weather or Not, It’s a Good Day to Run
Experiencing all of what nature has to offer is one of running’s greatest treats. There can be rewards waiting when you make up your mind to hit the trail despite the elements, says Scott Douglas.
The Fit Life: Make Yourself Useful!
“Why don’t you do something useful with your running?” Scott has spent two decades trying to come up with an answer to his brother’s question, even fantasizes about it, and shares his solution.
The Fit Life: Redefining Fun
When you think about something being fun, you usually picture yourself smiling and laughing. But there’s a whole other aspect of fun that gradually gets revealed to you when you’re fit, says the author.
The Fire Still Burns: An Interview with Bill Rodgers
Bill won the Boston and New York City marathons four times each and was ranked #1 in the world three times. Now, he is still competing. But more importantly, Bill has become an elder statesman and ambassador for the sport of running. (A 2006 interview.)
The Fit Life: Running as Freedom
Scott Douglas answers the sedentary critics who insist that solitary running has to be joyless and masochistic. They can only guess, he says, at the release and relaxation that a good run can provide.
What We Can Learn from the Mind of a Champion
After an invigorating workout with Uta, Take The Magic Step’s Mike Reger gained a special insight into the mind of a champion, and he shares the lessons he learned during an (almost) 20-mile bike ride.
My Love of Running
Uta describes how running captured her heart as a child—doing 100 meter laps in her parents’ back yard—and how that early experience blossomed into a life-long romance with the sport.
Nutrition
Winter Squash: No Tricks, Just a Treat
Pumpkins are not just for carving into exciting faces that illuminate kids’ trick or treating at Halloween. Like other winter squash, pumpkins are nutritional marvels, rich in the beta-carotene our bodies can convert into Vitamin A.
Healthier Grilling
One of the more enjoyable summer experiences is barbequing and sharing your meal outdoors. Here are a few tips for you on how to cook a healthier meal on the grill that will tickle your palate.
Nutrition: Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and seeds not only provide the healthy fats your body needs, they also contain beneficial phytochemicals and nutrients. Here are some ways you can both enrich your diet and delight your taste buds with these crunchy and satisfying holiday treats!
Berries: Vibrant Flavors Bursting with Nutrition
By adding a variety of berries to your diet, you will wake up your taste buds, and may add years of vitality to body and mind! Loaded with nutrients and phytochemicals, nature’s colorful little treats may offer health benefits that range from making your heart healthier to slowing the aging process of the brain.
Water [Part 2]: Navigating Your Drinking Water
If you’re not crystal clear about the many differences in drinking water, in this article we take a look at the quality of different varieties to help you choose the best ones to keep your body well hydrated.
Water [Part 1]: The Essence of Life
How much water should you drink and how much should you increase fluid intake with physical activity? Take The Magic Step’s nutritional adviser Dieter Hogen examines the importance of proper hydration and provides us with practical guidelines that might help you.
Kick Start Your Day
Does breakfast get missed when you’re rushed in the morning? We can help you find the time and make the right food choices for that all important first meal that can provide energy all day long.
Nutrition: Some Spuds are Healthy Studs…Potatoes
Potatoes can be not only scrumptious and satisfying, but also surprisingly good for you. We take a look at when some potatoes are healthier than others, and offer tips to help you select the best ones at your local market.
Nutrition: Celebrate the New Year with…Pineapples!
A centuries-old sign of hospitality, pineapple is more than just a fruit with a deliciously sweet flavor. The tasty fruit is rich in vitamin C and contains the multi-tasking enzyme bromelain.
The Healthy World of Tomatoes
Tomatoes not only taste good, they are good for you! Studies have shown that the compounds contained in this common fruit may promote both prostate and cardiovascular health.
Nutrition: Healthier Food Choices
We take a look at how you can make healthier food choices—from salads to snacks. To help you better understand why some foods are healthier than others, we’ve included some brief scientific information. You also can find recipes from the kitchens of our Take The Magic Step® team.
