Each and every new runner is unique, as are their experiences.But while we can’t tell you everything you need to know, we can at least give you a good start. Here, John Bingham and Julie Welch offer you an insight into the things they wished they

There we were. Two middle-aged men in a Firebird on a summer night. The top was down, the V8 was rumbling. We were just driving around, minding our own business.And there he was. A 20-something young man in a four-cylinder sports saloon with loud mufflers. He kept racing his engi...

He had the look. As he tightened his shoelaces, tucked in his shirt and carefully donned his sunglasses, he had all the makings of a racer. He was a runner in search of a 5K PB. Everyone around him knew it.Making his way to the start line, he was oblivious to the other runners ar...

This section is adapted from No Need For Speed - A Beginner's Guide To The Joy Of Running, by John Bingham. Buy this book!Many adult-onset athletes believe that living an active lifestyle would be easier if they could trade the body they have

This section is adapted from No Need For Speed - A Beginner's Guide To The Joy Of Running, by John Bingham. Buy this book!You may be uncomfortable hearing that no one can tell you what your fitness goals should be. No one can tell you how much

Extract from No Need For Speed by John Bingham (Rodale International Limited, £8.99). To order direct from Runner's World for the special price of £7.99 (inc P&P), call 0800 731 0622 and quote 55174-0.Those who know me well know that I enjoy

will be a PB.—John ‘The Penguin’ Bingham, RW columnist

One of my favourite runs begins and ends at the zoo. I usually end the run at the zoo’s lion house. There’s something magical about the big cats – the size and strength of the lions and tigers, the stealthy movements of the panthers, and the pure grace of the cheetahs. I watch...

I was an old man when I started running. Not that 43 is all that old, it’s just that I was living an old man’s life in an old man’s body, dreaming an old man’s dreams. I’m much younger than that now.Before I started running, I could count the years of accumulated excess like the ...

Readers of this column know that I like to run marathons. Not that I have any particular skill or success at that distance. For me, a good marathon is one that I finish. A great marathon is one that I finish in under five hours. And I’ve had very few great marathons.I tell you th...