Leading the field: Paula RadcliffeThe Athens Olympic Marathon in 2004 was meant to be Paula Radcliffe's race. Since her marathon debut in London in 2002 the British world record holder had never been defeated over the distance. Certainly the Kenyans

Yet too often disaster strikes on race day – we’re hobbled by cramp, gutted by stomach distress or hampered by unforeseen demons. To help you dodge all this, runners have shared their tales of race days gone bad. For the common horror stories, our

I've ticked most of the 'must-do' boxes in my 20 years of running, from 5Ks to marathons, a multi-day event and even a night run. But I've never raced a mile, attempted cross-country or donned fancy dress. Nor have I run a European city marathon

Start racing faster"To improve your time, you're going to need to run faster throughout the race, not just at the finish. Many racers start too slowly and then end up running too quickly

to tweaking your training, to eating race-friendly foods. If you're a Runner's World UK magazine subscriber, you can see all 9 PB-busting tips here. Otherwise, enjoy these two as a preview - and if you want to subscribe, you can save 30% right here.Strong Legs

Half a century ago, American marathoner Buddy Edelen snuck out for a 40-minute run on his rest day. Edelen was the first man to break 2:15 for 26.2 miles, yet he suffered the same crisis of confidence about taking days off that plague most competitive runners...Subscribers can vi...

The 5K is a perfect distance for the beginner looking to run their first race. But, given that it’s halfway between middle and long distance, it’s also a notoriously difficult distance for the experienced runner to master. Whichever camp you fall

at Loughborough University. "So there is a conditioning aspect to it and a technical aspect to it. But it also creates those race-like conditions so you are better equipped to handle tempo changes. You don't get that from more singular forms of training

-road terrain is that you are running on an uneven surface, so you need to prepare your body for that," says Barden. "If you were to do all of your training on the road, you might initially feel OK in a cross-country race, but your body will fatigue a lot

Closing Soon…Bungay Black 10K Series (Suffolk, May 25) RW Says: Series of three 10K races in May, June and July. Enter all three to gain a discount.Bexhill Seafront 5K Series (Sussex, May 26) RW Says: Scenic seafront race series held