Cheers for Cherries
Cherries aren’t just luscious—research shows they may ease arthritis and may have anti-gout effects, and, in juice form, could provide benefits to athletes.
Sugar Substitutes—The Weight Debate
Artificial sweeteners are under increasing scrutiny, amid doubts that they are as effective for weight control purposes as the millions of people who use them believe. This article will help you decide what’s best for you.
Pomegranates: Long Loved, Newly Cherished
For thousands of years, the pomegranate has been valued for its nutritional and medicinal benefits. Today it’s thought to be potentially valuable in the treatment of prostate cancer. We help you shop for this “super fruit”—together with tips for making your own healthful juice.
Nutrition: Free Radicals
What are free radicals—and why are they so important to us all? The authors cut through their mystery and show that regular exercise improves the body’s defense mechanism against them. Understanding how these unstable atoms and molecules affect you can help you to make the right exercise and diet decisions.
Chocolate: Should I or Shouldn’t I?
It has been a seductive treat since its discovery and—3,000 years later—chocolate still has the power to make us feel good. Learn which kinds have the least sugar and are highest in antioxidants, and discover the way to eat chocolate for maximum enjoyment.
Eating Organic Without Going Broke
Focusing on seasonal organic foods can make cooking and menu planning a pleasant adventure, as well as improving your health. Find out which conventionally-grown foods have the most pesticide residue—and how to replace them with organic.
An Apple A Day…
The average American eats nearly 17 pounds of fresh apples every year, proving that the ancient proverb, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away,” is as persuasive as ever. Learn why the old saying might today just as easily end in the words, “…may keep cancer away.”
It’s Stone-Fruit Season: Just Peachy
Peaches and their relatives nectarines and apricots are not only juicy and mouthwatering, they also are bursting with vitamins, phytochemicals, and minerals that help to keep us healthy. For dietary fiber you may enjoy them dried too.
A Healthy Kitchen: A Fruitful Summer
Fresh berries are too good—and too good for you—to be eaten only at snack time or for dessert. Here are a few tasty recipes you can use to add berries to your meals throughout the day.
Lynne’s Kitchen: Springtime Promise
Spring is the season that encourages us to shift our eating habits from heavier, warming winter foods to fresher, lighter fare. Two tasty recipes from Lynne that take advantage of the newly-emerging crops.
A Healthy Kitchen: Ten Nutrition Resolutions
A New Year can give you the inspiration to initiate nutrition changes that can make you feel better, give you more energy, and improve your health throughout the year.
Lynne’s Kitchen: Cool Summer Soups
They are delicious and easy to make—summer soups are a simple way of incorporating many vitamins and minerals into your diet. “Whoever tells a lie cannot be pure in heart—and only the pure in heart can make a good soup.” – Ludwig van Beethoven
Lynne’s Kitchen: Skinny Dippers
Introducing Lynne’s Kitchen, filled with nutritious tips, interesting cooking ideas, and eating strategies for weight management and athletic performance. Healthful recipes for super-easy low-fat dips.
Training / Exercise
General Guidelines for Your Marathon Preparation—Enjoy Your Training
Running with joy can lift you up to maximize your energy you need for your exciting marathon journey. It is part of the secret along with a good overall approach to your physical and mental training to fulfill your dream.
Would You Like To Run Better? Relax!
Being relaxed from the inside out is the basic key to running with joy and staying injury-free. I invite you to use relaxation as one of the tools to fine-tune your running style.
Cross-Country Skiing: A Great Option for Winter Fun and Fitness
With its beauty and peace, winter is a special time to get started on improving your fitness. Uta prepared for spring marathons with three weeks of cross-country skiing, and you too can use this enjoyable sport to build a foundation of strength and endurance.
After the Marathon: A Guide to Quick Recovery
Congratulations, fellow marathoner! You can return to full physical and mental strength quickest with some all-important recovery steps you can take from the moment you cross the finish line. There also are ways how to beat the Post-Marathon Blues. (Hint: Do you like cheesecake?)
