the most daunting, so take a minute to check out our BIG Beginners’ Index before you bound out the door – it’s packed with get-started tips, motivational advice and an essential kit checklist too.Don’t be tempted to run as far as you can, as fast as you can

with total flexibility in terms of how and when to clock up those miles. Online running community fetcheveryone.com has monthly mileage groups, which are great for motivation. You could even run the year – 2010 miles works out as 38.5 per week! Start a

training camp, held in Portugal in association with 2:09 Events, packs in two shorter runs each day, yoga and core-stability classes, talks from experts, a handicap cross-country race and a long run at the weekend. This year our annual training camp

– and it shows. When children draw stick figures, you’re the model. Just right Twice a week, spend about 30-45 minutes in the gym. Choose weight amounts that you can lift 10-12 times before fatiguing, and do a variety of exercises and stretches for upper

five and 16, with a bit of a peak between seven and 13. But the differences in activity were staggering; while some ran in play for an hour a day or more and a further hour in other sports, others logged precisely nothing in play and a minimal 15

that are generally inspiring, such as Jane Tomlinson." [Tomlinson, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2000, completed a number of grueling fundraising challenges in the years that followed, including the Florida Ironman in 2004. She died in 2007]"They can help

10-15 miles beforehand. Then at least you'll be doing the 'last' 6 miles of your training run with the crowds, which will keep you going. If you decide to do the extra miles after the 10K race, make sure you run much slower than your 10K race pace

't want to be part of a club where runners don't want to get involved in the dirty work, the same applies. 10 Golden Training Rules of Top Club Coaches Plan ahead Always make sure you know in advance what your training schedule's going

“Hills build strength, and strength results in faster running. By running all hills – and by that I mean continuous gradients of up to three miles – I broke 2:30 in four consecutive marathons in the early 1980s,” says Welles Lobb, RUNNER’S WORLD US

for Stuart Barr, 39, and Nicholas Davis, 32, who both live in Cumbria – a part of the world not exactly renown for its mild winters. They often run 10-13 miles together at about 4am, a particularly bleak time to run when the northern climate is blowing wind