Marathons: Recovery is Variable

Recovery Is Littered With Variables

I ran my first marathon this month. It went well, and despite my fears, I had fun. I met my goals - qualified for the Boston Marathon with nearly half an hour to spare and came in second in my age group. But the big surprise was my coach's advice the next day.

It will take four weeks to fully recover, he told me. That seemed like an awfully long time.

64-Year-Old Hitting His Stride

He looks like he has discovered a cure for aging. His body is taut. His smile is bright and wide. And at 64, Tom Pontac shows no outward signs of slowing down. Literally.

For Pontac became a newlywed last year, graduated from college in the spring and now plans to train as many of his new neighbors as he can to do what he loves most: run marathons.

The Mother of All Running Streaks -- 47 Years and Counting

Ronald "Ron" Hill, MBE, BSc, PhD (born 25 September 1938), is a noted runner and founder of Ron Hill and Hilly Clothing Company. Hill was born in Accrington, Lancashire, England. He was the second man to break 2:10 in the marathon; he set world records at four other distances, but never laid claim to the marathon world record.[nb 1] He has run two Olympic Marathons (Tokyo 1964 and Munich 1972), and has a personal marathon record of 2:09:28. In 1970, Hill won the 74th Boston Marathon in a course record 2:10:30. He also won gold medals for the marathon at the European Championships in 1969 and the Commonwealth Games in 1970.

Marathons: Do Slow Runners Disrespect the Event?

The universal symbol of running has always been the winged foot, an embodiment of the pursuit of speed.

But that emblem has begun to give way to a new symbol -- the penguin -- that reflects a growing movement of extremely slow runners who are changing the character of American road racing.

Embracing a kind of slow chic, this new breed of runners emphasizes fun over achievement, rejecting the traditional asceticism of road racing for a more relaxed, noncompetitive ethos. They have cheerfully adopted the penguin for its girth and its waddling gait, and they amble their way through marathons, stopping not only for a drink but to dance or cheer or simply take in the flowers. Many members of this new wave in running will be on display Sunday during the 30th New York City Marathon.

365 Marathons in 365 Days?

Stefaan Engels (born 7 April 1961, Ghent, Belgium), also known as "marathon man", is a Belgian marathoner and triathlete, the first man who finished 365 consecutive marathons in a single year with 365 marathons completed in 2010.He also holds the record for the most Ironman Triathlons in a year with 20 over 2007 and 2008.

Engels averaged around four hours to complete each marathon with a best time of 2 hours and 56 minutes. He ran 15,401 kilometres (9,570 mi) during his marathons over 2010. Engels said that a slow pace was the key. Before him, the record was held by Ricardo Abad Martínez of Spain with 150 marathons in a row in 2009. Abad is the current world record holder.

Shhhh. Wanna Know the Kenyans' Secret?

'You want to know what the secret is? That there is no secret." Brother Colm O'Connell, a retired Irish priest and one of Kenya's top running coaches, is almost spitting with delight as he talks to me. We are standing in the grounds of St Patrick's school in Iten, Kenya. On the grass in front of us, his athletes are going through their warm-up drills. Among them is the tall figure of David Rudisha, world champion and world record holder for the 800m.