’t doing speed work though. He’s still recovering from the race 10 days ago and opts instead to hit the gym at the High Altitude Training Centre where we’re staying, and where Mo Farah and Paula Radcliffe come to train when they’re in Kenya. Wilson spends

I’ve come to Iten, a small village overlooking the Great Rift Valley, to discover why Kenyan runners are so dominant right now. The benefits of training at altitude play their part – we’re at 2,400m, which means that walking upstairs causes the kind

. If that sounds too strenuous, there are also two shorter races: the two lakes trail is a 22K event starting at Plagne Bellecote and climbing up to Dou du Plaz to join the 6000D course, while the Randoplagne is an 11K race that links the various high-altitude

– on foot. The trek up to Gorak Shep will help you to acclimatise to the lack of oxygen in the air before you begin the marathon on rough mountain trails. Despite an overall drop in altitude, the going is tough but as you head down to Namche Bazaar

It’s Monday morning at 5:30am. Today is considered an easy day on the Kenyan training schedule so we go for a gentle run from the High Altitude Training Camp down to the Kamariny Stadium. The track’s deserted because it’s raining but we decide to do

brutal finishing stretch surprised a few regular participants. There are few flat stretches in Madrid so expect a hilly course, then add to that the highest altitude of any European capital city and breathing becomes just that little bit more difficult