Two Days Before the Marathon
Now that you have done all the hard training for your marathon, it is time to relax, treat yourself to a soothing massage, and try to rein in some of your nervousness! The best combination of light training, proper nutrition, sound sleep, and tried and true gear will play a big role in how well you perform on race day.
The World Marathon Majors—From the Ground Up
No matter what your training level or your running capabilities, you can take advantage of a marathon course’s geography and topography to run your best time possible on a particular day. Sean Hartnett discusses the terrain of the WMM’s, Uta added a few practical tips to each event.
Taming the Treadmill
Getting a treadmill involved in your training is a wonderful strategy. When Mother Nature is kicking up a fuss outside and preventing you from starting your usual run, the steady hum and rhythmic impact of footsteps on the belt can be very satisfying. Here are some ways to make your treadmill training as effective and fun as possible.
New Year’s Runs—An Exhilarating Tradition
They have a long tradition and are popular all over the world: New Year’s Eve runs. Amongst them are classics like the one in São Paulo or Madrid, the spectacular race in New York or the run with a biblical atmosphere in Egypt. They all are a fun and active way of saying goodbye to the old year.
Skiing and Snowboarding: Risk and Many Rewards
It is a special world of fun and thrills that can also help maintain your fitness during the snowy winter months. Plus, it is the perfect sport for all the family. Skiing and snowboarding are not without their risks, but they can be minimized by sensible planning.
Run and Row: A Comparison of Endurance
Rowing crews gliding gracefully over the water make a beautiful picture in cities where the sport is popular. Runners can appreciate the fitness and dedication demonstrated by these water-borne athletes—while respecting the differences in preparation for two demanding endurance sports.
Soccer at the highest level is impossible without Running in Training
Soccer’s World Cup has been very successful with the final in Germany on one Sunday back in 2006. The tournament has shown that every team needs a high degree of fitness to achieve any level of success in the competition.
Why Soccer Players Have to be Good Runners
Soccer is an international and classic team sport, which is exciting, tactical, and fast. Players run about 6-8 miles, mostly in bursts of speed, which requires endurance while needing to keep their coordination, speed, and skillfulness. They are in great shape!
Run a Half Marathon in Ten Weeks
Want to move up in distance but aren’t quite ready to tackle the marathon yet? Maybe you would just like to challenge yourself with a distance that is fun, gives great satisfaction and is short enough to recover quickly from. With the right schedule, you could be ready in less than 3 months to be your best. The information provided in this article are suited for beginning and experienced runners alike.
Run a Marathon in One Year: A Long-term Training Schedule for Beginners
You are capable of running a marathon! Equipped with motivation and a proper regimen, you can run 26.2 miles. Broken into four phases, this schedule and training process involve creating small goals, and moving from one to another. Together, these achievements add up to the desired goal: running a marathon to the best of your ability.
Yoga
Yoga for the Right Balance
I would like to share with you how you can develop and integrate a yoga practice into your training to improve body alignment, balance, and flexibility, as well as stamina and strength. If this beautiful form of exercise and healing is not already part of your fitness routine, you might be surprised what yoga can do for you.
Run Stronger with Yoga: An Interview with David Learmont
Ten years ago, the 54-year-old Master Runner from England took up yoga. Now, he talks about how yoga has kept him virtually injury free! Outside of posting some very impressive running times, his perennial hamstring problems have disappeared.
Power to the Peaceful: An Interview With Joe Haddad
Yoga aims to put practitioners in touch with a state of peace, joy, and equanimity. We find out from Joe Haddad, who grew up amid the Lebanese civil war, how he achieved healing through a regular yoga practice.
Yoga At Any Age: An Interview with Jim Thorne
It is never too late in life to practice yoga—and at 68, Jim Thorne, proves that point. A wonderful example of yoga’s multi-faceted benefits, he passes on the lessons for living and exercising that yoga has taught him.
Yoga for Performancesm: Runners’ Sequence, Part 2
Following part 1, part 2 of the yoga sequence continues the core work of the yoga practice for runners and beginners with a series of floor poses. This group of postures is designed to achieve the optimal benefits of muscle lengthening and enhancement. Parts 1 and 2, as well as the asanas of our introductory article, complete the runners’ yoga routine.
