It was an 80-year-old volunteer who prompted Elaine Wylie, the then headteacher of St Ninians primary school in Stirling, to reappraise the fitness of the children in her school. “Your children are not fit,” the volunteer told her. Wylie was stung by the comment, even though she suspected it was true. The PE [...]

My husband, the potter Roger Michell, who has died aged 70 after a short illness, was best known for the Walking Ware tea service he designed in 1974, its quirky pieces mounted on legs, clad in shoes and stripy socks, and ready to stride out. His highly decorative style came as a breath of fresh air in the world of [...]

Reading Angela Duckworth’s Grit really changed my perception of what makes someone successful. From a young age, we hold on to many myths about the ultra successful. We think talent, connections, luck, or right place, right time dictate who will win, but what actually counts is usually hard work and resilience. [...]

Having spent yesterday in a ‘Leadership in Running Fitness’ course, I definitely set a PB for time spent talking about, thinking about and discussing running in one day. Actually doing much of it, not so much, though I don’t think I’ve ever done so much warming up (for drills, and as participant in [...]

‘Oh boy,” I thought, watching a tiny figure descend through the mist towards me. He was heading back towards the fork in the path where I knew he should have turned right. “That guy is in [...]

How do you plan your races? From multiple shorter races through the summer to a bucket list of events I’d love to do (yesterday’s Prague marathon coming high up that list) it’s sometimes a hard to keep track of what I’ve entered, how long it is until race day, and what’s coming up I like the sound of. Do you [...]

Twenty-nine seasons and 636 episodes since its first broadcast, the Simpsons last week officially became the longest-running show script in the history of American primetime television. But celebrations have been overshadowed. Once considered to be the high-water mark for biting satire, The Simpsons is the subject of [...]

“How much is not burned and does not sting my shoulder, the pleasure from the fact that I can lie in peace, there was more.” This is how Karl Ove Knausgaard felt after he broke his collarbone at football practice. The Norwegian writer had spent the past four years taking care of a young family while also [...]

today, I want to introduce you Bruce Tulloh. I had the privilege to get to know Bruce a little on the 2:09 training camp in Portugal, where he was – until this year – a regular attendee, daily runner, source of coaching wisdom, and a teller of amazing [...]

That regular exercise is good for you, reduces your risk of a large number of diseases, improves sleep quality and boosts energy is well known. But if these weren’t reasons enough already to start the NHS Couch to 5k programme and register for a free local run, then here is another: parkrun makes you [...]