Yoga for Performancesm: Runners’ Sequence, Part 1
In this first part we offer you a specialized sequence of poses designed to meet the needs and physical demands of runners and yoga beginners. Part 1 includes more demanding standing poses, which can be followed with poses from runners’ sequence part 2. Have fun and get started!
Yoga for Performancesm: Introduction
As one of the chapters to the Take The Magic Step® concept, Yoga for Performancesm introduces you to an effective mix of stretching, strengthening and stabilization asanas, breathing exercises, and meditation designed for athletes and those new to yoga. In this introduction, find fundamental asanas you will need for each of your yoga routines.
Yoga: An Ancient Indian Science of Exercise and Healing
More than 5,000 years old, yoga is a holistic approach to physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. Get some insight into the rich history of one of the oldest holistic health care systems and why it is just as relevant today. You can follow the lineage of an ancient physician’s and philosopher’s practice of stress reduction back more than 2,000 years.
Yoga – One Path, Many Styles (Part III)
Part III of “Yoga – One Path, Many Styles” concludes our little journey designed to welcome you to different yoga styles. We chose Integral Yoga and Viniyoga, because of their slow pace and suitability for students new to yoga practice. Also included are practical guidelines to help you on your way to making yoga a part of your fitness routine.
Benefits of Yoga
Historically, yoga has been believed to heal on multiple levels. Explore some of the many benefits yoga has to offer to combat the stresses that too often accompany modern day life. Take a detailed look at the physical, mental and spiritual benefits of a regular yoga practice.
Eight Limbs of Yoga
Classical Yoga generally refers to the ashtanga or eight-limbed yoga system, which was developed more than 2,000 years ago. These eight steps still provide the guideline for progressing towards a meaningful and spiritual life through a progression upward, from the most external, social practices to the deepest, most profound internal processes.
Yoga – One Path, Many Styles (Part II)
Part two of our journey to introduce you to different yoga styles will give you information about Bikram Yoga, Sivananda Yoga, Kundalini Yoga and Kripalu Yoga.
Yoga—One Path, Many Styles (Part I)
The first of a three-part series is an introduction to some of the more popular styles of yoga, the ones most likely to be taught in your area. Included to help you get started is a short overview of yoga and the benefits you can expect from some of these styles.
Health Management
Yoga—One Path, Many Styles (Part I)
The first of a three-part series is an introduction to some of the more popular styles of yoga, the ones most likely to be taught in your area. Included to help you get started is a short overview of yoga and the benefits you can expect from some of these styles.
Yoga—One Path, Many Styles (Part I)
The first of a three-part series is an introduction to some of the more popular styles of yoga, the ones most likely to be taught in your area. Included to help you get started is a short overview of yoga and the benefits you can expect from some of these styles.
Yoga—One Path, Many Styles (Part I)
The first of a three-part series is an introduction to some of the more popular styles of yoga, the ones most likely to be taught in your area. Included to help you get started is a short overview of yoga and the benefits you can expect from some of these styles.
Yoga—One Path, Many Styles (Part I)
The first of a three-part series is an introduction to some of the more popular styles of yoga, the ones most likely to be taught in your area. Included to help you get started is a short overview of yoga and the benefits you can expect from some of these styles.
Yoga—One Path, Many Styles (Part I)
The first of a three-part series is an introduction to some of the more popular styles of yoga, the ones most likely to be taught in your area. Included to help you get started is a short overview of yoga and the benefits you can expect from some of these styles.
Yoga—One Path, Many Styles (Part I)
The first of a three-part series is an introduction to some of the more popular styles of yoga, the ones most likely to be taught in your area. Included to help you get started is a short overview of yoga and the benefits you can expect from some of these styles.
Yoga—One Path, Many Styles (Part I)
The first of a three-part series is an introduction to some of the more popular styles of yoga, the ones most likely to be taught in your area. Included to help you get started is a short overview of yoga and the benefits you can expect from some of these styles.
Yoga—One Path, Many Styles (Part I)
The first of a three-part series is an introduction to some of the more popular styles of yoga, the ones most likely to be taught in your area. Included to help you get started is a short overview of yoga and the benefits you can expect from some of these styles.
Yoga—One Path, Many Styles (Part I)
The first of a three-part series is an introduction to some of the more popular styles of yoga, the ones most likely to be taught in your area. Included to help you get started is a short overview of yoga and the benefits you can expect from some of these styles.
Yoga—One Path, Many Styles (Part I)
The first of a three-part series is an introduction to some of the more popular styles of yoga, the ones most likely to be taught in your area. Included to help you get started is a short overview of yoga and the benefits you can expect from some of these styles.
Yoga—One Path, Many Styles (Part I)
The first of a three-part series is an introduction to some of the more popular styles of yoga, the ones most likely to be taught in your area. Included to help you get started is a short overview of yoga and the benefits you can expect from some of these styles.
Interviews
John E. Turner: “The Longer I Race, The Better I Run”
John shares his thoughts about what it’s like to run ultras and 24-hour races as a mature runner. Incredibly, he has stayed injury free for nearly 30 years thanks to minimal training and lots of walking.
Patrick Makau Talks About How to Break the World Record
Take The Magic Step® spoke with Patrick Makau, the fastest marathoner in the world in 2010. In the interview, Makau discussed his running background, his ambitions, and the wealth of running potential in Kenya.
A Pre-Race Interview With New York City Marathon Champion Meb Keflezighi
Meb Keflezighi, winner of the 2009 New York City Marathon sits down with Take The Magic Step® to discuss his running, family, and new passion: what he hopes to do with the MEB Foundation.
A Chat with Lineth Chepkurui: The Little Kenyan with the Big Record
KIMbia’s Lineth Chepkurui has had a phenomenal 2010 road-racing season. In this interview, the former cross-country runner who enjoys competing on tough, hilly courses, hints at running a marathon before the 2012 Olympics.
Believe, Believe, Believe: Billy Mills’ Own Story—from Desperation to Winning Gold
Only one runner in the Western Hemisphere has ever won an Olympic gold in the 10,000m: Native American Billy Mills. In a special interview with Take The Magic Step®, Billy reflects on that magical moment 46 years ago in Tokyo and reveals his own personal struggles and how they empowered him to win.
YES YOU CAN! How Team Hoyt Overcame All Obstacles to Complete its 28th Boston Marathon
Dick Hoyt reveals the struggles that were an unseen backdrop to legendary Team Hoyt’s courageous finish in the 2010 Boston Marathon … and talks about the future of running’s most famous wheelchair team.
Ryan Hall Hopes His Intimate Knowledge of the Boston Course Will Bring Victory
In an exclusive eve-of-the-marathon interview with Take The Magic Step®, U.S. runner Ryan Hall explains why he believes a move he made three weeks ago could help carry him to victory tomorrow in the 114th Boston Marathon.
Haile Gebrselassie: “Running Gives You So Much!”—and Foresees a Sub Two Hour Marathon
Haile Gebrselassie is one of the best long distance runners in history. He runs because he loves the feeling it creates in his body and mind, and he wants everyone to experience the elixir of running and the benefits it can bring to you.
She’s Back! Chicago-Bound Deena Kastor Talks About Her Next Marathon
Deena Kastor, known for being one of the world’s fastest marathoners, is preparing to run this year’s Chicago Marathon after her broken foot in 2008 slowed down her career. She speaks with Take The Magic Step®.
If You Dream It, It Can Happen: Kenenisa Bekele Reflects on His Recent Success
Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele reflects on his record-breaking double at the World Championships 2009 in Berlin, and shares his thoughts about his storied career.
Irina Mikitenko After Withdrawing from the World Championships: “I feel empty and exhausted”
After the difficult decision to withdraw from competing in the marathon of the World Championships 2009 in Berlin, Irina Mikitenko talked about her thoughts and feelings.
The Road to Eugene: Sara Hall Interviews Before Her Big Race
Sara Hall sits down with Take The Magic Step® before her 5,000m race at the U.S. Track and Field Outdoor Champs in Eugene, Oregon. She says she is ready—and reveals that training with her fellow world class runner and husband, Ryan Hall, keeps things fun.
Paul Tergat: “Passion, Determination and Belief Lead to Success”
Paul Tergat’s running career is filled with superlative achievements. He has set numerous world records and was the first runner to break 2:05 in the marathon. Paul spoke with Take The Magic Step® about his legendary career and his future.
Dinner and a Chat with KIMbia’s Men’s Team before the Bolder Boulder 10K
Relaxed and ready to run, the athletes of Team KIMbia talk about strategy, team racing, and staying fresh for another competition despite their hectic running schedule.
James Koskei, A Master Who Vows to “Run with the Elites” in Boston
James Koskei, at age 40, has been running marathons for only five years. And as he hits master’s age, he says he is getting stronger. Take The Magic Step® sat down with him on the eve of the 2009 Boston Marathon.
Ryan Hall Interviews with Take The Magic Step before His Big Boston Debut
Ryan Hall has the running world wondering if he will be the first American to win the Boston Marathon in over 25 years. Take The Magic Step® spoke with Ryan in the final weeks of his training before the fabled marathon.
The Marathon of Life
In 1997, Thomas Geierspichler was abusing drugs and alcohol to forget the wheelchair beneath him and the 1994 car crash that had put him there. But then he began an amazingly inspiring journey that brought him the title World Champion and a world record time in winning the Beijing 2008 Paralympic’s Marathon.
Famiglietti: What, Me Run Recklessly? My Legs Tell Me What To Do!
Fans know him as “Fam,” and after his self-described “reckless running” in the 2008 Olympic Steeplechase, the 30 year-old captured the attention of runners everywhere. In an interview as spirited and full throttle as his running, Fam talks about his running style, his desire to win, and his mental toughness.
History-Making Olympic Star Shalane Flanagan Talks with Take The Magic Step®
A few months after her phenomenal bronze medal race in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, American distance runner Shalane Flanagan sits down for an interview to talk about her incredible experiences at the Olympics, her holistic approach to training, and her future racing plans.
Dreams Do Happen! A Take The Magic Step Interview with Irina Mikitenko
As the first German woman to break the 2:20-hour barrier, 36 year-old Irina Mikitenko also became the fourth-fastest female marathon runner ever. The former top athlete on the track made a fast transition to the marathon, and talks in this interview about her motivation, her training, and her family.
“The Burnout Doesn’t Seem to Have Happened”: An Interview with Nicky Martin
Nicky Martin is in the classic tradition of high-standard British club runners who have competed all their lives over track, road and cross country, but his is a story with a difference.
Running’s Rich History: An Interview with Roger Robinson
Roger Robinson has combined a distinguished academic career with a passion for distance running. This interview offers insights into the development of running as a sport in the past 50 years, including the rise of the Africans, and the qualities required to be a successful competitor in the Olympic Games.
Haile Gebrselassie: “I can’t run slowly”
On the last day of September 2007, Haile Gebrselassie set a world record of 2:04:26 at the Berlin Marathon. The 34-year-old Ethiopian improved the old mark of his Kenyan rival Paul Tergat, who had run 2:04:55 in Berlin in 2003, by 29 seconds.
“We Confuse Success with Victory”: A Conversation with Jack Fultz
Celebrated 1976 Boston Marathon champion Jack Fultz, who teaches sport psychology at Tufts University, shares his thoughts on how to measure your successes—and be truly happy with your accomplishments.
Meseret Defar: “In Ethiopia, we learn how to overcome”
Meseret Defar improved her own world record for 5,000m to 14:16.53 at the Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway, in June 2007. Her new record was an impressive eight seconds faster than her previous one. Take The Magic Step® spoke with the Ethiopian 5,000m Olympic champion soon after her race.
Every Breath He Takes: An Interview with Veteran Endurance Athlete Jim Phelan
Jim Phelan is a deep thinker about endurance sport. He developed his interest in the duathlon and triathlon from a base as a track, cross-country and road runner for Blackheath and Bromley Harriers, a British club founded in 1869 and based in south London. This interview was conducted in May 2007.
One Runner’s Wisdom: An Interview with Roger Low
Roger Low has competed in every London marathon since the race’s debut in 1981, and has developed a highly distinctive approach to marathon preparation. For Roger, the long run is the key, and that might be an understatement once you have read the interview.
Interview with Elana Meyer: “I Love Being Fit”
After a career of amazing length and quality, Elana Meyer announced her retirement from international competition in 2005. She’s finding new mountains to conquer, literally, as she is planning to summit Mt. Everest. Elana talks about her approach to fitness, her work on behalf of children’s fitness and her thoughts on how sport and politics mix.
Lance Armstrong: “I Admire the Runners Even More”
Lance Armstrong rewrote sports history by winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 through 2005. Always a competitor, Lance then decided to take on the 2006 NYC Marathon. Take The Magic Step® spoke with Lance soon after his marathon debut.
The Fire Still Burns: An Interview with Bill Rodgers
Bill Rodgers won the Boston and New York City marathons four times each and was ranked #1 in the world three times. At 58, his competitive juices still flow. But more importantly, Bill has become an elder statesman and ambassador for the sport of running. (A 2006 interview.)
Fun Running Stories
All the Preparation … For Just One Gulp of Water
A veteran runner volunteers to help man a water station on the route of a marathon—and gets a surprising lesson in just how much hard work goes into handing out that humble paper cup of thirst-quenching liquid.
Dubai Marathon: Postponed but definitely not cancelled
It might well be a question for a quiz question master with a keen interest in track and field athletics: Why will the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon 2006 begin six weeks late?
Trailrunners, Beware the Beak!
Trailrunners, Beware the Beak! Trailrunners love to exercise by running through woods and ravines, wanting to get close to nature. Well, beware! This article is a public service announcement to warn you of the dangers lurking in those woods!
A Race with and without Pudding
If you think of London and running, Hyde Park and Regent’s Park come to mind, the green hills of Hampstead Heath to the north and to the south-west, where the counties of Surrey and Middlesex meet, Richmond and Bushey Park.
Home Improvement
When I walked into the bedroom, I noticed a crack in the wall. “Oh no!” I thought in alarm, “The house is collapsing from the weight of all those race T-shirts!” I always knew this day would come.
Running with Dogs – Man and Animal in Partnership
Patrick Kiernan, a doctor in London and veteran or masters runner of high standard, has two types of training partner: the team-mates from his club, Heathside, who run over the hilly landscape of Hampstead Heath in north London, and his two dogs, Moffy and Jimmy.
Running Barefoot in Berlin Marathon?
Since the origin of the Marathon in the late 1800′s, there have always been a small number of “competitors” who have attempted to tarnish the sanctity of the world’s greatest sport by gaining status or even prizes by cheating.
The Day a Goods Train Brought the Boston Marathon to a Halt
The 108th Boston Marathon will get underway on April 19th. Just as it was in 1897, the finish of the point-to-point course is in central Boston. Over all these years the course has had few changes.
Tracey Morris – how a fun runner qualified for the British Olympic team
It was probably the biggest surprise of all the spring marathons this season. In last Sunday’s London Marathon an athlete finished tenth who had trained like a fun runner just four months earlier.
Fauja Singh – At the age of 93 the world record holder in the marathon still has ambitions
The world of long distance running has many stories to raise the spirits, but the career of Fauja Singh is unique. Born into a peasant farming family in India, he came to Britain eleven years ago and started running aged 89!
At least 9,150 runners overtaken during the Berlin Marathon
A performance which could well qualify for the Guinness Book of Records was achieved by Terefe Yae and Shimeles Molla during the Berlin Marathon on 26th September.
